INTRODUCTION TO FIRST EDITION. 



This book (for which I have been asked to write an 

 introductory note) is written for the information of all 

 who care for oysters, no matter whether their point 

 of view be that of providers or consumers, of the 

 oysterman, the money-maker, the housekeeper, the 

 legislator, the editor, or the student of natural history. 

 So well is the book written that many parts of it are as 

 fascinating as a story. 



The facts that have led to its preparation are these. 

 After many years of plenty, Maryland is in danger 

 of an oyster famine. The supplies which nature be- 

 stows most bountifully have been so treated that 

 scarcity now takes the place of abundance, anxiety and 

 alarm have followed security. Authentic figures show- 

 ing the decline and fall of the oyster empire of the 

 Chesapeake, startle all who consider them. It is not 

 only the dredgers, the dealers, the shuckers, the 

 packers, the coopers, the tinners, and the carriers, that 

 are to suffer if this state of affairs continues, every- 

 body in Maryland will likewise suffer more or less. 

 An important article of food, that should be as plentiful 



