THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 



165 



C. S. Maltby, of estimates upon tlie former yield of Chesapealie bay. The first of these is a table of oysters taken 

 iu Maryland waters aloue in 1805, wliic-k is as follows : 



OyHers taken in Maryland waters, 1865. 



Destiuation. 



Baltimoro 



Washington and Alexandria. 



Boston 



Fair Haven, Connecticut 



Kew York 



Pliiladelpliia 



Seaford, Delaware 



Salisbury, Maryland 



Total 



Dredged. 



2, 750, 250 

 178, 125 

 210, 000 

 131, 250 



360, 000 



27, 500 



6,000 



Tonged. 



144, 750 

 9,375 

 105, 000 

 393, 750 

 262, 000 



247, 500 

 64, 000 



1, 210, 375 



Total 

 busliela. 



2, 895, 000 

 187, 500 

 315, 000 

 525, 000 

 262, 000 

 360, 000 

 275, 000 

 60, 000 



4, 889, 500 



Second, is given the following table of — 



Oysters taken in Vii-ginia waters, 1865. 



The consumption of Baltimore that year was : by city aud county trade, 625,000 bushels ; by raw-packing, 

 1,875,000 bushels ; by " preserved ", 005,000 bushels ; total, 3,405,000 bushels. 



Extent of the Chesapeake oyster-fleet of 1865.- — The gathering of oysters in the Chesapeake in 

 1805, according to the same notes, employed 1,000 boats in dredging. These would average 50 tons in size, and 

 were said to yield $200,000 iu tax, at $1 per ton. The average dredgings of these boats are given at 4,746 bushels, 

 which, at 45 cents, yielded $2,135 70. In tongiug that year there were said to be engaged 1,555 canoes, distributed 

 as follows : 



Canoes tonging. 



On Nanticoke river 



On Fishing bay 



Ou Wicomico river 



On Little Annamessex 



On Mauokin 



On Pocomac and tribntaries.. 

 On Miles river 



200 



150 



125 



, 40 



50 



300 



50 



On Choptank and Sharp's islands 100 



On Chester, including Swan Point 125 



On Annapolis 



On South and West rivers 



On Herring 



On Patiixent 



On mouth of Potomac aud Saint Mary's 



50 

 50 

 40 

 200 

 75 



Total 1,555 



Each of these canoes should pay $44 a year tax. This, theoretically, yielded the state in 1865, $08,420. 



46, PACKING AND SHIPPING TRADE OF MAEYLAND. 



Shipments of oysters in shell. — I now resume the language of Mr. Edmonds' report : 

 "From the prolific beds of the Chesapeake bay immense quantities of oysters are yearly taken for bedding iu 

 northern waters, and also for immediate consumption iu the principal cities along the coast, from the bay to 

 Portland, Maine. It is not the West alone which is dependent upon the Chesapeake for oysters, for without the 

 supplies annually drawn from this bay the Atlantic coast, from Delaware to Maine, would be but poorly supplied. 

 The Chesapeake is the great storehouse from which several millions of bushels of oysters arc auuually carried to 

 restock the exhausted beds of other localities. More than two hundred vessels, averaging in value about $3,000 

 each, are for eight months of the year engaged in the trade between the bay and northern markets. During the 

 winter the oysters which are takeu north are used for immediate local consumptiou, while those taken iu the spring 

 are used almost exclusively for bedding purposes. At Seaford, Delaware, there is quite an extensive packing-trade, 

 Maryland oj^sters being used.. It is well known that oysters are eaten during the summer at the North much more 

 extensively than in Maryland and Virginia. 



"Among many intelligent men, both iu Maryland and Virginia, there is great oi)position to the shipment of 

 oysters iu the shell to northern markets. They claim, and justly too, that the packing trade of the two states 



