INTRODUCTION. Vll 



of the bay. To use his own words, he has tonged 

 oysters in five different States ; in the warm waters of 

 the South, he has spent months under the broiling 

 tropical sun, wading over the sharp shells which cut 

 the feet like knives, studying the oysters *'at home." 

 He has planted oysters ; he has reared them by collect- 

 ing the floating spat; and he has hatched from artifi- 

 cially fertilized eggs more oysters than there are 

 inhabitants of the United States. More than this, he 

 has diligently studied the experience of other States 

 and countries and has gathered up the knowledge of 

 the world in respect to the life of the oyster, its ene- 

 mies and its needs, its dangers and its protections. 

 The people of Maryland may rejoice that in just this 

 crisis, the State has the service of such a citizen, ready 

 without any reservations and without any expectations 

 of reward, to give his hard-earned knowledge to the 

 public. 



But the author has another claim to be heard. He 

 is governed by common-sense. The difficulty that 

 he sees is summed up in a single sentence that he 

 prints in capital letters, the demand for Chesapeake 



OYSTERS HAS OUTGROWN THE NATURAL SUPPLY. The 



remedy he proposes is to increase the supply by 

 artificial means. To show what is possible for the 

 propagation and protection of young oysters, he 

 describes in the most interesting manner, in terms 



