THE OYSTER. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE POSSIBILITIES OF OYSTER CULTURE. 



A citizen of Maryland will give the oyster a high 

 place in the list of our resources. The vast number 

 of oysters which the Chesapeake Bay has furnished in 

 the past is ample proof of its fertility, but it is difficult 

 to give any definite statement as to its value. Statis- 

 tics, even in recent years, are scanty and doubtful, and 

 it is not possible to estimate the number of oysters 

 which our beds have furnished to our people with any 

 accuracy, although it may be computed, approxi- 

 mately, from indirect evidence. The business of 

 packing oysters for shipment to the interior was estab- 

 lished in Maryland in 1834, and from that date to 

 quite recent years it has grown steadily and con- 

 stantly, and, though small and insignificant at first, it 

 has kept pace with the development of our country, 

 the growth of our population, and the improvement 

 of means for transportation. For fifty-six years the 

 bay has furnished the oysters to meet this constantly 

 increasing demand. The middle of this period is the 

 year 1862, and as the greatest development of the 



