THE OYSTER. 1 77 



the aid of steam, dredges very much larger than any 

 which are used in Maryland. They use these heavy 

 dredges in the summer when the young oysters are 

 very small and fragile, as well as in the winter, yet 

 their farms are improved by this treatment. 



It is undoubtedly true that little oysters are some- 

 times broken and killed by the dredge, but the de- 

 struction of oysters in this way is so slight as to have 

 no significance. I have paid especial attention to the 

 matter while dredging for oysters, and the number 

 broken or injured by the dredge is surprisingly small. 

 Young oysters fasten themselves flat upon the surface 

 of attachment, and they do not begin to grow up and to 

 become erect until they are large enough to crowd 

 each other, and by this time they are large enough to 

 withstand the dredge without injury. 



After most careful examination of the subject I am 

 convinced that there is no objection to dredging which 

 does not apply with equal force to all other methods 

 of oystering, and the interest of the community de- 

 mands the employment of improved methods and 

 cheap and effective labor-saving appliances. 



What is needed is more oysters: not the prohibi- 

 tion of effective methods of catching them. 



No animal upon earth, large enough to be valuable 

 as human food, can long survive the attacks of an enemy 

 who brings against it the resources, the destructive 

 weapons, and the intelligence of civilized man. For- 

 tunately, the resources which render man the most irre- 

 sistible of enemies, also enable him to become a pro- 

 ducer as well as a destroyer ; and while the fear of him 

 and the dread of him is upon every beast of the earth 



