THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
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As the tonging reefs are situated in the inshore waters, where the dredging ves- 
sels harbor at night, and in the mouths of rivers and inlets directly in the path of 
navigation, the opportunities for dredging thereon without detection are great. On 
account of the exposed position of the dredging-grounds, situated in the deep waters 
off shore, the rough weather prevalent during the latter half of the oyster season 
prevents the dredging vessels from working more than three or four days in the 
week, and when not able to dredge they seek shelter in the coves and rivers with every 
temptation to take the oysters directly under them, resulting in the tonging reefs 
being not entirely free from their depredations. And at times, during periods of 
scarcity on the “State grounds,” certain “county grounds” have been openly and 
defiantly used by the dredgers, this being particularly noticeable in 1888 and 1889. 
However, these occurrences are not so common as is generally supposed, and during 
the last three or four years the quantity of oysters taken in this manner has prob- 
ably not been very large. It is proper to state that Maryland’s experience with the 
difficulties encountered in protecting reserved areas has not been peculiar, nearly all 
the extensive oyster-producing localities having suffered in this respect. 
Boats and apparatus . — Tonging is prosecuted with many forms of boats varying 
in size from 45 feet in length to such as are scarcely sufficient to float one man with a 
few bushels of oysters. The principal forms of craft employed are canoes, skiffs, 
bateaux, brogans, and sloops. These are built mostly on the shores of the Chesapeake 
and tributaries, the greater number being constructed by the oystermen who use 
them. Canoes are by far the most plentiful, and in some parts of Maryland the words 
canoe and tonging boat are synonymous. In the. early part of the present century, 
because of the cheapness of its manufacture, this was almost the only type of boat 
employed by the people of Maryland in the oyster industry ; and they had been in 
extensive use by the Indians before the settlement of the State. In reference to the 
canoes observed on the occasion of his visit to the Chesapeake Bay in 1609, John 
Smith says, in his well-known “Travels and Adventures”: 
Their fishing is much in Boats. These they make of one tree, by burning and scratching away 
the ceales with stones and shels till they have it in forme of a Trough. Some of them are an eln deep 
and fortie or fiftie foot in length, and some will beare 40 men, but the most ordinary are smaller, and 
will beare 10, 20, or 30, according to their bignesse. Instead of Oares, they use Paddles and sticks, 
with which they will row faster than our Barges. 
Canoes were originally made of pitch pine from a single log and were straight in 
the bow and pointed at both ends. The average size at present is about 20 feet in 
length, 4 feet wide across the gunwales, and 18 inches deep on the inside. Formerly 
large ones, 30 feet and more in length and 5 or 6 feet wide, were also made from one 
log. But as the number of large pitch-pine trees decreased, the size of the canoes 
was necessarily lessened. This finally led to the use of three, five, and seven logs in 
one boat, the different logs being joined to each other by wooden keys or iron bolts 
driven in edgewise. When three logs are used one forms the keel and the others form 
the sides. The large canoes generally have a short length of decking in the bow 
and sometimes a small house and usually a centerboard. The smaller ones carry only 
one mast with a triangular sail ; the larger ones have two masts with triangular sails 
and sometimes a jib. The cost of these canoes ranges from $60 to $600 each. Some 
of them last a very great length of time. The Martha Washington , 10.84 tons, was 
built in 1827 and is still doing service. The dimensions of this vessel are: length, 39 
feet; breadth, 13.5 feet; depth, 4.8 feet. The number of skiffs, bateaux, brogans, and 
