THE OYSTER. , 20I 



bay, the planting business has recently been pushed 

 with great energy and enthusiasm. It is conducted 

 on such a large scale that a big steamboat is now 

 loaded with very fine oysters every day, from grounds 

 which six years ago did not supply enough to meet the 

 local demand." 



" I am told that in Connecticut it has been found 

 possible to grow oysters from the eggs, in the way 

 that I grow wheat and corn ; and to establish new 

 oyster-beds in deep water by covering the bottom 

 with oyster shells, to catch the floating embryos. Is 

 there no place in the bay where this can be done ? " 



" Most assuredly there is. No place in the world is 

 better suited for oyster-farming. We have hundreds 

 of thousands of acres which are most valuable for this 

 purpose, and experiments have shown that there is no 

 part of the bay where new beds might not ultimately 

 be established by shelling the bottom, or by the use of 

 other spat-collectors." 



" Why don't you do it ? How can you complain of the 

 scarcity of oysters when you have such an opportunity 

 for oyster-farming? Is not the business profitable?" 



" You may judge of this for yourself when I tell you 

 that, in good places, a crop of five or six thousand 

 bushels a year might be harvested fromeach acre, with 

 very little labor or outlay. No other branch of oyster 

 culture gives as much profit upon the investment of 

 capital and labor as deep-water oyster-farming." 



" Does no one in Maryland understand the busi- 

 ness ? " 



" Oh yes ! Many of our packers do business in 

 Connecticut, and they have seen for themselves how 



