152 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Ene^iies AjS^D DISASTERS. — The only euemy of consequence on these beds, seems to be the small boring-snails, 

 chiefly Urosulpinx, to which I have already frequently referred. The overhauling of the whole farm once every two 

 or three years ought to gi\e ample opjiortunity to keep this pest well in check, if sufficient care is taken to pick 

 out the borers of every kind and carry them ashore. Incessant attention to this, for a few years, by all the planters, 

 would practically extirpate an enemj" which is likely at any time to become extremely destructive. 



Starfishes are unknown here, and conchs not regarded as anything to be specially apprehended. There are 

 several fishes, however, allied to the weakfish and the drumfish, which at intervals make a raid on the beds and do 

 much havoc. Occasional gales from the southeast also drift the mud injuriously. 



A strange manifestation in September, on these beds, is the abundance of what is known to the fishermen as 

 " sea-grapes", and which seems to be the clustered egg-cases of some one or more species of squid. For a few days, 

 at the beginning of the season, these clusters of eggs so cram the dredges as to interfere with and delay the work. 

 Moreover, a hard storm, or even the disturbance made by the movement of the dredge, causes them to rise to the 

 surface, so buoyant are they, and to float away, carrying with them the oysters to which they were attached. 

 Considerable loss is thus occasioned at times. Otherwise they do no harm to the moUusks, so far as I know. 



This shore is exposed to a long sweep of the winds and is wholly unsheltered. Gales, formidable enough to stir 

 up the deep water in which the oysters are laid, are therefore liable to work great mischief. This is most likely to 

 occur in the autumn. For example, in the latter part of October, 1878, a great storm destroyed many thousands of 

 bushels by drifting them ofl" the beds, or burying them under a bank of sand or sheet of mud. So violent was this 

 gale, that 27 oyster- vessels went ashore at Mahon's ditch alone, and several of them were set high and dry upon the 

 marshes. Most of these could be relaunched by making a canal from their involuntary dry-dock ; but one or two 

 never could be got back to the water without more expense than they were worth, and were therefore dismantled 

 and left to decay. 



Planting southern oysters in Delaware bay. — There remains now to be considered the great business 

 of transplanting and maturing southern oysters in the waters off this shore. Though this stock is chiefly owned 

 in Philadelphia and operated by Pennsylvauians, yet its consideration belongs projierly here, since the beds are 

 wholly in Delaware's waters. 



The statistics I give in respect to this, were furnished me chiefly bj' Mr. J. C. Cleaver, collector of the 

 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company at Chesapeake City, Maryland, and refer to the last half of 1879 and 

 the first months of 1880, completing au "oyster-season". 



All the southern oysters which are brought to Delaware bay or to Philadelphia, both for planting and for 

 immediate consumption, come through this canal, which leads from the Chesapeake. There may i)0ssibly be half 

 a dozen outside trips made (all from Chincoteague island), in the course of the year, but this is a small exception. 



The vessels, as a rule, engaged in this traflBc are " wood-droggers", schooners of light draught, and able to carry 

 from 500 to 1,500 bushels. During the planting season they will average about 1,300 bushels per load, but when 

 running direct to market, in winter, carr3' only 900 bushels, the diflerence arising largely from an absence of any 

 'deck-load in the latter case. The number of schooners thus used varies from year to year ; but the number of 

 trips during the season reported upon by Mr. Cleaver, was 8G8. At $100 a trip, charter-pay, these schooners earned 

 that year, therefore, §86,800. Sometimes an even $100 is given to make the trip, and sometimes a rate of about 

 $10 a day is paid, but it amounts substantially to the same thing. lu addition, the chartei'er pays the canal 

 expenses, consisting of entrance-toll, towage, and dues of 85 cents a ton on cargo, amounting in all to about $50. 

 The canal thus receives an annual revenue from this source of about $4,340. 



The schooners range in value from $1,000 to $0,000. The owners i)ay the cajitain of such a schooner, who must 

 know all the little creeks and oyster-buying nooks along the whole Chesapeake coast, and be a capable man at a 

 bargiiin for his employers, about $50 per mouth. The men in the crews get $25. The provisions supplied by the 

 owners are said to be abundant and of good quality. 



Among this fleet are about twenty-five " role captains ", who own their vessels entirely, hire their own crew, 

 get cargoes from the south with their own money, and plant on beds claimed and prepared by themselves. 

 Attending to their plantations personally, they bring their cargoes to the market in the fall in their own schooners 

 or sloops, and leave them to be sold there on commission. They are thus both [flanters and carriers. 



During the fall and winter months most, if not all, of the vessels go directly to the Philadelphia market, 

 and their cargoes enter into the inunediate consumption of the city. Sales aie made from the hull of the schooner, 

 without unloading into a warehouse. The number of trips made for this direct market consumption, makes only 

 about one-fourth of the total recorded as passing through the canal. Three-fourths of the oysters brought out of 

 the Chesapeake are intended to be planted, and find their destination in the beds along the western shore of the 

 bay. The large dimensions of these receipts appear in the succeeding table from the Canal Company's books : 



