250 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
areas have been in much better condition than the dredging-grounds, this being par- 
ticularly true of the Choptank River, and they are naturally more productive than 
the tonging areas. During the last eight years no branch of the oyster fishery has 
been more prosperous than this, and its extent during the last four seasons has been 
far greater than ever before. The average annual product of all the scraping-grounds 
of the State during the last five seasons has been about 3,250,000 bushels, an average 
of 40,625 bushels to the square mile. Of this amount about 500,000 or more bushels 
annually have been obtained by dredging vessels working at the time under scraping 
licenses. 
Boats and vessels . — The boats and vessels employed in scraping number about 
1,250, all of which are propelled by means of sail. They comprise the various types 
utilized in the tonging and dredging branches of the oyster fishery. As a general 
thing they are larger than those used in tonging and smaller than those engaged in 
dredging. The total value of those in use in 1892-93 approximated $650,000. 
In Talbot and Dorchester counties no vessels measuring over 10 tons are permitted 
to engage in this branch of the oyster industry, while in Somerset no restrictions are 
placed upon the size of the vessels employed, and nearly one-fifth are over 10 tons 
measurement. The average size of the craft in the two former counties is about 7 
tons, and in Somerset it is 8.07 tons. The number of vessels engaged in scraping in 
this county in 1892-93 and measuring over 10 tons was 119, the tonnage of which was 
2,087.23, an average of 17.53 to the vessel; and the number under 10 tons was 528, the 
tonnage of which was 3,117.99, an average of 5.91. Each one of the vessels measuring 
over 10 tons was required to obtain license to dredge in “ State waters,” in addition to 
their county scraping license, before being authorized to scrape in the waters of Som- 
erset. The largest vessel engaged in this branch of the fishery in that county in 
1892-93 was the Edna Earl, which measured 40.76 tons. 
The limit on the size of the vessels permitted to scrape in Dorchester and Talbot 
counties has had a peculiar effect on the size and model of those employed, the dimen. 
sions, which largely increase *the tonnage of the vessel under the present form of 
measurement, as depth and breadth, being reduced as much as practicable. And it 
is stated that' resort is also had to “dunnage” and other methods for reducing the 
measurement within the legal limit, and that vessels are employed in those counties 
which if built upon ordinary lines and models would measure 12 or even 15 tons. 
The same complaint with respect to “dunnage,” etc., prevails to a certain extent 
in Somerset, for while no limit is placed upon the size of the vessels permitted to be 
used in that county, yet if the vessel measures over 10 tons it is required to obtain, 
in addition to the scraping license, a State dredging license at the rate of $3 per ton. 
This, however, gives them also the privilege of dredging in the “State waters,” which 
is of value when the reefs therein are producing more abundantly than the county 
reefs. In order to dredge in the “State waters” a number of the scraping vessels 
under 10 tons also during certain seasons obtain a dredging license. In 1891-92 the 
number of vessels doing this from Somerset v as 80, from Dorchester 22, and from 
Talbot 9. These, together with the Somerset vessels measuring over 10 tons, make a 
total of about 220 of the 1,250 scraping boats and vessels employed also in dredging. 
The scrapemen . — Except on the large vessels owned in Somerset County, the men 
employed on the boats and vessels engaged in the scraping branch of the oyster 
fishery are quite similar in characteristics and social standing to the tongmen. They 
mostly reside in houses along the shores of the waters where they operate. Some 
