THE OYSTER. 223 



would cause millions of the small oysters to be carried 

 away on the shells, and even if the culling laws could 

 be enforced, many of the small oysters would be car- 

 ried away on the large ones. 



This would be a great advantage if the small oys- 

 ters were used as seed for planting, but at present 

 most of them are destroyed. 



I therefore believe that, for the present at least, the 

 public beds should be closed for as long a time as 

 possible in the fall, in order to give the young oysters 

 time to grow large enough to render it possible to 

 detach them from the larger ones and from the shells. 

 I also think that each public bed should be examined 

 annually in order to determine how many oysters it 

 can yield without injury. This examination should be 

 made in August or September, in order to learn how 

 many young oysters have settled upn the bed, and as 

 the analysis and publication of the results of this ex- 

 amination would require at least two months, the open- 

 ing of the public beds should be postponed as long as 

 possible. 



After the closure of the packing-houses in the early 

 spring, most of the oysters which are taken are sold 

 outside the State at a very low price to planters, who, 

 in many cases at least, resell to Maryland packers in 

 September and October at a great advance. 



If our own people would themselves engage exten- 

 sively in the planting business, or if our beds were not 

 already overtaxed, it would be wise to encourage the 

 taking of seed to be sold to Northern planters, as this 



