THE OYSTER. 139 



while legislation alone cannot build up a planting in- 

 dustry, it may do much to prepare the way for it. 



In another chapter I shall try to show what our 

 State can do to encourage oyster culture in general, 

 but I wish also to say a few words in this place regard- 

 ing the encouragement of planting. The most serious 

 obstacle to the growth of the planting industry in 

 Maryland is the absence of protection for planted oys- 

 ters. They are exposed to the depredations of both 

 tongmen and dredgers. If the private planting grounds 

 could be protected from the dredgers, most of the 

 difficulty would be removed, for the tongmen can be 

 reached by the local authorities, who will have no 

 difficulty in keeping them under control as soon as 

 public sentiment is in favor of so doing. 



The restraint of the dredgers within lawful bounds 

 is a more difficult matter, and if dredging on the public 

 beds is to be permitted at all, I do not see how planted 

 oysters can be protected in any way, except by the 

 formation of a public sentiment in favor of private 

 cultivation. The difficulty is so great that many 

 thoughtful persons believe that dredging should be 

 prohibited, but after much careful examination of the 

 subject I am not convinced of the propriety of this 

 measure. If the natural beds are to be retained by the 

 State, and licenses to gather oysters upon them are to 

 be issued by the State, the dredge is the proper instru- 

 ment to use for the purpose, and the prohibition of 

 dredging would be a step backward. 



Any bed which can be reached by tongmen may be 



