THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 551 



as the amount of capital invested in the dredging-boats. The total tonnage of the dredgiug-boats 

 being 16,366, and the estimated value of the same being $1,050,000, the average value will be 

 $64.15 per ton. As some tonnage has lately changed hands iu Baltimore at $67, the above esti- 

 mate can scarcely be too great, when the high class of many of the boats is considered. The 

 amount annually expended for repairing these vessels is about $105,000. 



" Scraping, which is simply dredging on a smaller scale, both as to the size of the boat and 

 the dredge, is conducted only in shallow water j and, while dredge licenses are issued by the 

 State, scraping licenses are obtained from the counties, and hold good only iu the local waters of 

 the county in which issued. Dorchester, Talbot, and Somerset are the only counties in which 

 scraping licenses are issued. In the first two the charge is regulated by the tonnage of the vessel 

 (being $2 per ton), while in the last there is a uniform charge of $10 on each boat, regardless of 

 size. The crews of these vessels average about four men each, the majority of whom are able to 

 return home after each day's work, as the boat does not go out of the county waters, except to 

 make an occasional run to a neighboring market. * * * I feel safe in placing the number of 

 scraping boats at five hundred and fifty, carrying twenty two hundred men. An additional 

 three hundred and thirty boats are working without license. The pay of these men will average 

 about $18 a month each, for the seven and a half months employed, amounting to $135 for the 

 season, and making a total of $297,000 received by the twenty-two hundred men, including the 

 captains, whose pay is of course larger than that of the men. The average value of scraping- 

 boats, including their outfit, is $800, which gives a total of $440,000 invested in scraping 

 About $27,500 is annually expended in repairing these boats. 



"Socially and morally the scrapers are somewhat superior to the dredgers. Tonging, 

 although employing less capital and fewer men than dredging, is probably of greater value to the 

 State than the latter, because the men engaged in it are of a better class, aj-e better remunerated 

 for their labor, and are less prone to evade the laws than the dredgers. While this much may 

 be said in the tongmeu's favor, it is yet an unpleasant truth that they, like all others engaged iu 

 the oyster trade, either as catchers or shuckers, are, as a class, indolent and improvident. The 

 n:iijority of them live near the water, often owning a small house and an acre or so of land (the 

 value of which depends upon the proximity of good oyster and fishing grounds), and a canoe or 

 an interest in one, used iu winter for oystering and in summer for fishing. Having secured a 

 house, their ambition seems to be satisfied, and but little time or money is spent in beautifying 

 or improving it. It is too often the case that tongers, especially many of the negroes, who com- 

 prise about one-third of the total number, will work only one or two days at a time, and then 

 remain idle until necessity forces them again to earn a few dollars. 



" By others, however, tonging is pursued as steadily and systematically as the wind and 

 waves will allow, and when this is done I think it may safely be said that the remuneration is 

 equally as fair as in other trades. Those who pursue touging in this way form the most intelli- 

 gent class of oystermen in the State. In some cases farmers and others, holding promiuent social 

 positions, may be found oystering during several of the winter months, when their legitimate busi- 

 ness does not require close attention. Tonging necessitates very great exposure to the cold, but is, 

 however, hardly as severe in this respect as dredging, and, moreover, the tongers suffer less, from 

 the fact that they are generally better clad than the dredgers, and seldom work either during very 

 cold or very windy weather, on account of the smallness of their boats. From this cause I find that 

 even the industrious ones will lose, on an average, at least two days out of every week, and when the 

 time wasted by the idle ones is taken into account it will be found that one hundred and twenty 

 days out of an oyster season of eight months is about the average length of time for each tonger. 



