42 



to spawn sooner than the planted, ones, though there was not much difference. Oysters trans- 

 planted with the spawn in them, however, will cease spawning. A wet or warm spring would 

 hasten the time of spawning, but would not shorten its duration. Heavy freshets were very 

 destructive to the "spat" in Pocomoke Sound, driving it out into the bay, and large schools offish, 

 especially trout and tailors, devoured a good many every spring and summer. The young were 

 supposed to "strike" every three years, though there was but little regularity about it, a bed 

 sometimes running for ten years with a young growth on it every year and then failing to produce 

 anything for two or three years. Sometimes one part of the bed will be covered by young, and 

 another part totally barren. 



No systematic attempt had ever been made to increase the amount of "cultch" in the Sounds, 

 though a few persons had placed old shells, ballast, boards, and boughs about their planting 

 ground and succeeded in making a good catch. It was the general opinion that the oyster 

 increased in size from one to two inches in the first year of growth and a little more than that 

 during the second; afterwards the increase was much less. Oysters from two to four years old 

 were considered as best for the market, and are then from 3 to 4 inches long. 



Ten bushels of oysters were considered a profitable day's work for a tonger. For a dredger 

 the number of bushels varied on account of their different sizes. About GO bushels were considered 

 a profitable day's work for the larger vessels and from 20 to 30 for smaller craft. The dredging ves- 

 sels employ from four to nine men, and the " tonging" canoes one man and a boy. Tongiug could 

 not be carried on profitably in depths greater than 4 fathoms in the Sound, and dredging in not 

 more than G. The dredges vary in size, from 2 to 4 feet across the mouth, with from eight to sixteen 

 teeth. Generally they are made about 3 feet wide, with twelve or fourteeu teeth, but vary a good 

 deal in weight. My informant found that, generally speaking, it was more profitable to fish with 

 the tongs exclusively, for the large oysters used for barreling by the dealers, and to dredge for 

 packing and canning establishments. The tongs are worked at small expense and the "barrel" 

 oysters bring a much larger price, though they are necessarily selected oysters and more difficult 

 to obtain. The prices paid during the season of 1877-78 were about $1 per barrel for "barrel" 

 oysters and from 5 to 40 cents for the ordinary oysters from the beds: the "snaps," or most infe- 

 rior quality, bringing the lowest price, and 40 cents being paid only for "extra culled" oysters. 

 About 20 cents per bushel would allow a small profit. The flavor is not generally taken into 

 account, and the degree of fatness and the size settle the price. Salt-water oysters sometimes 

 command better prices when intended for a special market or to supply some unusual demand. 



With the improved appliances in use, as at present, the general opinion was that about twenty 

 or twenty-five years ago one-third more oysters could have been taken in the northern part of Tan- 

 gier Sound than at present, from two to five times as many about Orisfield, and in Pocomoke Sound 

 nearly seven times as many as at the present day; that without any of the modern contrivances it 

 was possible then for either tongers or dredgers to take many more in a day than at present. The 

 general opinion of all persons in and about the Sounds, with a very few exceptions, was that the beds 

 were being worked much beyond their capacity, and the majority were in favor of extending the 

 "close time" as a remedy for the deterioration. Many thought that a resting time of a year or 

 more would be beneficial. All were in favor of enforcing the law prohibiting the dredging and 

 working of the beds during the "close time," and all testified that there was no attempt toward 

 the enforcement of the law at present, either by the oyster police or any one else. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The foregoing pages, with the record and charts, contain all the data collected during the season 

 for the study of the beds and the conditions affecting the animals upon them. Not regarding it as 

 within my province and not possessing sufficient knowledge of the subject, 1 have not attempted 

 any study of the biology of the oyster, but have confined my report to as concise a description as 

 possible of the beds and conditions surrounding the various forms of life upon them. The follow- 

 ing remarks are simply the conclusions drawn from certain peculiar features and facts established 

 by the investigation and testimony and an attempt to account for them. 



In reviewing the remarks upon the different beds, it will be seen that there is a marked absence 

 of oysters classed as "young," or those supposed to be of the last brood, on all beds above Kedge's 



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