SUMMARY OF SURVEY OF OYSTERS BARS OF MARYLAND, 



1906-1912. 



INTRODUCTORY STATEMENTS. 



EXPLANATION OF PLAN OF PUBLICATION. 



It often happens that the rapid progress of modern science, even when special- 

 ized by application to a single class of work, is the indirect cause of an accumulation 

 of technical publications impossible to assimilate and apply to a special case without 

 an amount of labor all out of proportion to the probable benefits to be derived. 

 And this applies with particular force to the six years' work of the Maryland Oyster 

 Survey, as evidenced by its publications consisting of a series of 17 official documents 

 and 43 large-scale charts aggregating over 2,400 printed pages and 400 square feet 

 of chart area. 



For reasons similar to those just mentioned, the value of a modern technical 

 publication describing a particular work is for a greater part dependent upon the 

 fidelity with which it is confined to a record of methods and results which can be 

 utilized in future operations of like character. And this end has been accomplished 

 with remarkable success for the work of the Maryland Oyster Survey by Dr. Caswell 

 Grave of Johns Hopkins University and a member of the Maryland Shell Fish Com- 

 mission from 1906 to 1912, in his Fourth Report of the Shell Fish Commission of 

 Maryland. (XLIII.) 1 



The intent of this "Summary" is to supplement Dr. Grave's report, first, by an 

 index chart which also serves as a graphical summary; second, by a brief explanation 

 of the relation of the work of the Government to the Maryland Oyster Survey; third, 

 by a summary of the essential features of the work of the Maryland Oyster Survey; 

 fourth, by a statement of conclusions thought to be of value for use in connection 

 with future oyster surveys; fifth, by a list of publications relating to the oyster 

 industry of Maryland; and, sixth, by a technical index to all publications of the 

 Government and the Statte directly resulting from the work of the Maryland Oyster 

 Survey. 



INDEX CHART AS A GRAPHICAL SUMMARY. 



The best summary and index of the six years' work of the Maryland Oyster 

 Survey, and probably the most useful and interesting feature of this publication, is the 

 "Index Chart" in the folder. 



The chart is self-explanatory as to details. But other considerations suggest 

 that attention be directed to the magnitude of the shellfish resources of Maryland 

 and to the magnitude of the actual work of the survey as indicated graphically by 



1 See "References," p. 19. 



