212 Our Food Mollusks 



creased for several years. Very few oysters have ever 

 been canned in Virginia. The early trade, like that of 

 to-day, was largely in opened oysters that were sent 

 north in a fresh condition, where they were usually sold 

 as northern stock. In 1880 the state produced nearly 

 seven million bushels, and more than sixteen thousand 

 persons were engaged in the industry. 



There seem to be no definite data bearing on the pro- 

 duction of the entire bay before the year 1880. The 

 notes of one Baltimore packer estimate the total produc- 

 tion of the bay at 6,944,500 bushels in 1865, of which 

 Maryland produced 4,879,500, and Virginia 2,065,000 

 bushels. It is stated by Professor Brooks that in 1875 

 the bay produced 17,000,000 bushels. The census esti- 

 mate for 1880 was slightly more than that. Professor 

 Brooks believed that the average for fifty-six years fol- 

 lowing the establishment of the packing industry in Bal- 

 timore, was at least 7,000,000 bushels a year, or, during 

 the period of little more than half a century, a total of 

 392,000,000 bushels. This is an enormous production, 

 and all the more wonderful because the greater part of 

 it was from natural beds. 



But high tide in the Chesapeake industry was reached 

 soon after the formulation of the tenth census estimate 

 in 1880. On account of the continued fertility of the 

 waters decade after decade, the inhabitants of Maryland 

 and Virginia seemed to have become convinced that they 

 were inexhaustible. Some, however, were able to see 

 that a continuation of dredging, as it had always been 

 carried on, would eventually bring destruction to the 

 natural beds. Influenced by those who had this belief, 

 the Governor of Maryland in 1882 requested the late 

 Professor W. K. Brooks of Johns Hopkins University 



