INTEODUOTORY. 



On the 18th- of July last, Maj. T. B. Ferguson, Com- 

 missioner, having completed the preliminary arrange- 

 ments looking forward to the establishment of an experi- 

 mental station where every opportunity should be offered 

 for the cultivation of the oyster by artificial means, em- 

 ployed the writer to carry on the necessary work of 

 experiment and observation. The locality chosen for 

 our operations by the Commissioner, was about seven 

 miles north of the mouth of the Potomac River, on the 

 western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, in St. Mary's Co., 

 Md., and forms part of an inlet extending several miles 

 inland, known as St. Jerome's Creek. Here, a pond, 

 covering an area of perhaps two or three acres, which is 

 joined to the main body of the creek by a narrow run or 

 canal, through which the tide ebbs and flows, was chosen 

 with the design of converting it into a claire or oyster 

 park, somewhat similar to those in successful operation 

 on the coast of France. The pond having been leased 

 from the owner, Mr. J. W. Wrightson, for a term of years, 

 with the privilege of making such improvements as might 

 be necessary in carrying on the work of oyster culture, 

 presents, in all respects, as favorable a situation in the 

 opinion of the writer, for the purpose intended, as could 

 be desired. 



After some delay in getting our work agoing, we suc- 

 ceeded however, in obtaining some results and many 

 experiences, which will be of great use in guiding us to 

 the attainment of better results in the future. My object, 

 in the main, was to learn what were the difficulties which 

 would beset us in our future work and to ffnd out what 

 methods might suggest themselves as better calculated to 

 further our efforts next season. The time of breeding 



