148 FISH-CULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
ket. The oyster fishery is everywhere carried on in the most 
reckless manner, and in all directions oyster grounds are becom- 
ing deteriorated, and in some cases have been entirely destroy- 
ed. ' It: remains*to be ‘seen whether thes g@overiments( ‘ofuse 
States will regulate the oyster-fisheries before it is too late, or 
will permit the destruction of these vast reservoirs of food. At 
present the oyster is one of the cheapest articles of diet in the 
United States, while in England, as has been well said, an oyster 
is usually worth as much as or more than a new laidegg. It can 
hardly be expected that the price of American oysters will always 
remain so low; but, taking into consideration the great wealth of 
the natural beds along the entire Atlantic coast, it seems certain 
that a moderate amount of protection will keep the price of seed 
oysters far below the European rates, and that the immense 
stretches of submerged land, especially suited for oyster plant- 
ing, may be utilized and made to produce an abundant harvest, 
at a much less cost than that which accompanies the complicat- 
ed system of culture in France and Holland. 
PRESENT CONDITION AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF 
THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 
BY LIEUT. FRANCIS WINSLOW, U.S. N. 
I beg that you will bear in mind that in a consideration of the 
oyster industry, present or future, there is opened to us so wide 
a field for investigation that it is hardly possible in a few min- 
utes to treat the subjeet fully or thoroughly. I shall not at- 
tempt to go into minute details, but confine myself to the gen- 
eral principles which, in my opinion, govern successful oyster- 
culture. 
At the last census, the oyster industry of the United States em- 
ployed nearly 53,000 persons and over $10,500,000 of capital. Its 
production amounted to more than 22,000,000 bushels of oysters, 
