118 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



The interviews with the individual oystermen furnished more and 

 better information both in regard to the present condition of the indus- 

 try and the general history for each town. 



Personal inspection of the oyster grounds was made, the biological 

 conditions noted and the area of the grants plotted on the accompany- 

 ing maps. Not all these grants are worked, and parts of the cultivated 

 grants are unfit for oyster raising. The charted area includes all 

 grants, cultivated or uncultivated. 



In reviewing the history of the industry, information was obtained 

 from town records, oystermen who had been in the business for years, 

 and various newspapers and periodicals. For a comparison of the 

 oyster industry of 1879 and 1907 the excellent report of Mr. Ernest 

 Ingersoll upon the " Oyster Industry," published in the tenth census 

 of the United States, was used for comparison, and in many places 

 directly quoted. Were it not for this work and the report of A. Howard 

 Clark on the " Fisheries of Massachusetts," it would have been impos- 

 sible to draw any reliable comparison with the oyster industry of 

 twenty-eight years ago. 



Massachusetts as an Oyster State. Massachusetts is perhaps not so 

 well adapted for oyster culture as it is for clam or quahaug farming, 

 and does not equal other seacoast States in the extent of its oyster 

 industry. Nevertheless, the oyster industry is on a much firmer footing 

 than the other shellfisheries, and is an important adjunct to the wealth 

 of the southern Massachusetts towns. 



All the oyster grants, except in the towns of Wellfleet, Eastham and 

 Orleans, are found south of Cape Cod, as the southern shore of Massa- 

 chusetts alone is adapted for the oyster industry. Along the south side 

 of Cape Cod and in Buzzards Bay the numerous inlets and estuaries 

 afford with their brackish water excellent ground for the cultivation of 

 this bivalve, and many acres which otherwise would be barren have been 

 made productive through the grant system; while the shores of Massa- 

 chusetts which adjoin the waters of Narragansett Bay possess, in the 

 Taunton, Cole and Lee's rivers, excellent waters for the growth of seed 

 oysters. Thus Massachusetts possesses good facilities for oyster culture, 

 which are capable of a far greater expansion than present conditions 

 indicate. 



However well developed the oyster industry is at present, there is 

 plenty of room for improvement. It is the consensus of opinion among 

 the oystermen that the business is developing every year, a fact 

 that speaks well for its future. Improvements in the oyster industry 

 can arise in three ways: (1) investment of more capital in the business, 

 which will allow more extensive operations; (2) more intensive culti- 

 vation of the present grounds; (3) the opening of new areas for oyster 

 culture and the utilization of waters at present useless. Everything 

 indicates that the oyster industry will take advantage of opportunities 

 as soon as they are given. 



