﻿L.VXVI 
  

  

  We 
  would 
  call 
  your 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  extracts 
  given 
  from 
  the 
  

   report 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Winslow, 
  as 
  his 
  investigations 
  clearlj 
  show 
  that 
  

   there 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  very 
  decided 
  decrease 
  of 
  the 
  oysters 
  in 
  the 
  

   best 
  beds; 
  in 
  fact, 
  that 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  have 
  practically 
  been 
  

   exhausted. 
  His 
  examinations 
  indicate 
  the 
  necessity 
  of 
  our 
  

   providing 
  without 
  delay 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  arresting 
  this 
  exhaustion. 
  

   Although 
  it 
  was 
  impracticable 
  to 
  determine 
  the 
  exact 
  condi- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  and 
  the 
  actual 
  amount 
  of 
  the 
  oysters 
  of 
  each 
  

   class 
  that 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found, 
  without 
  much 
  more 
  extended 
  inves- 
  

   tigations 
  than 
  the 
  Coast 
  Survey 
  has 
  yet 
  made, 
  the 
  relative 
  

   conditions 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  have 
  been 
  pretty 
  well 
  ascertained. 
  It 
  

   is 
  ea'"nestly 
  hoped 
  that 
  this 
  department 
  will 
  continue 
  the 
  val- 
  

   uable 
  investigations 
  they 
  have 
  commenced, 
  and 
  that 
  we 
  will 
  

   be 
  able 
  to 
  profit 
  by 
  the 
  cumulative 
  work 
  in 
  this 
  direction. 
  

  

  A 
  careful 
  review 
  of 
  oyster 
  culture 
  in 
  France, 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  

   the 
  researches 
  of 
  Dr. 
  Brooks, 
  the 
  investigations 
  by 
  the 
  Coast 
  

   Survey 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  Tangier 
  and 
  Pocornoke 
  Sounds, 
  the 
  

   study 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  trade 
  of 
  Maryland 
  and 
  the 
  operations 
  of 
  

   our 
  oyster 
  police 
  force, 
  causes 
  us 
  to 
  suggest 
  that 
  perhaps 
  the 
  

   most 
  rational 
  solution 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  arrived 
  at 
  would 
  be 
  the 
  

   division 
  of 
  the 
  beds 
  of 
  the 
  Chesapeake 
  Bay 
  into 
  sections, 
  

   and 
  protecting 
  alternately 
  the 
  beds 
  in 
  each 
  section. 
  The 
  

   period 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  embryo 
  oyster 
  remains 
  unattached, 
  and 
  

   the 
  distance 
  that 
  the 
  young 
  oysters 
  are 
  carried 
  from 
  the 
  

   parents 
  during 
  their 
  early 
  life 
  is 
  so 
  great, 
  that 
  the 
  abun- 
  

   dance 
  of 
  spat 
  deposited 
  at 
  a 
  given 
  point 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  the 
  result 
  

   of 
  the 
  fertility 
  of 
  the 
  adults 
  on 
  an 
  adjacent 
  bed. 
  By 
  protect- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  bed 
  thoroughly, 
  sufficient 
  spat 
  may 
  be 
  produced 
  from 
  it 
  

   to 
  provide 
  the 
  surrounding 
  localities, 
  and 
  probably 
  those 
  quite 
  

   remote. 
  

  

  Conclusion. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  compiled 
  from 
  the 
  several 
  tables 
  showing 
  the 
  re- 
  

   sult 
  of 
  the 
  hatching 
  operation 
  during 
  the 
  six 
  years 
  of 
  the 
  

   existence 
  of 
  the 
  Maryland 
  Fish 
  Commission 
  the 
  following 
  

   summary, 
  showing 
  the 
  total 
  number 
  of 
  each 
  variety 
  of 
  fish 
  

   which 
  we 
  have 
  hatched 
  and 
  deposited 
  in 
  the 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  

   State 
  : 
  

  

  