76 THE OYSTER. 



those in many of the Northern States, should have 

 been enough to warn us, years ago, of the need for the 

 protection and development of our own beds ; but our 

 people have been too confident of the inexhaustible 

 vitality of our own beds to heed the warning. So 

 long as the consumption of oysters was restricted to 

 regions in the immediate vicinity of the bay, the 

 number of oysters which could be taken from each 

 bed and put upon the market each season was so 

 small that it could be furnished without taxing the 

 beds ; but more than twenty-six years ago, November, 

 1879, I called attention to the fact that the perfection of 

 our facilities for packing and transporting oysters had 

 produced such a great demand, that the danger of de- 

 stroying our best beds was growing greater every day, 

 and was keeping pace with the growth of our popula- 

 tion and the improvements in transportation ; and I 

 called the attention of those who believe that the sup- 

 ply is sufficient for all demands to the history of other 

 countries. 



No one who is familiar with the history of the oyster- 

 beds of other parts of the world can be surprised at the 

 deterioration of our own beds. Everywhere, in France, 

 in Germany, in England, in Canada, and in all northern 

 coast states, history tells the same story. In all waters 

 where oysters are found at all they are usually found 

 in abundance, and in all of these places the residents 

 supposed that their natural beds were inexhaustible 

 until they suddenly found that they were exhausted. 

 The immense area covered by our own beds has en- 



