THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 561 



The statistics of oyster-packing in Baltimore in 1880 are given by Mr. Edmonds as follows: 



" During the season extending from September 1, 1879, to May 15, 1880, the number of vessels 

 loaded with oysters arriving at Baltimore was 9,543 (or a daily average of 37 for the 257 daysV 

 bringing 7,252,972 bushels, which would make the average cargo 7GO bushels. In addition to the 

 amount brought by sail-vessels, there were 25,000 bushels received by steamers and consigned 

 directly to hotels and restaurants, making a total of 7,277,972 bushels, of which there were packed 

 raw 3,769,353 bushels, hermetically sealed 2,689,939 bushels, and used for city consumption 818,680 

 bushels. Engaged in oyster packing in Baltimore there are forty-five firms, with a capital of 

 $2,338,300, occupying, in their business, houses and grounds with an estimated value of $1,360,966. 

 During the summer these firms are generally engaged in fruit packing, and their capital and 

 buildings are thus in active use during the entire year. These firms employ 4;167 males and 2,460 

 females total, 6,627 ; and during the season of 1879-'80 paid to them in wages $602,427. The 

 total number of bushels of oysters packed was 6,459,292, which required 25,546,780 tin cans and 

 '.).!), 614 wooden cases. The value of the oysters packed,, including shucking, cans, &c.. was 

 $3,547,349. For the tin cans $794,919 was paid, and for the wooden cases $102,622. 



" Of the 6,179 males [in Baltimore and other packing-houses in Maryland], nearly all of whom 

 are employed in the 'raw' trade, about three-fourths are negroes, the majority of them being com- 

 paratively steady workmen, while the whites are more generally disposed to be idle and intem- 

 perate. The few whites in the business are generally of a very low class of society. Within the 

 past year a few females have essayed to shuck raw oysters, but their number is still very small, 

 and will probably so continue, owing to the nature of the work. The 2,460 females are all em- 

 ployed in the steam oyster-houses of Baltimore. They are mostly white girls of from sixteen to 

 twenty-five years of age, the proportion of older ones as well as of colored being small. These 

 girls are almost without exception of foreign birth or parentage, the largest proportion being of 

 Bohemian origin, with Irish probably coming next. Few American girls, however poor, will con- 

 sent to engage in this occupation, as in it both sexes must mingle indiscriminately, without 

 regard to color, class, or condition. Owing to the thorough steaming the oysters are very easily 

 opened, and the amount of physical labor required is comparatively light ; but during the busy sea- 

 son the work begins about daybreak and lasts until dark, and is of course exceedingly fatiguing. 

 An industrious hand can make from 75 cents to f 1 a day, but from the great irregularity in their 

 work they are probably not engaged over one-half of the time. 



''Considering the class of the people employed in the packing-houses, I do not think it safe 

 to estimate more than an average of two individuals dependent upon the wages of each shucker, 

 at which rate there are in Maryland 17,278 people dependent upon oyster-shucking." 



In addition to Baltimore, packing is carried on in Maryland at several other points. Mr. 

 Edmonds reports these as follows for 1880: Crisfield, 16 firms, 678 employes, packing 427,270 

 bushels, worth $165,800; Cambridge, 8 firms, 385 employes, 205,410 bushels, worth $76,658; 

 Annapolis, 8 firms, 315 employe's, 156,703 bushels, worth $69,555; Oxford, 7 firms, 156 employe's, 

 108,960 bushels, worth $39,986; Saint Michaels, 4 firms, 91 employe's, 37,788 bushels, worth $14,053 ; 

 Somerset County, 10 firms, 387 employes, 224,817 bushels, worth $86,945; Seaford, Del., also has a 

 packing trade supplied by Maryland oysters. Mr. Edmonds says: "There are at Seaford seven 

 oyster-packing firms, having an aggregate capital of $14,600, and occupying buildings estimated 

 to be worth $28,500. From September 1, 1879, to May 1, 1880, 184,500 bushels of oysters were 

 packed raw, giving employment to 170 males and 45 females, the wages of both for the season 

 amounting to $14,230. The estimated value of the oysters, after being shucked and packed, was 

 $71,350. When shucked oysters are shipped in bulk, the package (barrel or half-barrel) is re- 

 SEC. V, VOL. ii 36 



