Report of the Board of Shejl Fish Commissioners 183 



private oyster grounds than the natural bars, and in following 

 the same plan Maryland runs no risk in injuring the industry on 

 the natural bars so long as the natural bars which are desig- 

 nated for supplying seed oysters for planting purposes are those 

 only on which oysters do not as a rule grow to marketable size, 

 but by so doing the risk is run of retarding and perhaps alto- 

 gether preventing the development of one of the most lucrative 

 branches of oyster culture, that of the production of seed 

 oysters. Section 111 should not be repealed however until 

 bottoms suitable for the production of seed oysters have been 

 leased, and the Commission has recommended 53 that the 

 "Lumps" near the head of the Bay be designated by special Act 

 of the Legislature for supplying seed oysters to planters during 

 the next two years. 



Seed oysters obtained from natural bars are in every way 

 inferior for planting purposes to those grown on private 

 grounds and this fact is recognized by planters everywhere. 

 Seed oysters from natural bars vary greatly in both age and 

 size; with the vigorous, young oysters there is always a cer- 

 tain per cent, of large oysters and old ones which are small 

 because of stunted growth. These are usually very slow in 

 adapting themselves to new conditions and are not therefore 

 fit for planting. 



Seed oysters produced on barren bottoms are of uniform age 

 and size and can be transplanted at a period when they suffer 

 least from the shock of rough handling and when the greatest 

 increase due to subsequent growth is secured to the planter. 



EXPERIMENTS. 



Believing that the success of the Haman Oyster Culture Law 

 depends largely upon the early development of an independent 

 industry in seed oyster production and that the special value of 

 the barren bottoms in certain localities for seed oyster produc- 

 tion should therefore be demonstrated, the Commission selected 

 lots in four localities open for oyster culture and planted shells 

 on each during the early part of the summer just past. 



page 200. 



