Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1918-11-20
UNUSUAL SEASON
FOR OYSTERS
Scarcely A Day That Men Have
Not Been Able To Go Out
For Days Catch
EXCELLENT PRICES PAID

The oyster season of 1918 will go
down into history of Maryland fisher
les as a most unusual, if not the most
remarkable in the annals of the
bivaIve.
Seldom is an autumn 80 frought
with beautiful clear days as the pres
ent autumn has been Indeed there
have been so many clear days. the
oystermen, who have been able to go
out every day. have wished for rainy.
bad weather. that they might have a
cessation from their labors. and few
days rest.
Oysters are of better quality and
condition this season than for many
past seasons, said the firm of the C. W.
Martin Company They are selling at
45, SO and So cents per bushel, and are
unusually good. The oystermen are
making better wages and are making
more regular time than usual at this
season There are from 80 to so en-
ployed as shuckers at the Martin Com
pany's plant, and they are earning a
third more wages than usual.
Most of the oysters are being ship
ped North and West, many orders are
being filled for Pittsburg and Chicago.
Baltimore will have plenty of oys-
ters this winter, but they probably
will be expensive. Such was the pre-
diction of mingled happiness and sad
ness made yesterday by Conservative
NJ.
whom there is no more astute OBJ
server of the oyster and his ways.
Mr.. Killian made the prediction after
careful survey of the oyster situation
from end TO end of the bay.
There are a number of reasons for
the fine crop expected, according to
Mr.. Killian. One is that there was a
good 'set," that is, a good natural
crop. Another is that last winter the
weather was so severe and the diff
culties of the oystermen in securing
labor were so great that large guam
tity of the oysters was not taken, and
these had opportunity during the past
months to spawn and multiply. Again,
the Gull law has been enforced with
increasing efficiency in the past two or
three winters, with the result that the
understood oysters, taken in great
quantities in the past, have been left
in the waters to grow in size and
multiply.
The supply will be increased in some
measure, too, by the opening of the
States reserve beds, in the bay off
Calvert county shore, near Dare's
Wharf. For some years the State has
been dumping small oysters there for
planting purposes and also has been
dumping some shells to form beds.
Some hundreds of acres have been
charted and planted, the bottoms sur
veyed and various sorts of oysters
planted, complete records being kept,
in order that when the crop is taken,
it may be learned what each sort of
oyster did under given circumstances.
About 440 acres of this reserved area
will be opened to licensed oystermen
on December TO- The State will re-
ceive revenue of 10 cents per bushel.
But while the supply will be large
for the various reasons given by Mr..
Killian, the prices will be high for an
other important reason, namely, that
the hired men on the oyster boats
seem to be more or less anxious to be-
come bank presidents. They are de-
manding and receiving, it seems, 800
a month, in addition to their grub, and
they want plenty of grub. BY the
time a poor oyster boat captain has
paid his men their 800 per and has
fed them fittingly, he has big outlay,
and by the time he has added to that
the cost of automobiles and phono-
graphs for his family, he has another
big outlay, so that he must charge a
lot for his catch, or quit business.