200 THE OYSTER. 



bottoms where they grow and improve until they are 

 ready for the market. In my experience as a market- 

 gardener I have found that while onions a year old 

 can be sold, it is much more profitable to plant them 

 as 'seed' a second year, and to give them another 

 season's growth before sending them to market. In- 

 stead of packing and selling these small oysters, why 

 do you not treat them as I treat my 'seed' onions? 

 Are there no lands in your State suitable for oyster- 

 planting? " 



" You need only to look at a map of Maryland for 

 an answer to that question. We have nearly three 

 hundred miles of coast-line, all of it broken up into 

 creeks and inlets and sounds and bays. All these are 

 well adapted for oyster-planting, and might easily be 

 made much more so. Besides this we have thousands 

 of acres of low, marshy land, of no value at present. 

 At a slight expense this might be converted into sys- 

 tems of artificial oyster-ponds, where oysters could be 

 stored and held for a favorable market, and where 

 they would grow and increase in value, like your seed 

 onions." 



" This is most surprising. How is it that these 

 natural advantages are not seized upon and developed? 

 Do not your people know the importance and profit of 

 oyster-planting? " 



" Certainly they do. Oyster-planting has been car- 

 ried on in a small way for many years, and there are 

 many men in our State who understand the business 

 thoroughly. Besides, we have a most remarkable 

 illustration of its value only a few miles beyond our 

 border. At Hampton Roads, in the lower part of the 



