266 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
During the last eight years the largest quantity received at Baltimore during any 
one week was 408,940 bushels, which arrived during the week ending November 17, 
1888. The smallest quantity during the busy part of the season for the same period 
was 20,110 bushels, in the week ending January 21, 1893. The receipts from the 19th 
to the 25th week were ve$y much less in 1892-93 than for the same period of time 
for many years, this being due to the exceptionally cold weather restricting the catch, 
thousands of boats and vessels being “frozen up.” Had the receipts during those 
weeks been equal to those of the corresponding period in the previous season the 
quantity landed at this port during 1892-93 would have exceeded that of 1891-92 
by over 1,000,000 bushels. 
The commission sellers . — Practically all the oysters delivered at Baltimore in bulk 
are handled by men known as commission sellers, who control the sales of nearly all 
the oyster vessels arriving in that port, and most of whom have been oystermen at 
some time in their careers. They attend to the financial dealings of the captains in 
the city, the bargaining and sale of the oysters^ and advance money to the oystermen 
when desired. For their services they charge 1£ cents per bushel, but prior to the 
season 1891-92 they received 1 cent per bushel of oysters handled. They usually 
work in companies of 2 or 3 men each, the number of companies being 15, consisting of 
34 men and using property valued at $65,000, with cash or credit capital approximating 
$260,000. By these men the oysters are sold to the various branches of the trade. 
Raio-shucking trade . — During the early prosecution of the oyster industry such 
oysters as were landed at Baltimore and not needed or intended for local consumption 
were sent by wagons and cars to the neighboring towns in the shell. The first whole- 
sale shucking-house was opened here about 1830, but met with indifferent success and 
soon abandoned the business. At that time the oyster trade of the country centered 
about New York City and Fair Haven, Conn., particularly the latter place, at which 
were marketed native Connecticut oysters as well as the stock obtained by vessels 
from the Chesapeake. The continued decrease in the native supply in that State, 
and the consequent increase in cost, indicated that the trade could be more profitably 
carried on in Baltimore than in Fair Haven, and induced Mr. C. S. Maltby of the 
latter place to move to Baltimore in 1836 and establish a shucking-house on the plan 
of those operating in his native town. His trade increased rapidly and, the success 
being noted, other persons engaged in the business, and within a few years regular 
lines of oyster wagons were operated, running from Baltimore to the neighboring cities. 
Those oysters intended for shipment to distant points were shucked and sealed in tin 
cans or very small wooden kegs, and with care could be preserved for a few weeks, 
this depending on their temperature. The general use of these small packages, how- 
ever, was long ago discontinued, and the shipment is now almost entirely in large tubs 
or kegs holding several gallons. 
It is reported that in 1846-47 there were six houses in this trade, utilizing about 
250,000 bushels annually. In 1865-66 the oysters utilized in the raw-shucking trade 
amounted to 1,875,000 bushels. From that time until 1874 the trade rapidly increased 
in extent, but since the last-named date, on account of the increasing competition 
with other markets along the bay shores, little variation has existed in the quantity of 
oysters handled by this branch of the trade at Baltimore. The following table shows 
the quantity utilized in the raw-shucking trade of that city during a number of sea- 
sons. 
