Implements and Their Uses 135 



in the Chesapeake is continued day after clay until a 

 load has been secured. This usually means two or three 

 weeks of dredging. The boat then puts in to market. 



While the dredges used by the oystermen of Long 

 Island Sound are of usual pattern, their operation has 

 been greatly perfected. On many of the modern steam 

 vessels as many as four of them are handled simultane- 

 ously, and the winches, instead of being operated labor- 

 iously by hand, are controlled by steam power. By this 

 means dredges are drawn in very rapidy. They are usu- 

 ally much larger than those drawn by hand, and the 

 number of the boat's crew is greatly decreased. 



Reference, has been made to the tonging boat, which 

 is of much the same pattern everywhere. Every one is 

 familiar with the common schooner and sloop rigs. 

 These are found on the oyster grounds from New Eng- 

 land to Texas. The hulls of these boats of course vary 

 in size, in depth of keel, and the use of center-board, con- 

 forming to the nature of the oyster region. A brief 

 reference to an unusual and specialized form may not 

 be out of place. 



At the present time in Louisiana, many schooners and 

 sloops are employed by oystermen, and under the intel- 

 ligent and progressive management now in force, the 

 more modern power boat is being added to the oyster 

 fleet. But not long ago the oyster boats were all of a 

 class seldom seen on our coasts, which, from its Medi- 

 terranean rig, was known as the " lugger." A few of 

 these boats may still be seen on the oyster grounds. 



The lugger, varying from sixteen to forty feet in 

 length, is decked over fore and aft, the center being left 

 open. There is one long mast carrying a large, nearly 

 square sail that is suspended frorn. a long yard. The 



