The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1908-01-03
iINGS ACCOMPLISH ED
AND THINGS POSSIBLE
UNDER THE OYSTER
CULTURE LAW.

The first annual report OF the
Maryland Shellfish Commission has
been submitted. While the progress
toward the establishment of q great
industry under the Haman law has
not been rapid, it has been substan-
tial, and the people are encouraged
to believe that finally all obstacles
will be overcome and that oyster
culture under this law will make
Maryland very wealthy and pros
porous State, says the Baltimore
"Sun''. People have been slow to
avail themselves Of the benefits of
the law by leasing oyster lots. But
this was to have been anticipated.
The unreasonable prejudice of the
oystermen must first be overcome
before people will be willing to risk
their capital in an industry which
may be open to attack by marauders
and in the courts. In the opinion OF
the commission the size of lots which
may be leased should be increased
to so acres in county waters and 500
acres in the deep waters of the bay.
Oysters planted out in the deep
waters must be protected from
dredgers, and where person has
tract as large as 500 acres it will
pay to provide for protection.
The beginning Of the industry is
also discouraged by the terms Of the
law, which, inadvertently it seems,
practically prohibits planters from
obtaining seed oysters. The COM
mission devotes much space in its
report to this subject and shows that
if the Legislature will amend the
: law with that view great industry
in the production Of seed oysters
may be started. From May to
September" says the commission,
eggs are poured from untold mil
lions of mother oysters living on the
extensive and numerous untouched
natural oyster bars located in the
deep water from one end of the bay
to the other. Minute oysters are
probably preeipitated throughout
the breeding season in a continuous
d1izzle upon the bottom everywhere
in the bay, but all those not falling
on clean, hard objects are lost"
There are places, however, in shelter
ed coves and elsewhere which this
''drizzle" cannot reach, and yet
young oysters scattered in these
places grow rapidly to large size.
The board suggests as a profitable
industry the gathering of this spat
upon "clutch' and selling it to plant
ers in whose lots spat does not
abound. In order to create this in
dustry there must be an amendment
to the law.
The commission has ascertained
that the State of Rhode Island has
only S,163 acres of bottoms for lease
and from that area it derives public
revenues amounting to near $50, 900
. year. There are in Somerset
county alone about 1900 acres suit
able for oyster culture which now
produce nothing and every acre of
which is better than the Rhode Is
land lands. The commission de-
clares that the possibilities for oys-
ter culture in single one of the
tidewater counties of Maryland are
as great as those in the entire State
of Rhode Island, but these POSSIBLE
tiles are latent, and it will require
time and labor for their develop
ment.'
Upon the whole, the commission
seems to be doing it's work well, and
with the cooperation of the Lsgislo-
ture at the coming SESSION there is
every reason to expect that the
hopes of the advocates of the Haman
law will be abundantly realized.
ORGANIZATIO OF THE