199 
INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM “ RECORD OF STATISTICS.” 
The member of the party on duty at Crisfield inspected, 
during the season, 496 vessels directly engaged in the oyster 
fishery, and the results of these inspections have been re- 
corded in the Record of Statistics, which record, to a great 
extent, explains itself. 
Owing to the large number of vessels dredging, it was fre- 
quently impossible to visit and inspect all that entered during 
the day. When such was the case, those inspected were se- 
lected from different classes and from different dredging 
grounds that a fair idea might be obtained of the number of 
oysters removed each day from each bed. 
The method of examination was as follows : 
The total number of bushels in the load given by the mas- 
ter of the vessel was recorded, and with the number of hours 
of labor necessary to obtain that quantity, and other matters 
of statistical interest. 
Several samples of one- quarter or one-half bushels each 
were then selected from different parts of the load, and the 
number of oysters in each sample of each class counted and 
recorded. The number of samples examined depended upon 
the number of bushels in the load and upon the character of 
the oysters, a large number being taken when the oysters ap- 
peared dissimilar, and when the quantity was great. At least 
three samples were usually examined. 
In most cases the average number of each class per sample 
was nearly the same as that given by each term, and, conse- 
quently, it is assumed that a close estimate of the number of 
each class in the entire load was obtained by multiplying the 
number of each class in a bushel, as shown by the samples, 
by the total number of bushels in the load. 
From the record of these inspections I have been able to 
determine with practical accuracy the number of oysters of 
the several classes removed from the various beds by each de- 
scription of dredging vessel. 
After September 1st, when the dredging began, we counted 
each day all the vessels in sight from the “ Palinurus,” speci- 
fying the size and the ground upon which they were working, 
