THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
249 
has been made to find the record for Somerset from 1854 to 1869, but without success. 
With this exception, the list is complete: 
Table showing number of scraping licenses issued in Maryland. 
Season. 
Somer- 
set. 
Dor- 
chester. 
Talbot. 
Total. 
Season. 
Somer- 
set. 
Dor- 
chester. 
Talbot. 
Total. 
isfio no 
283 
283 
1881-82 
173 
153 
83 
409 
1870-71 
359 
125 
484 
278 
177 
64 
519 
1871-72 
453 
130 
583 
1883 84 
218 
64 
544 
1872-73 
276 
132 
408 
1884-85 
469 
310 
100 
879 
1873-74 
224 
106 
330 
370 
402 
897 
1874-75 
322 
149 
59 
530 
1 
428 
334 
93 
855 
1875-76 
209 
180 
40 
429 
1887 88 
337 
373 
85 
795 
1876-77 
165 
142 
47 
354 
1888 89 
262 
433 
85 
780 
1877-78 
59 
142 
27 
1889 90 
356 
502 
105 
963 
1878-70 
151 
157 
34 
342 
1890-93 
632 
550 
116 
1,298 
1879-80... . 
57 
134 
29 
220 
1891-92 
640 
582 
78 
1, 300 
1880-81 
292 
148 
30 
470 
1892-93 
647 
483 
102 
1,232 
Owing to a defect in the law operative at that time, a number of Somerset scrape- 
men from 1877 to 1880 engaged in this fishery without a license, and while the fore- 
going figures embrace all the licensed boats and vessels, it does not for those years 
include all that engaged in scraping. The defect was remedied in 1880, and since 
then there has been little, if any, difference between the number of boats licensed 
and the number actually at work. 
The following table exhibits, by counties, the amount of fees paid for scraping 
licenses during each of the last five seasons : 
License fees paid for scraping from 1889 to 1893. 
Seasons. 
Somerset. 
Dorchester. 
Talbot. 
Total. 
1888-89 
$1,807. 31 
$5, 222. 52 
$1, 344. 46 
$8, 374. 29 
1889-90 
2, 540. 83 
6, 211. 26 
1, 688. 34 
10, 440. 43 
1890-91 
6. 786. 20 
6, 584. 75 
1, 806. 00 
15, 176. 95 
1891-92 
4, 463. 01 
7? 937. 00 
1, 267. 92 
13, 667. 93 
1892-93 
5, 205. 22 
6, 468. 30 
1, 660. 22 
13,333.74 
Total 
20, 802. 57 
32, 423. 83 
7, 766. 94 
60, 993. 34 
Annual average 
4, 160. 51 
6, 484. 76 
1, 553. 39 
12, 198. 67 
Grounds , area, etc . — The total water area of the counties in which scraping is 
authorized is 510 square miles, and the area used by the scrapemen 277, of which the 
area more or less covered with natural oyster-ground approximates 80 square miles. 
The following tabular statement exhibits these data for each of the three counties : 
Counties. 
Water area. 
Scraping 
area. 
Reefs in 
scraping 
Somerset 
Sq. miles . 
183 
207 
120 
Sq. miles. 
112 
118 
47 
Sq. miles. 
39 
26 
15 
Dorchester 
Talbot 
Total 
510 
277 
80 
The depth of water over these reefs averages about 32 feet, although in isolated 
places it may attain 100 feet. The general condition of the reefs in the three estuaries in 
which this fishery is prosecuted, viz, Tangier Sound, Choptank Eiver, and Eastern Bay, 
has already been noted (see pp. 220-226). During the last five seasons the scraping 
