182 



THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Table showing the number of canoes and larger vessels, and the number of men on each, bg counties. 



Coonties. 



Accomac 



Elizabeth 



Essex 



Gloucester 



Isle of Wight.... 



Lancaster 



Mathews 



Middlesex 



Nansemond 



Norfolk 



Northampton — 

 Northumberland 

 Princess Anne... 



Richmond 



"Warwick 



York 



Westmoreland... 

 King William 



Total 



545 

 170 

 150 

 410 



58 

 400 

 450 

 475 



80 

 235 

 330 

 281 

 100 

 200 



50 

 250 

 275 



4,481 



925 

 510 

 400 

 S30 

 250 

 900 

 900 

 950 

 240 

 470 

 700 

 420 

 130 

 400 

 80 

 500 

 550 

 5 



8,860 



0^ S) 



282 

 40 

 6 

 28 

 22 

 35 

 20 

 12 

 39 



700 



1,317 





1,176 

 160 



24 

 112 



88 

 140 



80 



48 

 225 

 2,800 

 144 

 108 



CO 



104 



20 



7 



5,376 



ad 

 o a 



2,101 

 670 

 424 

 642 

 338 



1,040 

 980 

 998 

 465 



3,270 

 844 



130 

 480 

 140 

 604 

 570 

 12 



Number of otstermen in Virginia. — Of the total number of tongmen there are 5,900 colored and 5,954 

 whites, while of those employed on the larger vessels only 1,792 are colored. The total number of each race 

 engaged in the trade is, of whites, 0,538, and of colored, 7,098. About 200 white men, with wages amounting 

 to $83,200 a year, are employed in buildirg and repairing oyster- vessels, making cases, etc. 



Profits and earnings. — Tonging in Virginia is probably equally as profitable as in Maryland, but there 

 is more time wasted by the tongmen of the former state than by those of the latter. This is explained by the fact, 

 that the proportion of negroes is larger in Virginia than in Maryland, and these people are more generally inclined 

 to be indolent than the whites. There were many cases last winter where tongmen made as high as !{>500 during 

 the season, but their number is comparatively small when the total number of those engaged in this occupation 

 is taken into account. A close estimate of the average amount made during a season by each tonger would give 

 $200, or $25 less than the average amount made in Maryland. Calculating on this estimate, it will be seen that 

 the earnings of the tongmen of Virginia will yearly aggregate about $1,772,000. Those employed on the running 

 vessels receive during an oyster-season of eight months $1,022,172, including their board. 



Canoes and boats. — The canoes used in Virginia are much smaller and less costly than those in Maryland — 

 their average value being about $50. At this rate their total value at present is $224,050. The larger vessels, 

 exclusive of those owned in Norfolk county, average about 10.13 tons; but when the large number owned in Ihe 

 latter county is considered, the average is considerably reduced and amounts to only about 10 tons — making the 

 total 13,170 tons. The aggregate value of these vessels is about $400,950, and the amount of money annually 

 expended in repairing them is in the neighborhood of $ 125,000. 



A large part of the running trade in Virginia is conducted by boats owned in Maryland and in northern cities ; 

 but as the statistics of these have already appeared in the Maryland report, it is needless to repeat them here. The 

 number of people engaged exclusively in handling oysters for local consumption in the cities of Virginia, is about 

 300 (nearly all colored), whose wages will aggregate about $57,000 a season. 



Oyster-planting at Lynnhaven bay. — To the business of planting oysters Virginia men devote much 

 more attention than do the residents of Maryland. The planting consists of little more, however, in any case, than 

 the simple transferring of young "seed" oysters in the rough shape in which they are dredged from the beds of 

 natural growth, to certain spots where ground has been staked off as private property, and where they grow under 

 better conditions than in their native state. The extensive operations and elaborate methods of the northern 

 states are not to be found in these waters. 



The southernmost, and at the same time one of the most famous localities for oyster-planting in Virginia, is at 

 Lynnhaven, just iuside of Cape Henry. The wide reijutation and acknowledged superiority of the oysters raised 

 in this river and bay led Col. M. McDonald to examine particularly into the methods pursued there; and he has 

 kindly placed at my disposal the succeediug memoranda : 



Lynubaven river is simply a brancliiug arm of Chcsapeako bay, and has been mado by the ticl.il ebb and flow. It is fed by very 

 little surface-drainage, the rain waters of the back country finding their way into it by percolation through the porous subsoils that form 

 the banks. When the tide is out the fresh water tlows out on all sides by infiltratiou, and dilutes the salt water in the coves and all 

 along the shores. When the tide is at the flood the saltness is in a measure restored. It is to these incursions of fresh water twice in 24 

 hours, that the extreme fatness and flavor of these oysters are probably to be attributed. 



