The Washington times., 1901-07-14
A MARYLAND OYSTER FARM.
Extent of the BivaIve Industry on
the Sinepuxenf

Landing, on the Sinepuxent about fifteen
miles below Snow Hill. is one of the most
interesting spots in Worcester County
Md 1t is there that a number Of indus
trious men. combined for a common pur-
pose, under favorable laws, have estab-
hsheG the most important oyster planting
interest in the country. The locality is
favorable for the object in view. and the
prod l<t richly rewards the intelligent in
dusty bestowed upon it. The moving
and directing spirit in the enterprise is
Lemuel T. Onley, who is backed by mem
bers OF his own family and number of
progressive neighbors. The part of Sine
puNent Bay in which they operate is from
twelve to fifteen miles wide. ana the wa
ter is rarely more than eight feet deep
in an extensive area. The broad bay is
there fully thirty miles distant from
/ Ocean City on the north, with Assateague
/ lighthouse in sight to the southwark So
near to the mouth of the bay the water
is nearly as salt as the sea, and the local
ity is in every respect an ideal spot for
planting
The Sinepuxent, it must be kept in
mind, IS an interior waterway extending
from the CapeS many miles northward
and lying between the mainland and that
outer strip of territory which goes by
the names variously Of Chincoteague and
DdTIlFF
OF SAND formed by the ocean against its
own encroachments, and against which
the breakers of the Atlantic ceaselessiy
roll. From AssateaSue to Indian River.
stretch of many miles, there is no
break or inlet in this great work of ma
ture.
1t was sought a few years ago to make
artliicially an inlet on the Worcester coast
some miles below ocean City but the
sea itself filled it up and obliterated the
work OF man, just as the waves from day
to day with every incoming tide wipe out
the elaborate structures which the busy
children make of the sand on the beach
at this summer resort. The object in
making the inlet was to add the salt sea
water OF the ocean and make the fresher
water OF the SinepuXent better adapted
Tor oyster planting and enlarge the area
for profitable cultivation. Though the at
tempt was unsuccessful, the idea has not
been wholly abandoned, and il ought not
to be it, 1t is understood, the plan is
feasible under proper engineering guild
ance.
No part of the peninsula of Delaware.
Maryland, and Virginia is of more inter-
est than that section of the Atlantic
Coast which is embraced within the jur-
isdtction of Worcester County. The Sine
puNent is part of the great interior water
way extending up, except for the break
between the Capes, Charles and Henry,
from Florida to Maryland From Wor-
cester County northVard by way of Re
hoboth, in Delaware caral was pro-
jected and partly constructed to afford
clear passage for navigable purposes by
this interior waterway into the heart or
the Middle States. But the project has
been abandoned and the costly work of
excavation already done is being allowed
TO go to ruin and ill up by the shifting
sands. The scheme, however, is one OF
recognized national importance-quite as
much so for the protection of commerce
III time of war as any of the elaborate
coast defences which the exigencies Of the
late Spanish war caused to be establish
cd at cn
coast.
Apart from these considerations the
completion of the Covington Canal, il is
considered. would be a great benefit to
SinepuXent Bay by those having local in
terests 10 advance. Nowhere in the State
of Maryland are TO be found more enter
prising or intelligent watermen than in
the bay section Of Worcester County.
The proof of this IS In the work they
have done and the command or capital
which their credit, based on their work,
has secIIred for them In the first place,
il is here only in Maryland that the oyS-
ter-piauting law is SO framed as 10 guar
antee null protection to individual rights
and industry. Oyster planting here has
no connection with the Chesapeake and
its tributaries.
The sinepuxent is Worcester County
affair and its people are making some
thing ont of the separste privilege or op-
pOrtunity which they individually ENJOY.
Al Cnley's the oyster product IS year!y
from p 900 TO 30GG0 barrels of the finest
the landing is $3.50 to s. a barrel without
passing through the hands of the com
mission merchants, and all OF II sold a.
rect to New York. The seed oysters FOR
these extensive plantations are brought
by interior water line from
North Carolina The conditions for
growth are quite as favorable as in any
part of the Chesapeake. for the SinepuX-
ent has every advantage for the deVeiop-
ment of the oyster and giving it the de-
sired flavor that the Chesapeake pos
sesses.
There is the additional advantage that
the Worcester planters. working indiVld-
uaIIy. protect and respect each other
rights one reason for this is that they
are all planters and have no public bars
TO sduabbIe over and lure them from the
practice of regulated industry. There Is
no oyster police or fishery force for the
Every planter has ms
grounds staked of, and there is no more
Invasion of the oyster plantation than
there IS Of cornfieIds or wheathelds on
land. There Is every condition To promote
and stimulate the industry. and happy
would IL be for the whole State II the
sane conditions could exist elsewhere