Contents xi 



dustry — Production in Virginia exceeds that of Mary- 

 land — The Chesapeake oyster in politics — Laws not en- 

 forced — Oyster pirates and their raids — Oyster culture 

 impossible — How the crews of the pirate vessels were 

 recruited — Their treatment by dredging captains — Present 

 and future of the Chesapeake industry — Ineffectual polic- 

 ing by " oyster navies " — No surveys of barren bottoms 

 — Natural beds still the chief source of the supply — Plant- 

 ing on the increase — Features of Maryland's oyster laws 

 of 1906 — Survey of the natural beds by the new Oyster 

 Commission — Criticism of the new law 206 



Chapter XV 

 THE NORTH CAROLINA FIELD 



Physical characters of the region — Oyster reefs — How oysters 

 form islands — Why natural oyster beds do not appear 

 between tide lines in the northern field as in the 

 Carolinas — Why, in North Carolina, natural beds seldom 

 form below the low tide line — Oyster clusters — " Rac- 

 coon " oysters and how they are formed — Small oysters 

 from clusters available for seed — Formation of river 

 tonging beds — Possibilities of oyster culture in Pamlico 

 Sound — Extension of natural beds — The appearance of 

 the Baltimore dredgers — Destruction of the natural beds 

 Dredging by non-residents prohibited — Cull laws not en- 

 forced — The future of the industry in North Carolina . 229 



Chapter XVI 

 THE GULF OF MEXICO 



Florida — Natural beds between and below tide lines — Laws — 

 Alabama — Mississippi — Rapid development of the in- 

 dustry in Louisiana — Subsidence of the shore line — Great 

 area available for oyster culture — Nature of the coast 

 east of the Mississippi River — Chandeleur Islands and 

 Sound — Rapid growth of oyster culture west of the delta 

 — Silt deposit — Experiments showing that the softest of 

 bottoms may be reclaimed — Great deposits of small shells 

 — Ideal collectors — Rapid rate of oyster growth — Oyster 

 enemies — Destructiveness of floods from the Mississippi — 

 Advantages in the conditions in Louisiana — Wise laws — 

 Production rapidly increasing — Texas — Natural beds — 

 Prospect for the future 251 



Chapter XVII 



THE PACIFIC FIELD 



The native Pacific oyster — Atlantic animals introduced into 

 the Pacific — Planting the native oyster in Washington — 



