73 



Table showing the number of oysters removed. 



Section. 



In one day. 



In one season. 



Number of voung growth, 

 1879. 





1878. 



1879. 



1878. 



1879. 



Per day. 



In the season. 



No. 1 



567, 450 

 378, 450 

 459, 000 

 133, 650 



353, 876 

 240, 450 

 109, 799 

 42, 101 



68, 094, 000 

 45, 414, 000 

 55, 080, 000 

 16, 038 000 



42, 465, 120 



28, 854, 000 



13, 175, 880 



5 059 1 9f) 



146, 100 

 89, 200 

 57, 800 

 12, 100 



17 532 000 



No. 2 



No. 3 



No. 4 



10, 704, 000 

 6, 936, 000 

 1 452 000 











1, 538, 550 

 7,692 



746, 226 

 3,232 



184, 626, 000 , 89, 547, 120 

 923, 230 447 735 



325, 200 



36, 624, 000 













Two hundred oysters are allowed to a bushel. 



The estimated number of young removed from all sections iu one day, in 1878, was about 

 1 ,240,000, or 148,800,000 in the course of the season. 



It will be seen by the table that about one hundred million more oysters mere removed in 1878 

 than would be in 1879, and that about the same excess exists with regard to the young. Of the 

 two estimates, that of 1879 is much more accurate, being based upon a larger number of observa- 

 tions, more carefully and systematically made than was possible in 1878, but the disparity between 

 the two is so great that the estimate of 1878 would appear valueless, could not some cause be 

 assigned for a decrease in the number of oysters taken from the beds. This decrease, as may be 

 easily seen, must be due to one or both of the following causes: 



1st. The fertility of the beds remaining the same, the dredgers may not be as numerous. 



2d. The number of dredgers remaining the same, the beds may be exhausted; or, becoming so, 

 there would be a smaller number of oysters produced ; or, 



3d. The number of dredgers may have decreased and the fertility of the beds may be greatly 

 impaired. 



There are no statistics of the oyster fishery in the localities under consideration except those 

 collected by myself, and I am consequently obliged to put a greater dependence upon them than 

 they intrinsically merit. They are necessarily somewhat rude, but, in the absence of other informa- 

 tion, the}" can be used as giving some indication of the probable progress of the fishery in the two 

 seasons under consideration. 



By examining my previous report it will be seen that in thirteen days we counted 1,595 vessels 

 working on the various beds in both Sounds. From our records of the past season I find that the 

 number observed by all persons was, in thirty -seven days, 2,275, or in 1878 the average number 

 working on each day was 122, while iu 1879 it was 61, or one-half as many. Therefore, the small 

 yield of the beds during the autumn mouths of 1879, and the small estimate of the yield for the 

 year, may be accounted for by the smaller number of vessels at work, and as in round numbers 

 the number of oysters estimated as taken in 1879 was about one-half that in 1878, I think that the 

 previous estimate may be accepted as practically correct. 



My last advices from Crisfield inform me that there is but very little dredging going on in the 

 Sounds, most of the vessels working iu the bay and in the Potomac River. The principal cause 

 assigned for this is the presence of young growth on the beds, by which is meant immature 

 oysters under two years of age. The presence of this class in large numbers prevents the oysters 

 from fattening rapidly. Another reason given is that the beds are much broken up, and that the 

 returns are very poor for the usual amount of labor. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



My additional experience in the investigation and the information collected during the past 

 season has proved that a few of the conclusions at which I arrived in 1878, and which are contained 

 in my report of the operations of that season, are erroneous. Some of them have been already 

 alluded to, and the allusions to the remaining ones here find their most appropriate place. 



I find my supposition that there is a general attachment of spat on all the beds in any 

 season, to be, to a certain extent, incorrect. The spatting may be general, and a majority of the 

 App. 11 10 



