683 



MARYLAND. 



$1,379,590.70. Expenditures, $2,026,296.67. 

 Illiteracy during 1870, between the ages often 

 and twenty-one, was 7,296 ; in 1880 this num- 

 ber is reduced to 4,530. Thus, during the past 

 decade, while the population of the State lias 

 increased, the number of those between the 

 ages of ten and twenty-one who can not read 

 and write has been reduced about one third. 

 The number over ten years of age who can not 

 read is 111,387; who can not write, 134,488, 

 of whom 44,316 (36,027 native and 8,289 for- 

 eign) are white, and 90,172 colored. 



There are 700 dredging-boats, paying $916,- 

 300 to 5,600 men ; 550 scraping-boats, paying 

 $297,000 to 2,200 men ; 1,825 canoes, with 5,148 

 men, earning $1,158,300 ; and 200 runners, with 

 800 men, at $166,400 for the season, making a 

 total of 13,748 men engaged in catching oysters 

 in Maryland, with wages and earnings amount- 

 ing to $2,538,000 during every oyster season, 

 or an average of $184.60 for each man. In- 

 vested in oyster-boats in Maryland the sum- 

 mary is: 



700 dredgers, at an average of $1,500 $1,050,000 



Outfit of same 70,000 



655 scrapers, at an average of $800 440,000 



200 runners, at an average of $1.500 800,000 



1,825 canoes, at an average of $100 182,500 



8,275 Total $2,042,500 



Baltimore is the great center of the packing- 

 tradft. During the census year the number of 

 vessels loaded with oysters arriving at that 

 port was 9,543, bringing 7,252,972 bushels. In 

 addition to this amount, there were 25,000 bush- 

 els brought by the bay steamboats, making a 

 total of 7,277,972 bushels, of which 3,769,353 

 bushels were packed raw, 2,689,939 bushels 

 cooked and hermetically sealed, and 818,680 

 bushels used for local consumption. The amount 

 of capital invested in the business is $2,338,300, 

 and the estimated value of the packing-houses 

 $1,360,966. The number of shuckers employed 

 by the oyster-packers of Baltimore is 6,627, of 

 which 4,167 are males and 2,460 are females. 



From the prolific beds of the Chesapeake Bay 

 several million bushels of oysters are annu- 

 ally taken to restock the exhausted beds of 

 other localities, and equally as many for con- 

 sumption in Boston, New York, and other At- 

 lantic sea-ports. More than 200 vessels, aver- 

 aging in value $3,000 each, arc, for eight months 

 of the year, engaged in the trade between the 

 bay and Northern cities. The oysters shipped 

 North during the winter are used for imme- 

 diate local consumption, with the exception of 

 those carried to Fair Haven, Connecticut, which 

 re packed and shipped elsewhere. Those taken 

 North in the spring are almost exclusively for 

 bedding purposes. They are planted on the 

 bedding-grounds at New York, Providence 

 River, and other places, and allowed to remain 

 from spring to winter, during which time they 

 fatten rapidly, and when taken for use are 

 much superior to what they were when plant- 

 ed. During the census year the shipments of 

 oysters in shell from Maryland to Northern 

 cities amounted to 2,021,840 bushels. 



The following is a summary of the Maryland 

 oyster business : 



CAPITAL INVESTED. 



In packing $3,928,876 



" boats 2,042,500 



" can-making, ship-building, etc 250,000 



" local trade 25,000 



Total $6,245,876 



Production and disposition in bushels, in- 

 cluding 1,000,000 brought from Virginia: 

 Catch... .. 10,569,012 



Packed 7,653.492 



ShippedNorth 2,021.840 



Local consumption 



Persons employed and their earnings : 



