THE OYSTER. 147 



bushels a year might be harvested from each acre, with 

 very little labor or outlay. No other branch of oyster 

 culture gives as much profit upon the investment of 

 capital and labor as deep-water oyster- farming." 



" Does no one in Maryland understand the busi- 

 ness?" 



" Oh yes ! Many of our packers do business in 

 Connecticut, and they have seen for themselves how 

 oyster-farming is carried on. They sell to the Con- 

 necticut farmers the shells which they scatter over 

 their land to collect the spat, and there are many citi- 

 zens of Maryland who know all about the business, 

 and even some who have attempted to put the Con- 

 necticut methods into practice in our own waters." 



" Were these attempts unsuccessful ? Are the oys- 

 ters exposed here to dangers which do not exist in 

 Long Island Sound? I am told that in Connecticut 

 oysters in shallow water are often killed by ice, and 

 that the deep-water farms are open and exposed to 

 violent storms which, in the winter, often drive the 

 loose sand and mud over the oysters and bury and 

 destroy them. I hear, too, that the farmers suffer from 

 the ravages of starfish. They tell me that these ani- 

 mals often come up in great armies, on to the beds, 

 from outside, and that they destroy whole farms, leav- 

 ing behind them only the empty shells. Do these 

 accidents and enemies threaten the farming industry 

 in Maryland?" 



" Not at all," answered the packer. " We are so for- 

 tunate as to have none of these causes of failure. While 



