CHAPTER IV. 



THE ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF OYSTERS. 



If the Chesapeake Bay is as rich in food for oysters 

 as I have asserted, and if the oyster multiplies at such a 

 very high rate of increase, how can our oyster supply be 

 in any danger, or how can there be any need for aid from 

 man in order to maintain and develop the oyster-beds ? 

 At first sight it does not seem possible that an animal 

 which is protected from enemies by a strong stony 

 shell, and which is capable of giving rise to several 

 million eggs each season, can be in any danger of 

 extermination, and it seems as if the oyster ought to 

 be able to hold its own in the struggle for existence, 

 and to increase and multiply in spite of adverse circum- 

 stances. 



We should rather expect to find the whole bottom 

 of the bay paved with oysters, and for many years, the 

 statement that there is any need for measures to pre- 

 vent the destruction of our natural beds and the total 

 extermination of our oysters has been met with 

 ridicule, and it has been flatly contradicted by persons 

 whose qualifications for expressing an opinion would 

 seem to be very great. 



In 1S84 a commissioner, who had been appointed 

 by the General Assembly of the State of Maryland to 

 examine and report upon the condition of the oyster- 



