The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1892-07-08
OYSTER CULTURE.
An Interesting Discussion Before the Oar
lington Road League.

lingtOn Road League.
Reported for The 1Egis. 81
Mr.. B. Howard Hannah, of Baltimore, deliv-
cred an interesting lecture Saturday night be-
fore the Darlington Road League and other
farmers interested in the improvement Of the
highways of the country.
Mr. D. C. Wharton Smith called the meeting
to order and in introducing Mr.. Hannah ex-
planned tersely the self sacrificing effort the
latter had made to educate the taxpayers of
the State on this important matter.
Mr.. Hannah said:
Some people in Baltimore have called these
| talks on the oyster question sermons" If !
am to pronounce Il discourse of that kind,
| must have text. My text tonight is THE
monopoly OF the Chesapeake Bay and the best
mode of removing it.
The boatmen really think the waters of our
noble Bay belong to them for the purpose of
taking shell fish. We, who believe in oyster
culture, maintain that the land under the Bay
| and its tributaries is the common property of
all citizens of Maryland. Only II portion OF
the submarine land of the State is now pro-
ductive of oysters. They grow there in long
bars on natural rocks" without the aid of
men. A vast area exists where no oysters now
grow, but where they could be made to grow
We propose to ask the Legislature to pass a
general law which will permit any citizens of
the State to cultivate the now barren a., and
waste portions of the States watery farm. The
contemplated law would provide for the crea-
ton of the Office of state shell-tish commits
sioner." This official would prepare Il map of
The map would indicate the position OF the
natural bars or rocks, and these would be left
to the boatmen, who are now rapidly using
| them up. The Commissioner then divides up
the barren bottoms into sections or lots of
one hundred acres each. The choice of these
sections is made as follows:
/. Persons owning land bordering upon
State waters have the right to choose a section
adjacent to their iul,u.
2. Boatmen have, for period of ninety
days, the exclusive right to select section for
their own Use.
3. All other persons, citizens of the State,
then may choose sections from the land that is
left.
SeThese were the salient features of the bill
that was presented to the last Legislature and
voted down. mainly through the opposition OF
the Eastern Shore to any system OF oyster cul-
ture.
This bill provided also that the State land
under water should be leased for periods not
longer than twenty years, ut yearly rental of
one dollar per acre.
The results to follow the introduction of this
new industry are many. First-lt means i'll
crease of natural wealth, increased population,
| IL larger tax basis and a direct and immedi-
ate revenue through the rentals paid by the
lesseeS of oyster farms. A suggestion from Har-
| ford county people, which has come to be call
| ed the Hartford idea," is that the revenue thus
| to be gained by the State, ought to be applied
to the building and maintenance of good and
durable roads in all the counties of the state
| | can think OF no better use for such money.
The soft black mud which forms the food OF
| the oyster is only cruiuhlcd organic matter,
which has been wurn oil oil Ihe hills of N ortherli
| and Western Mary land. tiIniing its way to the
| Chesapeake through piourl.in torrents, small
| streams and finally ia 4n The great rivers of
| the State. The hill coriu re thus equitably,
| as well as legally, entitled 10 some of the now
non-used wealth of the Bay.
| But our Eastern shore friends say, in sub
stance, You shall not fish i'll our ocean" Why
permit the rest of the counties to aid in the pay
inent of the large annual deficit caused by the
excess of the expenditures for the maintenance
of the State Fishing Force over receipts from
oyster licenses. All the milk i'll the cocoanut
is for home consumption only.
How long shall this great Eastern Shore mo-
nOpoly last? Citizens of Hartford and other
hill counties must answer this question.
a large number of the prominent farmers
and others of the neighborhood were present,
and much interest was manifested.