Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 53 



the Lumps and other sections where such fishing had been provided 

 for. 



Two short seasons have been proposed because the oyster canners 

 will probably demand one in the Spring at the close of the general 

 season in order that the oysters shall have had all the time possible, 

 before the Spring freshets set in, in which to grow. Oyster planters, 

 on the other hand, will profit most by a short season in the Fall for 

 reasons set forth in the concluding paragraphs. 



The best results from oyster planting operations are obtained 

 when the transplanted oysters are secured from localities in which 

 the water is not greatly different in its density, or salinity, from 

 that of the locality to which they are transplanted. 



The water over the various widely distributed oyster producing 

 grounds of Maryland is much more uniform in its salinity dur- 

 ing the Fall, just at the close of the long dry Summer season, than 

 it is in the Spring; hence it follows that the work of transplanting 

 seed oysters from one localit}/- to another should, as a rule, be carried 

 on in Maryland during the late Fall. 



The localities in which the greatest fluctuations in the salinity of 

 the water take place between Fall and Spring are just those 

 where the oyster bars become overcrowded with undersized oysters 

 because of the presence of conditions under which oysters fail to 

 grow rapidly. These are the localities from which the overstock of 

 oysters should be removed and to which planters should therefore 

 be permitted to go in the Fall for their supply of seed oysters. 



The oysters of the Upper Bay Lumps section are much less 

 valuable for planting purposes if transplanted to other growing 

 grounds in the Spring after they 'have been subjected to severe 

 freshets, but they are very valuable for planting purposes if trans- 

 planted in the Fall; hence the advisability of setting aside a short 

 period in the Fall when unculled oysters may be transplanted from 

 the Lumps and from other sections in which the bars become over- 

 stocked with small ovsters. 



