I40 THE OYSTER, 



ters may be kept in good order, and where they will 

 continue to grow and to increase in value, is a very 

 simple matter. 



This industry has also the great advantage that it 

 does not need legislative protection. It can be put into 

 practice at once by any one who owns land which is 

 suitable for the purpose, and our State contains hun- 

 dreds of acres of low, marshy land which is now 

 private property, although it is of little or no value to 

 its owners. Small streams and inlets which are not 

 navigable, and which lie within the limits of private 

 land, may be converted into ponds like the French 

 claires at very slight expense, and with no more labor 

 than what is required for ordinary agriculture they 

 could be made much more profitable than the best 

 farming land. 



The oyster-planting industry in the open water is 

 also a most important interest, and the attention of 

 statesmen may well be directed to its development ; 

 for while legislation alone cannot build up a planting 

 industry, it may do much to prepare the way for it. 



In another chapter I shall try to show what our 

 State can do to encourage oyster culture in general, 

 but I wish also to say a few words in this place regard- 

 ing the encouragement of planting. The most serious 

 obstacle to the growth of the planting industry in 

 Maryland is the absence of protection for planted oys- 

 ters. They are exposed to the depredations of both 

 tongmen and dredgers. If the private planting grounds 

 could be protected from the dredgers, most of the 

 difficulty would be removed, for the tongmen can be 

 reached by the local authorities, who will have no 



