THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
271 
THE COUNTY MARKETS. 
The shucking-houses situated at the smaller ports along the bay shores have 
greatly increased both in number and capacity during the last ten years. These are 
usually well-built structures, and while none equal the size of the large houses in 
Baltimore, yet they compare well with the general run of them. They are devoted 
entirely to the handling of raw oysters and the business conducted by them is similar 
to that of Baltimore, but being nearer the reefs they are able to purchase more cheaply 
and frequently handle a lower grade of oysters than is utilized by the large houses 
in that city. All have been established since 1860, and most of them have been prom- 
inent markets only during the last fifteen years. The following notes are in refer- 
ence to the most important of these markets : 
Somerset County. — Amsterdam, built on herring bones, has its American counter- 
part in Crisfield, built on oyster shells. The center -and business portion of the town 
is now situated where in the beginning of the oyster industry of Somerset County 
and even as late as 1868 vessels were accustomed to dredge for oysters or to lie in 
harbor. And not only does the town itself but its business and prosperity rest upon 
the product of the oyster reefs. This port is situated in one of the most productive 
oyster regions of the Chesapeake and vast quantities of these mollusks are caught 
within sight of the shucking-houses. Somerset has more persons engaged in catching 
and transporting fishery products than any other county in America, over one-half of 
the wage-earners thereof being engaged in the various branches of the fisheries. 
The shucking trade was established at Crisfield in 1870, in competition with that 
of Salisbury and Seaford (Delaware), and within ten years it had grown to 700,000 
bushels a year. It gradually extended beyond the limits of the town, and many 
shucking-houses are now situated at various points in the neig hborhood convenient 
to the Crisfield branch of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad. The 
oysters handled are nearly all the product of Tangier and Pocomoke sounds, a quan- 
tity coming from those portions of these sounds situated within the State of Virginia. 
In this locality are found 28 houses, valued at $125,000, and employing 1,500 persons. 
The latter are mostly colored, only a few white persons being employed except in posi- 
tions of responsibility. The wages paid are about the same grade as in Baltimore 
and approximate $175,000 annually. 
Dorchester County . — Cambridge is the most extensive oyster market in this county. 
The importance of this port as an oyster center is of more recent development than 
that of Crisfield. The trade began here about 1871, but its greatest development has 
occurred during the last 10 years. Including the one or two small markets in other 
portions of the county, the trade now numbers 19 shucking-houses, valued at $50,000, 
and gives employment to 750 persons, disbursing about $90,000 in wages annually. 
Most of the oysters are obtained from the Choptank River. The annual product of 
the shucking-houses represents about 600,000 bushels, the cost of handling which is 
about 25 cents per bushel. 
Talbot County . — Talbot has three wholesale oyster ports, Oxford, St. Michael, 
and Claiborne. Oxford is located on the Choptank River across from and competing 
with Cambridge. St. Michael and Claiborne are situated on the shores of Eastern 
Bay. The shucking trade at the latter port is of recent origin and comparatively 
light, but the industry at St. Michael and Oxford dates back to about 1865. Little 
difference exists in the trade conducted at these two ports, either in the method or 
quantity of oysters handled. There are at present in Talbot County 13 shucking- 
