THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
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the figures proposed for adoption in some States, it would doubtless at once result 
in a great reduction in the extent of the industry, notwithstanding the fact that it is 
now on a well-established basis. 
Frequent reference has been made to what is being accomplished in Ehode Island 
in the collection of an annual rental of $10 per acre from certain sea bottoms, and this 
is used as a basis for the valuation of similar areas situated elsewhere. There are 
about 600 acres of ground in that State rented at this rate. They do not produce 
oysters but are used for planting purposes, the oysters being bedded in the spring 
and removed during the succeeding winters. Because of the high rental, little attempt 
is made towards the production of oysters, the plants being purchased from other 
States, and even the extent of the bedding trade is said to be curtailed thereby, it 
now being less than one-half as extensive as it was in 1880. It is true that the State 
treasury has received about $6,000 annually, but if the taxes on the ground had been 
more reasonable Ehode Island might at present have sufficient oyster-producing farms 
to keep within that State the $150,000 annually paid by the planters therein to the 
oyster-growers of other States, and to cause the receipts of the State treasury to equal 
those of the present. 
The imposing of high taxes on oyster-grounds renders it financially impracticable 
to utilize them for any purpose other than the bedding of oysters, shifting them from 
one locality to another, which is not true oyster-culture. 
In an address delivered at Baltimore January 18, 1891, the following expression 
of opinion was made by Hon. Marshall McDonald, United States Commissioner of 
Fish and Fisheries, who has given close attention to aquiculture in all its branches : 
In the case of that broad area of sea bottom which at present yields nothing to production, it 
would, in my judgment, he wise on the part of the State to permit its entry under conditions similar 
to those which are prescribed for the public lands of the State above tide. 
The man engaged in oyster production should he harassed by no imposts or special supervision. 
He should he treated as is the farmer, protected in his rights of property, and his investment required 
to hear equally with the lands above tide the burdens of taxation. The State should seek to derive 
its revenue not from any special tax or from extravagant prices for sales or entry, hut from the vastly 
increased valuation which would be given to these lands when the opportunity for their improvement 
is afforded. 
There is a greater area of sea bottom in the United States suitable, if properly 
prepared, for the growth of oysters than any probable market demand can utilize. 
The Atlantic coast States are wealthy in barren sea bottoms available for the culture 
of oysters, but most of these States are so neglectful of giving proper encouragement 
to the development of them that only in few places are they of great financial value. A 
broad system of ostreiculture demands more facilities than a restriction to 5 or 10 
acres along the shore at high rental and with temporary tenure. 
Not only does successful ostreiculture require sufficient areas on which to operate, 
but it must be surrounded with favorable market . and financial conditions. Texas, 
with its characteristic generosity, authorizes each citizen of the State to preempt for 
oyster culture 60 acres of sea bottom without cost and without taxes, yet not one- 
hundredth of its bay bottoms are being so utilized. In 1889 North Carolina threw open 
to her citizens 800,000 acres of barren ground under favorable preemption conditions, 
yet only one-thirtieth of this area has been located. The condition in Georgia is much 
the same. The Middle and New England States, with long-established oyster trades, 
