THE OYSTER. 131 



than the total number which has been taken from our 

 waters in the past. 



All that is needed in order to make this great source 

 of wealth available to our people, is permission to en- 

 gage in oyster farming. When the citizens of Mary- 

 land demand the right to enter into this industry, 

 and to reclaim their property which is now going to 

 waste, a new era of prosperity will be introduced, and 

 the oyster area will be developed with great rapidity. 



I have shown that upon undredged natural beds 

 solid substances become so thickly covered with young 

 oysters that they have no room to grow, so that most 

 of them are soon crowded out and killed. 



All localities are not equally favorable for the col- 

 lection of spat, and in the best places the amount 

 which can be collected each season is very much 

 greater than the amount which it needed for stocking 

 the bottom. This excess can be profitably used as 

 ' seed ' for stocking bottoms in shallow, landlocked 

 bays, rivers, and other places which are less fitted for 

 the collection of spat. While oyster-planting, as the 

 sowing of these ' seed ' oysters is called, does not 

 result in the production of new oysters, it is a very 

 profitable industry, and it admits of great development. 



The profits are smaller and the labor greater than 

 those of oyster farming in deep water, but oyster-plant- 

 ing requires little capital, and the shores of the bay 

 abound in proper spots for the prosecution of this in- 

 dustry, the importance of which has long been recog- 

 nized by our people. 



