190 Our Food Mollusks 



Delaware Bay each had come to depend on the Chesa- 

 peake for its seed. Each year half a million bushels 

 were used in Narragansett Bay, and an equal number at 

 New Haven, while nearly a million bushels were trans- 

 ferred to the west or Delaware side of Delaware Bay. 

 Even after the war this great business continued. 



But in the course of time, the Connecticut oystermen 

 perfected the methods of capturing young oysters in their 

 own waters. By the year 1880 the transportation of 

 southern seed to the northern field had fallen off greatly. 

 Ever since, there has been a steady decline, and to-day 

 very little Chesapeake seed is planted north of Delaware 

 Bay. On the other hand, the Connecticut culturists now 

 are able not only to supply the entire northern field, but 

 are sending an increasingly large quantity of seed to the 

 Pacific coast as well as to Europe. 



Instead of suffering from the loss of this business, the 

 Virginia shore of the Chesapeake, from which the greater 

 part of the supply had come, really gained by it. Soon 

 after the war, planting began in that state, and at present 

 the supply of seed from the natural beds of the lower 

 Chesapeake is barely sufficient for the needs of those 

 there engaged in the industry. 



It is seldom possible for a legislative body deliberately 

 to plan the organization and future development of an 

 industry, and to formulate laws establishing the plan, 

 before the industry exists. Such a feat was accom- 

 plished with every prospect of success, by the legislature 

 of Louisiana, when it formulated its present oyster laws. 

 The result will be to avoid years of wasteful experiment 

 and controversy and to add rapidly and permanently to 

 the wealth of the state. 



But this was only possible because other states had 



