The Chesapeake 227 



It is safe to say that no natural beds have ever been 

 so carefully examined and charted as have those of 

 Maryland. Their limits have been drawn liberally in 

 favor of tongers and dredgers, and are marked by per- 

 manent buoys. The Shell-fish Commission has pub- 

 lished expert advice in regard to specific areas open for 

 lease, on which conditions for planting or for seed collec- 

 tion seem to be favorable. They have designated other 

 areas as of doubtful value. They have given reasons for 

 some previous failures under the " five-acre law " — due 

 to ignorance of biological conditions necessary for the 

 attachment of spat. By experiment, they have shown 

 to doubters among the oystermen that abundant seed 

 may be captured on collectors in the Chesapeake as well 

 as in Long Island Sound. They have done everything 

 that any similar body of men could do, under the condi- 

 tions, to inaugurate a new and prosperous era for Mary- 

 land. 



But some of the legislative conditions probably are 

 anything but favorable, and it is safe to predict that 

 oyster culture will have a very slow growth in the state 

 until changes are made. Experience has shown that 

 oyster culture which shall produce the best stock, and be 

 able to market it with certainty when it is demanded, can 

 only be carried on by large interests. With several 

 thousand acres, on which natural conditions vary, an in- 

 dividual or a company may obtain a set, transplant it to 

 growing beds, move it again, if necessary, to fattening 

 grounds, always have oysters ready for market, operate 

 vessels that can obtain them quickly and at any time, and 

 thus keep the market steady and certain. Those on 

 whom perfect reliance can be placed in the delivery of 

 the best goods, will always have the best markets. 



