THE OYSTER. 



219 



minated by little more than one day's fishing in each 

 year. 



As oysters grow scarce and the demand for them 

 increases, the only effect of a closed season is to assem- 

 ble all the oystermen upon the bed at the end of the 

 season. The oysters which would otherwise have been 

 removed slowly are then taken away rapidly, and the 

 plan has no advantages as a means of protection unless 

 the closed season is long enough to allow a new genera- 

 tion of young oysters to grow up and replenish the 

 beds. 



Although the closure of the beds for a part of each 

 year is of very little value in itself, a closed season is 

 a great help in the enforcement of other means of pro- 

 tection, and many of the States which own oyster-beds 

 have passed laws to prevent the taking of oysters in 

 certain months. 



In Maryland in 1884 no dredging was allowed be- 

 tween April ist and October I5th, and no oysters in the 

 shell could be carried outside of the State between 

 April ist and September ist. There is also a State 

 law in the following words : ' It shall be unlawful for 

 any person or persons to take or catch oysters, except 

 for private use, to the amount of five bushels per day, 

 or for sale of the same to any citizen or citizens of the 

 neighborhood, and to them only for the purpose of 

 being consumed when sold, or for the purpose of re- 

 planting or bedding in the waters of the counties 

 wherein they are caught, or for sale to the citizens of 

 the county wherein they are caught, and to them only 



