Montgomery County sentinel., 1891-06-05


but intelligent and respectful communica-
tons like this are entitled to pernsal, and
we cheerfuly place it before our readers.
MARYLAND OYSTER BUREAU, I
Baltimore, Md, May 10, 9l, !
EiiisOr Of the Sentael'
We have read the very interesting edt-
torial article which was published in your
journal regarding the political situation in
Maryland at the present time. Ihe broad
view which you take OF the interests OF clti'
zens Of the State in this article encourages
us to write to you upon subject whien 70
US seems no less important than any ot those
mentioned in your editorial We refer to
the Oyster Question,
This Bureau has been established for the
purpose OF advancing the cause OF oyster
farming In Maryland, This is very vital
subject at the present time In Baltimore,
and in all packing oenters, II the packers
are Obliged to continue their exodus to other
States, the industry which now engages more
capital than any other in Maryland, and
which employs more labor than any single
industry In the State, will be destroyed,
The citizens of your county and the read
ers OF your paper are not, however, so much
interested In the packing industry rs they
are In the agricultural conditions. IL is
with reference to the interests OF the farmer
that We write to You, and ask you, In con-
nection with other topics, which are engag'
ing your attention at the present time, to in-
vestigate the oyster question as II affects the
farmer.
Rhode Island has about one thousand
acres OF oyster land This amount Of land
yields not revenue to the State OF about
six thousand dollars per annum, Maryland
has 6a0,000 acres of land we'll adapted TO
oyster farming, and this State is In debt
| through oysteTs-in other words, there is q
deficit instead OF y surplus from this source.
The Ananias who has been abroad in the
land for twenty years stating that the oyster
beds are Increasing in value and productive
ness has now almost entirely disappeared.
| We now acknowledge that wo have almost
ruined the heritage which Nature has given
US In such profusion, Oysters are known
To be scarce in all the markets in Maryland
where they are packed, Instead of ranging
| from twenty-five to forty cents bushol, tho
price oi oysters is from seventy five cents to
| a dellar a bushel, The hoatmen have been
| In actual want The middle men are com.
planning of hard times, and the packers have
made no money for several years,-many OF
them have lett the State, The consumer sits
by aud pays for his dear oysters II he can
| afford to do SO, and wonders what is going
For many years we have been allowing
small seed oysters to be sold out of our Bay
at twenty five cents hushel, These oys'
| tiers, when tansplantod into the waters of
| the Delaware Bay aud allowed to remain
| for year, bring IRON eighty To ninety cents
| a bushel, We have In the same way stocked
the oyster farms of Connecticut, Long ls'
land Sound aud Staten Island We now
buy choice barreled stock from the North
to supply Western orders,
Upon taking up any book or pamphlet
which treats OF tho history of the oyster, We
find that the beds of FtAnco We're almost en-
tirely exhausted, but that these Were re'
plonishad and made many times more valu'
able than they ever had been before, through
the Introduction of oyster farming,
In England the same story Is told The
barren bottoms which produced no oysters
naturally, have been made more productive
than were the oyster beds formerly, The
comparatively small grounds of tho State OF
Rhode Island produce ten times more oys-
ters now than they did before oyater plant
ing and farming were carried on there, In
Staten Island and Connecticut large for
tunes have been made through tho success
ful conduct Of this business,
No body of water In tho world can com
pare with the Chesapeake Bay in lts oyster
producing qualities, Strange To say, In ad.
dition 10 the positive advantages, Il pos
sesses the negative advantage Of having
none or very tow of the enemies OF the oys'
ter. In Connecticut waters the star fish
aud the drum abound; the star fish is not
known In the waters of the Chesapeake
Bay; the drum exists in but asmal portion
of them,
Upon well.known, clear and undoubted
facts, Il can he proven that the Chesapeake
Bay may be made to produce easily one
hundred millions Of bushels per year in.
stead OF eight or ten millions US II has pro-
dueed,
No one will now be found of sufficient
temerity TO contradict any of the above
statements, No one can fall 10 SEQ that the
State Is deliberately throwing away vast
revenue which II could gather by leasing
out the oyster lands of the Bay To, persons
who would pay reasonable sums per acre
| for the land no leased, which sums would
aggregate hundreds of thousands OF dollars
annually 10 the State.
The farmer has felt, and Is feeling now, the
burdens OF taxes under which the land OF
the State lies, lie cannot fail to join us In
the question which we wish to ask OF every
| newspaper In the state of Maryland aud of
every citizen OF the State Why does the
State not lease its land covered by waterl
Many of your readers know why, The
boatman and many persons who are inter
ested In the boatman's trade, object to the
Introduction OF oyster planting, Why do
| they object to an industry which would en-
ploy ten thousand persons for every one
/ now employed, and which would decrease
taxes and Increase the prosperity OF the
Statey
The boatmen have enjoyed monopoly
Of the business OF gathering oysters They
fear this monopoly will be broken up through
oyster planting, They feel too, the same at
tachment to the natural rocks or beds, where
\ oysters grow without cultivation, that the
| Indians felt toward the forests In which they
roamed at large, and gathered their food
without work and without care,
All the speeches which have been made
in opposition TO oyster farming contain this
thought of objection 10 the leasing OF the
natural beds where oysters grow without
| the assistance of man, A great deal OF time
has been wasted in opposing some imagi-
nary person who is supposed to desire TO
| lease the natural rocks or beds, No one is
nj present endeavoring TO have such leases
| made No one is at present endeavoring to
have such leasea made No one Is tryingto
take the rocks away from the boatmen.
The proposition Of the oyster farmer now
is TO lease iron the State ON such terms as
may be fair and reasonable the barren bot
toms of the Bay where no oysters are now
produced, The oyster farmer says he can
build up vast industry, in this way, where
none now exist He points to every other
country where this industry has been in
troduced, and shows the results which have
been obtained in these countries. lie shows
Us with great force Of statement, based upon
known facts, that We are destroying great
industry at tho present time, and he says it
can be revived and reestablshed and con
Quoted 70 a pitch Of prosperity and excel
/ owfo NaA f..N Nha old inn
We all know the oyster planter Is right in
his proposition. We are perfectly we'll
aware, those Of as who have examined tho
q uestiOn at all, that there Is no answer TO
the statement that our oyster industry is at
present worthless to the State, and that il