262 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
license and engage in dredging; if the contrary be the case, the vessels are confined 
to transporting. 
The men . — The men employed on the transporting vessels are usually residents of 
the State, and in most cases depend upon the freighting trade of the Chesapeake 
Bay for a living. The captain is usually on shares, and clears about $40 to $80 per 
month, while the laborers are on wages, receiving from $20 to $30 per month and 
board. The transporting vessels are successful in obtaining much better crews than 
the dredging vessels. 
Profits and extent . — The captains of the transporting vessels purchase the oysters 
outright from the men catching them. The “ buy boats ” lie at anchor near the fishing 
fleet, with a basket at the masthead, or some other signal to indicate that oysters 
are being purchased, the latter being delivered as the oystermen finish their day’s 
work. The profits made in transporting oysters are quite irregular, depending on the 
ability of the captains in striking a poor market u down the bay ” and a good one in 
the city. During the cold weather in January, 1893, several vessels purchased oysters 
at 70 cents, and by paying heavy towage fees to Baltimore succeeded in obtaining 
$1.45 per bushel. But this was very exceptional, the gross profits throughout the 
season averaging 12 to 15 cents per bushel, an average for the fleet of about $900 per 
vessel. 
The following table exhibits the extent to which vessels have engaged in trans- 
porting during certain recent seasons: 
Years. - 
Vessels. 
Outfit. 
No. of 
men. 
Gross 
profits * 
No. I Tonnage. 
Value. 
1889 90 
351 | 11,801.43 
$536, 135 
$53, 793 
1,260 
$350, 000 
1890 91 
399 13,111.45 
569, 000 
59, 190 
1,444 
370, 000 
1891-92 
456 1 15,067.29 
653, 235 
72, 290 
1,651 
400, 000 
* This represents the enhancement in value of the oysters transported. 
Transporting trade with other States . — The preceding data relative to the trans- 
porting branch of the oyster industry do not include the large number of vessels owned 
elsewhere than in Maryland but engaging in transporting oysters from the waters of 
that State to other markets and to planting-grounds. From 1840 to 1870 this trade 
was very extensive, Cape Ood and Connecticut vessels being the principal ones 
interested, but vessels from Philadelphia, N ew York, and elsewhere were also employed. 
Barnstable and Wellfleet, Mass., alone had about fifty vessels engaged in this 
trade. They cost about $6,000, and carried about 2,500 bushels of oysters, four to 
eight voyages being made each spring. The transportation charges were about 
15 cents per bushel, but during the civil war it went up to 25 cents. It is reported 
that one Cape Cod captain made 138 oyster trips to the Chesapeake before he was 
40 years of age. This trade purchased oysters in Virginia as well as in Maryland. 
These vessels now probably number sixty, averaging about 50 tons in measure- 
ment and $3,000 in value, with five men to each. They are usually employed but a 
few weeks in the spring, and the number is not half of what it was fifteen or twenty 
years ago, as the extensive development of private oyster beds in Northern States and 
the constantly increasing prices of the Chesapeake oysters are rendering their north- 
ern planting unsuccessful from a financial point of view. 
