Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 121 
According to reports by dredgers familiar with the condi- 
tion of ‘‘The Lumps’’ at the time the order was passed, an 
abundance of oysters under 21% inches in length were to be 
found, with but a very small proportion of marketable oysters 
among them. | 
It is the opinion of the Commission that the section of the 
Bay under consideration is one in which the quantity of 
oysters which grow to marketable size will never be large, 
although one in which small oysters will frequently be ex- 
ceedingly numerous. This opinion is based upon the testi- 
mony of persons who have long been familiar with conditions 
as they have existed in the past on ‘‘The Lumps’’ and upon 
conditions as they now exist and are likely to exist in the 
future. During the spring when the Susquehanna and other 
rivers at the head of the Bay pour a volume of fresh water 
into the Bay such that the water over ‘‘The Lumps’’ becomes 
fresh and remains so for several days, many of the oysters in 
that section are killed. Freshets of such duration as to kill 
oysters, while not of regular annual occurrence on ‘‘The 
Lumps,’’ are sufficiently frequent to prevent the growth of 
mature oysters in abundance. 
The condition of the shells on these bottoms and the velocity 
of the tidal currents over them during the oyster spawning 
season are such that an abundant set of young oysters usually 
takes place each year. 
In view of these conditions and the fact that until an in- 
dustry in raising seed oysters has been developed in the 
State, those who lease ground from the State for the pur- 
pose of cultivating oysters need small oysters with which to 
seed their grounds, the Commission recommends that its 
former order, printed below, be made operative. 
ANNAPOLIS, Mp., March 28, 1907. 
It is ordered by the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners of Maryland, this 28th 
day of March, 1907, that pursuant to the provisions of Section 101 of Chapter 711 
of the Acts of Assembly of 1906, the following area is set aside for the purposes 
mentioned in Section 111 of said Act, that is to say, all that part of the Chesa- 
peake Bay lying beyond the territorial boundaries of the respective tidewater 
counties adjacent thereto, which is situated north of a straight line drawn from 
the point on the Western shore of the bay, known as Bodkin Point, to a point 
on the Eastern Shore of the bay, known as Swan Point, excluding the whole of 
Swan Point bar. 
1. Any tongman licensed for the oyster season of 1906-1907 may tong, between 
the 15th day of April and the 15th day of May, 1907, for oysters in the above 
