the latter has decreased is, however, improbable, the estimates of Governor Wise and of the officers of the "Merchants' and Mechanics' Exchange," of Norfolk, to the contrary, notwithstanding. Why the reduction of the area of the beds is considered improbable will be shown subsequently. The writer states various reasons for his belief in the early failure of the oyster-supply, none of which are sufficiently plausible to justify his assertion, unless supported by other facts of which he has made no mention. For instance, though the increased price of oysters may be, as he states, an indication of a diminished supply, yet an increase of the demand would have the same effect. Similarly with regard to the laws relating to the use of dredges and scrapes: the beds might be in their normal state, yet the increased demand or knowledge of the inhabitants of the fore-shores might call for protection of the beds. The action of natural enemies and of natural causes, also mentioned in the article in question, may be neglected. Such causes existed in the past as well as in the present, and yet the beds increased and multiplied as they have done nowhere else in the world.
"But the primary cause of the threatened destruction of this industry," says the author of Lippincott's article, "is the failure to cultivate the oyster." It would have been better had he said "the failure to protect the oyster-beds." Oyster-culture is one thing, no doubt an admirable one, but an expensive, laborious undertaking of doubtful financial success. Oyster protection is a matter easily achieved, with but small expenditure of money, and with but little distress to those depending upon the fishery for support.
It is presumable that our author was not aware of the contributions to the literature relating to oysters and oyster-beds, contained in the "Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of Maryland," for 1880. Had he examined that report, he would have found matter which would more directly have supported his opinion regarding the deterioration of the Southern oyster-beds, and have suggested to him means of restocking the impoverished areas, other than by the expensive and laborious methods detailed in his paper. The tentative steps taken toward the latter end, by successfully propagating the oyster artificially, are detailed by Dr. Brooks, of the Johns Hopkins University, in the abovementioned report, and the general condition of certain areas covered by oysters are described in extracts from official reports made by myself to the Superintendent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. It is from those reports, the paper of Dr. Brooks, and the various works relating to oysters and oyster-culture here and abroad, that the material for this report is drawn.
While few will dispute the assertion that the Northern oyster-beds are practically exhausted and have become mere fattening-places for the transplanted Southern oyster, many will dispute the assertion that the beds of Maryland and Virginia are in a nearly similar condition, or
