Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1915-11-02
OYSTER DREDGING
STARTED YESTERDAY.
Fleet in Canton Hallow Sailed As Soon
As the Law Allowed.

A score or more of boats, the mo-
tive power some steam, quite a few
depending upon sails as their only
means of propulsion, but all fitted up
for oyster dredging, left Canton Hol-
low, Baltimore yesterday for the
dredging grounds in the Chesapeake
Bay.
Yesterday marked the opening OF
the season when dredgers are permit
ted to operate. and from about the
middle of this week until the oyster
season closes il is expected that the
bivalves will be more plentiful and
consequently somewhat cheaper in
price. Where they have been plentiful
enough to supply the demand during
the warm weather that has lasted
since the oyster season opened in Sep
tember, the markets were supplied
only through the tongers. who worked
chiefly in the upper portion of the bay
and in the different rivers.
Dealers say that the oysters this
season have been of quality supe-
rior 20 any brought here for several
years. While this portends a good
"
not necessarily follow that the dredg-
ing season will be successful Oys-
ters were plentiful last year and the
Gamers had full pack, but the dredg-
ers considered it a poor scason-prac-
ticallv failure.
While the biyalves were of good size
the demand was poor, and the result
was accepted by many as a hard blow
to the oyster industry in this State.
Since the demand was light the prices
were low, at one time being less than
% cents a bushel. The lack of de-
mand last season was attributed TO
various causes. Some dealers de-
clared that, in spite of the low prices,
oysters are generally considered lux
uries, especially in the inland towns,
and for this reason some persons
never take the trouble to price them
Others who recognized them as deli
cacies did not use them because many
had curtailed their luxuries because
of the dull times. They blamed the
European war for the lack of demand
and said that people were simply not
eating oysters the way they did in
former years. Others, however. say
that the demand was good, but that
because 70 the keen competition Balti-
more is losing her place as an oyster
distributing center While Baltimore
served in the past as the clearing
house for the oysters being sent TO
Western cities. the competition offered
by other oyster culture states, espec-
tally in the South. has limited the de-
mand upon the city.
Not only is the cultivation of oys-
ters growing all along the Atlantic
coast, from Rhode Island to Florida,
but within recent years the Gulf States
have taken up the culture with enthus-
iasm and are producing oysters for
which a demand is growing. The
competition for leases for oyster bot
toms for planting purposes became so
keen in Louisiana and Mississippi that
the Federal Government was appealed
to to determine the boundary line be-
tween these two states. Previously
this line had been deemed of such
slight consequence that il had never
been definitely marked.
While the oyster culture is consider
ed an infant industry in these two
states, It has grown so rapidly that
it is now self-supporting, and last year
paid a revenue. While the oysters ta-
ken from these waters lack the fine
flavor of the Maryland product, they
are said to be better graded as to size.
and for this reason seriously compete
with our oysters in the Middle West