Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-11-03
CHESAPEAKE BAY MOST
WONDERFUL INLAND SEA
Could Supply Whole Country
With Oysters and Central
Section With Fish.

Felix Arnus. the veteran Maryland
editor. writing under the caption 81 Our
Wonderful Bay" declares the thcsapeake
to be the finest inland sen IN the world,
and SAYS IL could be made to supply
oysters enough TO supply the whole cotn-
try and fish enough 10 meet the necds of
the people Of the Middle States Much Of
his informing article applies so well 10 the
Delaware Bay. an its tributaries that II IS
worth reproducing in part:
Captain Wright. who has spent life-
time near or on the bay, says the Cheta-
peake il "the Mother Of Waters, and
calls attention 20 it's remarkable tides ne
follows The distance from the capes ~
the mouth of the bay TO Betterton, Kent
county. al the mouth of the Sassafras
river. in about i5s miles, and when Il If
high tide at the capes IL is also high tide
near Bett-rton. with one low tide be-
tween them When il IS low tidc NJ zach
place. one high tide is found midway be-
tween them Even in te tides il is match
less
"It il the worlds finest inland sea and Il
yields moro food than any body of water
its size anywhere.
''lt is a bay that ie growing richer ell The
time Daily the tides bring down tons e
soil from the miles Of rivers and creeks
and the changes arc continuous. We can
trace the erosion. better than the building
up. For example. on the Eastern Shore
since Is4T Tilghmans Island has lost $50
acres In 300 wears Sharps Island hhs
dwindled from 200 Ia 80 acres and u will
gradually disappear
Thus the Chesapeake tides are full af
nutrimcnt for the vast life that ls found
under it's surface and that becomes food
for the millions of America Last var the
Chesapcake supplied 4.6t62 2ll bushels of
cvsters. an increase of "A fnllilun bushels
over the previous year asked an offclal
Of the conservation commission what was
the highest WELD IN the oyster history of
the Chesapeake lie replied 10000 600
bushels annually Kellogg said, The
Chesapeake Bay is the most extensive
and prolific ovster territory in the world .
Professor Brooks said, The opportunity
for rearing oysters is unparalleled IN any
part of the world The bay is ready for the
work. IL has 60. .0G0 acres If rich oyster
bottoms. and America viii never lack for
oysters Il we Marylandcrs do our part.
But our oyster policy has been sadly de-
fcient. We are doing little better now,
but we need 10 improve in many ways
What | should like To see would be more
persons enga ged in oyster culture. Thou
sands of acres Of oyster bottom are open
70 private enterprise.
"Tn food value the bays production
mav he made almost limitless I am glad
- learn that the State is propagating food
fishes, especially white and yellow perch.
We should have cheap fish IN Baltimore
and Baltimore is the natural fish market
for the Middle North and West The
Chesapeake Bay can be made 10 supply
fish for all the territory in ever increasing
numbers, and there are no better hsh IN
theworid
"All over this bav rests genial fate
Observations made under the auspices of
the Maryland Weather Service for -
years show that the counties bordering or
the Chesapeake BAY count upon q safe
growing period OF from 100 to 210 days
And some of the farms produce two and
three crops year.
With a ship canal at its head aud It's
other canals leading south to the Gulf af
Mexico the Chesapeake is entering new
future as great highway Of trade.
There is no calculation that can accurately
state its commercial possibilities. Soon it
will have the largest steel mill and the
greatest shipyards In the 0rld, and thus
II is moving into its wonderful destiny
Already, too. people are seeking It's
salubrious shores for their homes and
venture to say that more than one visitor
Of the present year will be huying before
the prices ascend Thpn, too, we shall soon
have the Philadelphia yachts III the Chesa-
peake With the deepened canal To the
Delaware, il is inevitable that the Chesa-
peake will become the water playground
of Philadelphia Today more than 5000
boats float upon it's surface. Coming
years will see the number doubled.