738 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



than to destroy the small oysters, and this can be done by 

 the encouragement of planting. 



. The aim of the culling law is twofold : 

 first, to preserve the young oysters ; and secondly, to com- 

 pel the return of the dead shells to the beds, that they may 

 serve for the attachment of spat. The value of these shells 

 for this purpose is not very great, as they are usually 

 decayed and slimy, and covered with sponge ; but it is 

 undoubtedly true that they are sufficiently valuable to jus- 

 tify the culling law. The dry, clean shells, which accumu- 

 late at the packing houses during the winter, are far more 

 valuable ; and if these could be returned to the beds in 

 the summer, a great increase in fertility would certainly 

 follow. 



. The improvidence of the people of the 

 United States in dealing with their oysters, so long as they 

 were abundant, has been almost beyond belief. 



Mr. Earle, of the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 states that no longer ago than 1879 the oystermen of 

 Pamplico Sound, in summer, when the weather became 

 too warm for them to safely carry their oysters to market, 

 were in the habit of catching " coon oysters," and carrying 

 boat-loads of them up the rivers to the farmers, who pur- 

 chased them for from 3 to 5 cents a bushel, and used them 

 for manure. 



In Maryland we have no general law forbidding these 

 practices, although there are several local laws, such as the 

 law of 1868, imposing a fine of $500 upon any one who 

 takes oysters in Worcester county for the purpose of con- 

 verting them into lime, and the law which imposes a fine 

 of $10 upon any one who catches oysters for manure in 

 Somerset county, or any person in said county who pur- 

 chases oysters for manuring land, from any person who 



