Class ^14^1 ./la/ BOARD OK WORLD'S FAIR MANAGERS OK MARYLAND. Hon. Frank Brown, Governor. Hon. F. C. Latrobe, Baltimore. Mrs. Wm. Reed, Baltimore. Hon. Murray Vandiver, Harford Co. J. Olney Norris, Baltimore. David Hutzler, Baltimore. Frank N. Hoen, Baltimore. Frank S. Hambleton, Baltimore. H. H. Dashiell, Princess Anne. Frank R. Scott, Elkton. James T. Perkins, Pr. George's Co. John R. Bland, Baltimore. president : Hon. Frank Brown, Governor of Maryland. SECRETARY : J. Olney Norris. treasurer : Frank 8. Hambleton. VICE-PRESIDENT : Hon. F. C. Latrobe, Mayor of Baltimore. RECORDING SECRETARY : Wm. H. Love. EXECUTIVE COMMISSIONER Geo. L. McCahan. CONTENTS. Page. Introductory, i-yi CHAPTER I. Historical Sketch Wm. Hand Browne. 1 CHAPTER II. Physical Features, W. B. Clark. 11 Topography. Climate. Medical Climatology.— C. W. Chancellor, M. D. Water Supply. Water Power. CHAPTER III. Geoloot, G. H. Williams and W. B. Clark. 55 General Review. Piedmont Plateau. Appalachian Region. Coastal Plain. Resuriie. CHAPTER IV. Mines and Minerals, G. H. Williams. 89 , General. Coal. Iron. — W. Keyser, Esq. Copper. — R. Brent Keyser, Esq. Chrome. — Wm. Glenn, Esq. Gold. Granite. Sandstone. Slate. Marble and Limestone. Cement, Serpentine, Soapstone. Clay and other Minerals. CHAPTER V. Agriculture, M. Whitney. 154 -'Retrospect. ^Agricultural Regions. ■^Staple Crops. Truck Farming and Fruits. Dairy Farming. Soils. Stock Raising. CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. Natural History, B. Sollerb and Gr. Lefevre. 218 Flora of Maryland.— Prof. B. Sollers. Terrestrial Animals. — 6. Lefevre, Esq. CHAPTER VII. Fish and Fisheries, W. K. Brooks. 239 Shad. Bay Mackerel, Menhaden. Terrapins and Crabs. CHAPTER VIII. The Oyster, W. K. Brooks. 264 The Oyster Industry.— H. McE. Knower, Esq. CHAPTER IX. Commerce and Transportation, J. H. Hollander. 313 CHAPTER X. Manufactures, J. H. Hollander. 339 CHAPTER XL Cities and Public Buildings, J. H. Hollander. 359 Annapolis. — Dr; D. R. Randall. Cumberland. — Hon. Lloyd Lowndes. Hagerstown. — Albert Small, Esq. Frederick.— F. M. Kinsey, Esq. CHAPTER XII. Political Institutions, J. H. Hollander. 380 CHAPTER XIII. Churches and Religious Institutions, C. W. Bump. 393 CHAPTER XIV. Education, B. C. Steiner. 411 CHAPTER XV. Population, J. C. Rose. 432 CHAPTER XVI. Charities and Correction, D. I. Green. 448 INTRODUCTORY. Maryland, situated between the parallels of 37° 53' and 39° 44' north latitude, and the meridians of 75° 04' and 79° 33+' west longitude (the exact western boundary being yet undetermined), is one of the upper tier of Southern States. Its boundaries are: Mason and Dixon's line on the north ; the State of Delaware and the Atlantic ocean on the east; on the south, a line drawn westward from the ocean to the western bank of the Potomac river, thence following the western bank of that river to its source ; and on the west, a line drawn due north from this source to Mason and Dixon's line. Its gross area is 12,210 square miles, of which 9,860 square miles are land surface ; the included portion of the Chesapeake Bay, 1,203 square miles; Assateague Bay on the Atlantic coast, 93 square miles ; with 1 ,054 square miles of smaller estuaries and rivers. The Chesapeake Bay ascends to within a few miles of its northern boundary, dividing the State into what are known as the Eastern and Western Shores. The rivers, excluding mere estuaries of the bay, are the Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco, Gunpowder, Susquehanna, Elk, Sassafras, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, Wicomico and Pocomoke, all emptying into the Chesapeake Bay. Beside these, the coast-line of the bay is deeply indented with a multitude of creeks, coves, and other estuaries, pene- trating the land in all directions, usually bearing the names of rivers, and often navigable to some distance by vessels of light draft. Perhaps nowhere else in the world is there a coast-line proportionately so exten- sive, or any country offering such facilities for water transportation as tide-water Maryland. Along the ocean frontier runs a narrow reef of sand, inclosing and sheltering Synepuxent and Assateague Bays, and giving inland navigation along the whole Atlantic coast of the State. Maryland is divided into twenty-three counties, of which Garrett, Alleghany, Washington, Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore, Harford and Cecil 11 INTRODUCTORY. form the northern tier; Howard, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's lie on the west ; and Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester, on the east side of the hay. Of these twenty-three there are hut seven which do not lie on navigable waters. Maryland presents a great variety of configuration, soil and climate. The four most westerly counties extend through the systems of mountain ranges known as the Alleghany and the Blue Ridge ; east of these is the Piedmont region, gently inclining towards tide-water, and on both sides of the bay lies the Coastal Plain. The physical and climatic character- istics of these regions are set forth in a subsequent chapter. Maryland having originally been a part of Virginia, it was, for many years after its settlement, generally confounded with that colony in the English mind, while those who professed to be better informed, main- tained that it was a large island off the Virginia coast. During the rule of the first Proprietary, however, several brief accounts were published, designed to enlighten the public as to the true geographical position of Maryland, its soil, climate, natural productions and government. At that time scarce any part of the province was known except a small portion of the bay shore, and even as late as 1670, Augustine Herrman, who made a map of Maryland, conceived the mountains about Cumberland to be the central ridge between the two oceans, and thought it probable that they might be rich in precious metals, inasmuch as Mexico lay near their western slope. The first of these accounts, or Maryland Books, bears the title, "A Relation of the Successful Beginnings of the Lord Baltemore's Plantation in Maryland," and was written by one of the first colonists, probably Father White, in May, 1634, two months after the settlement. The author, of course, only knows the country about St. Mary's and the shores of the Potomac ; but he is enthusiastic over the delightful climate, the fertility of the soil, the abundance of water and fresh springs, the infinite plenty of game, fish and wild fruits, and the friendliness of the Indians. Of this Relation, a revised and enlarged edition was published in 1635, accompanied by a map in which the shores of the bay and some of the principal rivers are pretty fairly laid down, and the interior country sketched from imagination. Mountains of formidable size are dotted INTRODUCTORY. ill liberally over both the Western and Eastern Shores; but the wildest and most alpine peaks are reserved for what are now the counties of Talbot, Queen Anne and Caroline. But a good deal has been learned in a year; and we have here an enumeration of the valuable natural productions of Maryland — medicinal plants, timber, wild fruits and grapes, game, wild fowl and fish. Of minerals the writer reports iron ore, brick clay, fine potters' clay, and marl. The soil is exceedingly fertile and fit for any crop ; " and in fine there is scarce any fruit that grows in England, France, Spain or Italy, but has been tried and prospers well." Of the innocence and uniform friendliness of the Indians he has also much to report. These, and a brief tract or two, were all the published sources of special information about Maryland until 1666, when George Alsop's "Character of the Province of Maryland" appeared. Alsop had spent four years in the province as an indented laborer, and, according to his own account, was so charmed with its manifold excellences and attractions, that he could not rest until he made them more widely known. He felt that no ordinary style would do justice to such a subject, and therefore invented one for the occasion. Those who wish to see how beautiful the world is, and how bounteous Nature, should visit Maryland, for he is well assured that there is no place " under the heavenly altitude, or that has footing or room upon the circular globe of this world, that can parallel this fertile and pleasant piece of ground in its multiplicity ; or, rather Nature's extravagancy of a super-abounding plenty." Condescending to particulars, he tells us that the woods teem with wild animals, some valued for their fur, and others for their flesh ; and among them may be included the innumerable herds of unclaimed hogs running wild in the woods. Sheep, however, cannot be profitably bred, because of the wolves. Wild-fowl cover the water "in millionous multitudes." The principal commodities of the country are tobacco, furs, and pork, the former being the staple export, requiring " shipping to the number of twenty sail and upward " in November and December to carry it away ; beside which it is the universal currency. The conditions of labor are light, field-hands working but five and a-half days in the week in summer, and in the two hottest months they are allowed " an ancient and customary privilege to repose themselves 1V INTRODUCTORY. three hours in the day." In the winter months they have only to cut wood for fuel, and may hunt as much as they please, every hand being provided with a gun and ammunition. Alsop's characterization of the Marylanders is worth quoting. They are, he says, "generally conveniently confident, reservedly subtile, quick in apprehending, but slow in resolving; and where they spy profit sailing towards them with the wings of a prosperous gale, there they become much familiar. The women differ something on this point, though not much. They are extreme bashful at the first view, but after a continuance of time hath brought them acquainted, then they become discreetly familiar, and are much more talkative than men. All complimental courtships drest up in critical rarities are mere strangers to them ; plain wit comes nearest their genius ; so that he that intends to court a Mary- land girle must have something more than the tautologies of a long- winded speech to carry on his designs." Alsop's little book was, it seems, the last of the publications specially designed to give general information about Maryland. The extension of the colony and of its trade, the establishment of commercial houses in England whose chief dealings were with the province, the visits of travellers and factors, the increase of correspondence, made Maryland no longer an unknown land. Settlements gradually spread back from the bay coast to the uplands, and wheat and maize began to take their places beside the universal tobacco. "When in the last century the western section of Maryland was opened up, the great deposits of iron and coal came to the front as a new field for industry and source of wealth, while the piedmont and mountain regions became the homes of a hardy and industrious population, differing in many respects from that of the tidewater settlements. And as the pioneers and fantassins keep in the front of an advancing army, so the westward march of civilization was preceded by the backwoodsmen, an interesting example of a vanished type. These adventurous spirits, like Michael and Thomas Cresap, built their log-cabins in the primitive forest, where they cultivated small patches of land, but lived mostly on the produce of their rifles. Living near the Indians, they adopted many of their customs ; dressed in deerskin hunting-shirts, with leggings and moccasins, carried tomahawk and knife beside the unerring rifle, and were unmatched in all the arts and stratagems of woodcraft. INTRODUCTORY. V For the portrait of Maryland under this new aspect, we must go to the journals of tourists and correspondence of letter-writers, to files of old newspapers and bundles of musty manuscripts, and paint our picture with colors taken from many palettes. The present century has been more remarkable for the utilization of existing material sources of wealth than for the discovery of new; but it has witnessed so extraordinary a development and expansion of the resources and industries of the State, that again the book of Maryland has to be written. The occurrence of the Columbian Exposition of 1893, at which the various States proposed to display to each other, and to the world, the extent of their resources and the evidences of their material progress, seemed a fitting occasion for the preparation of such a book ; and accordingly the Board of Managers, consisting of the Hon. Frank Brown, Governor of the State; the Hon. F. C. Latrobe, Mayor of Baltimore; Hon. Murray Vandiver, Mrs. William Reed, Messrs. David Hutzler, F. S. Hambleton, F. R. Scott, J. Olney JSTorris, Frank N. Hoen, H. H. Dashiell, James T. Perkins and J. R. Bland, toward the close of October, 1892, approached the Faculty of Johns Hopkins University with the request that they would prepare a work setting forth the resources, industries and institutions of the State. The design having been explained, and the Trustees of the Univer- sity having given their sanction, certain of the Faculty undertook to prepare the text and furnish the necessary charts, maps, &c. An editorial committee was then appointed, consisting of Professor G. H. Williams, chairman, Professors H. B. Adams and W. K. Brooks, Drs. Wm. Hand Browne and W. B. Clark, and Messrs. Milton Whitney and Nicholas Murray. Mr. J. H. Hollander was made corresponding secretary. Prof. Williams undertook the general charge of the chapters treating of physical features, geology, mines and minerals, and agricul- ture; Prof. Brooks of those dealing with natural history, fish and fisheries, the oyster and the oyster industry; Prof. Adams of those on commerce, manufactures, cities, political and religious institutions, education, populations, and charities and correction, and Dr. Browne contributed the historical sketch, and had editorial supervision of the whole. V3 INTRODUCTORY. The work thus apportioned was allotted to such members of the University as were best qualified to deal with the special subjects, and the name of each contributor will be found affixed to his contribution in the Table of Contents. Important assistance was also obtained from gentlemen not connected with the University, the chapter on Education being contributed by Dr. Bernard C. Steiner, Librarian of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, and that on Population, by J. C. Eose, Esq., of the Baltimore Bar. The article on Medical Climatology was furnished by Dr. C. W. Chancellor, Secretary to the State Board of Health, those on the iron and copper industries by W. Keyser and R. Brent Keyser, Esqs., those on chrome and limestone by W. Glenn and D. Baker, Esqs., and that on the flora of Maryland by Prof. B. Sollers. The editors are also indebted to Dr. A. W. Clement, V. S., and Mr. Lee Clark, for information on the subject of stock-raising. In addition, valuable assistance has been received from the following gentlemen : Hon. Lloyd Lowndes and Mr. F. M. Offutt, of Cumberland ; Mr. Albert Small, of Hagerstown; Dr. D. R. Randall, of Annapolis; Major E. T. Goldsborough and Mr. F. M. Kinsey, of Frederick ; Messrs. F. R. Jones, J. G. Schonfarber, W. T. Brigham, L. H. Neudecker, W. M. Byrne and E. H. Sanborn, of Baltimore ; Mr. E. C. Carrington, of Easton ; Mr. J. A. Chapman, jr., of Chestertown; Rev. J. K. Holmes, of Crisfield; Mr. A. C Bryan, of Rising Sun ; Mr. H. T. Weld, of Mt. Savage ; and Mr. Raymond Henderson, of Hancock. In the collection of data the editors have had occasion to consult or correspond with a large number of persons, and their inquiries have invariably met with a ready and courteous response. To all these friends they now tender their acknowledgments. Thanks are also due to the officers of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad for kindly permitting the use of selections from their extensive collection of photographic views of scenery on the line of their road. MARYLAND CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL SKETCH. The foundation of Maryland is primarily due to George Calvert, first Baron of Baltimore. When that nobleman, who had been a trusted councillor of James I, and had held the office of Principal Secretary of State, became a convert to the Roman Catholic faith, he retired from public life and determined to spend the remainder of his days in the New World. He already held by charter a considerable part of the Island of Newfoundland, called the province of Avalon ; and to it he removed with his family in 1628. But after a about a year's sojourn in this bleak region, the extreme severity of the long winters, and the evident impossibility of making Avalon more than a fishing station, determined Baltimore to seek a home in some more genial clime; and he asked the King, Charles I, for a grant of land north of the Potomac, within the territory that had previously been granted to the Virginia Company, but which now, by the legal forfeiture of their charter, was again in the King's hands. His request was granted, and the charter for his new province made out; but before it had passed the great seal, Baltimore died, and the charter was issued in 1632, to his son, Cecilius Calvert, second Baron of Baltimore, who named his province Maryland, in compliment to the Queen, Henrietta Maria. The territory thus conveyed was considerably more extensive than that covered by the present State of Maryland, being bounded on the north by the fortieth parallel of north latitude, on the east by the Dela- ware Bay and River, and the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by a line drawn from the mouth of the Potomac River eastward to the ocean, and on the west by the farther or right-hand bank of the Potomac to its most distant source, and thence due north to the fortieth parallel. The privileges conveyed by the charter were the most complete ever granted by an English sovereign to a subject : the Proprietary was 2 MARYLAND. invested with palatinate authority, under which were included all royal powers, both of peace and war. The province was entirely self-governed, all laws being made by the Proprietary and the freemen, and these laws required no confirmation from the King or Parliament. By an express clause the King renounced for himself and his successors forever, all right of taxation in Maryland. All that was required of the colonists was that they should be British subjects, and that the Proprietary should acknowledge the King of England as his sovereign, paying him, in lieu of all services or taxes, two Indian arrows yearly, and the fifth of all gold or silver that might be found. After securing his charter, Cecilius at once set about his prepara- tions for colonisation, and fitted out two small vessels, the Ark and Dove, in which the first band of colonists set sail on November 20, 1633. These consisted of about twenty gentlemen of good families, all or most of whom were Catholics, and about two hundred laborers, craftsmen, and servants, most of them Protestants. Baltimore's younger brother, Leonard Calvert, was governor and head of the expedition, assisted by two councillors, Jerome Hawley and Thomas Cornwaleys. Careful instructions for their guidance were drawn up by Baltimore, in which, among other things, he charged them to observe strict impartiality, and to give the Protestants no cause of offence. The ArJc and Dove, after a tedious and stormy passage, during which they touched at several of the West lEdia islands, reached at last their destination, and the colonists landed upon an island at the mouth of the Potomac, where they celebrated divine service and planted a cross on March 25, 1634. The natives received thern in the most friendly manner, and were quite willing that they should settle among them. So they bought from the King of the Yaocomicos a tract of land a few miles up the Potomac, where there was a good harbor, and there laid out the plan of a city, which they called St. Mary's. Although the settlement of Maryland could be only an advantage to Virginia, yet a powerful party in the latter colony were bitterly hostile to it. One of the leaders of this party was William Claiborne, who had established a trading-post on Kent Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, where, as the agent of a London firm of merchants, he dealt with the Indians for beaver skins. Baltimore was desirous of making a friend of Claiborne, and instructed Leonard, while notifying him that his island was within the province of Maryland, to make amicable overtures to him. Claiborne, however, preferred to remain an enemy. A vessel of Claiborne's having been seized by the Maryland authori- ties for trading in Maryland waters without a license, he despatched a shallop with an armed party to St. Mary's to make reprisals. Calvert HISTORICAL SKETCH. A sent out a force in two pinnaces to meet them, and a battle was fought on the Pocomoke river, in which there was some bloodshed on both sides, and Claiborne's vessel surrendered. Claiborne soon after went to England, and his London principals sent out an agent who took possession of their property on Kent Island and acknowledged the jurisdiction of Maryland. Some disaffection still remaining on the island, Governor Calvert sailed there with a small force, when all the residents peacefully submitted and were confirmed in their holdings of land. Of the first meeting of the Maryland Assembly we have no record, but that of the second, in 1637-8, has been preserved. It consisted of all the freemen of the colony', present either in person or by proxies. This plan, however, proving inconvenient, was soon changed, and two burgesses were elected by every hundred, forming a lower house, while the Governor and Council, appointed by the Proprietary, constituted an upper house. The clause in the charter giving Baltimore the right to propose laws was waived by him, and the initiative in legislation left to the Assembly, he reserving the power of assent or dissent. The missionaries sent out by the Jesuits with the first colonists were diligent in spreading Christianity among the Indians, who gladly listened to their teachings and embraced the faith ; even the Tayac, or " emperor," as they called him, of Pascataway, who was a sovereign over several tribes, asking to be baptized and married according to the Christian rite ; and he afterwards brought his young daughter to be educated a t St. Mary's. The peace which Maryland enjoyed for some years was disturbed by the civil war in England. Although Baltimore took no part in the war, he was known to be a friend of the King; and although Maryland had no direct interest in the controversy, much partisan feeling was aroused. In January, 1644, one Eichard Ingle, commander of a merchant ship, was in St. Mary's, and being a violent partisan of Parliament, and a loose and loud talker of open treason, made himself so obnoxious that he was arrested, though presently released and suffered to sail away unmolested. But in the autumn of the same year he came back with an armed ship and a force of men, seized St. Mary's and overthrew the government. For two years the Province remained in the hands of Ingle and his men, joined by such of the baser sort as were lured by the prospect of plunder ; and they pillaged and destroyed at their pleasure for about two years. No blood, however, seems to have been shed. Governor Calvert at length obtained some help from Virginia, and, returning with a force, regained his authority without a blow, and the Province was once more at peace. Not long after, on June 9, 1647, this just and humane Governor died, leaving a memory still dear to Marylanders. 4 MARYLAND. In 1648, Baltimore sent out as governor William Stone, a Protestant and a friend of the parliamentary party ; and at the same time recon- structed the Council, so as to give the Protestants a majority. He also sent out a new great seal for the province. This seal bore a coat-of-arms, quartered, the first and fourth quarterings consisting of six pales, or vertical bars, alternately gold and black, crossed by a bend or diagonal stripe, on which the colors are reversed ; and the second and third quar- terings being themselves quartered red and white, and charged with a Greek cross, " counterchanged " (that is, red on the white ground and white on the red), with its limbs terminating in trefoils. The pales of gold and black are the orig- inal Calvert arms, and the crosses are the bearings of the Crossland family, Alicia Grassland having been George Calvert's mother. Above the shield is a palatine's cap, resembling an earl's coronet, and denoting the Proprietary's pala- tinate jurisdiction, and this is surmounted by a helmet bearing a ducal crown, from which spring two small banners, gold and black. As supporters he added a ploughman and a fisherman, and beneath was a scroll bearing the Calvert motto, " Fatti Maschii Parole Femine." Surrounding the whole was the legend, " Scuto oonae voluntatis tuae coronasti nos." (Ps. v. 12). This beautiful device still remains the seal and symbol of Maryland. Gold and black are the Maryland colors, and the escutcheon is displayed on the Maryland flag. Baltimore's instructions to his first colonists, as we have said, forbade any discrimination on account of religious differences, or any disputes on matters of faith. In 1649 this policy was made law and placed on the statute-book in the famous " Toleration Act," as it is called. In this act the calling others by reproachful names on account of religious differ- ences was forbidden under penalties, and " the better to preserve love and amity," it is enacted that "no person professing to believe in Jesus Christ shall be in any way molested or discountenanced for or in respect of his religion, nor in the free exercise thereof." This act remained the law of the land until the Puritan supremacy in 1652. The Puritans came into Maryland in this way : In 1643 the Vir- ginia Assembly passed a law expelling all non-conformists from the colony, upon which many came over to Maryland, where they were kindly received by the Proprietary, and wide and fertile lands in Anne Arundel county allotted them, which they joyfully accepted, and settling HISTORICAL SKETCH. ° about the Severn river, at or near the site of the present city of Annap- olis, called their new home Providence. After the execution of Charles I, the Virginia Assembly proclaimed his son, Charles II, as lawful King, in defiance of the statute which made such a declaration high treason. So Parliament sent out commis- sioners with a force to reduce to submission " the plantations within the Chesapeake Bay," thus including Maryland, where no opposition to Par- liament existed. Under this authority Governor Stone was displaced, and William Fuller, a Puritan of Providence, with a body of commis- sioners, was put in possession of the government. These repealed the Toleration Act of 1649, and substituted an act visiting with penalties all adherents of "popery and prelacy," as well as Quakers, Baptists and other miscellaneous sects. Cromwell was now all-powerful in England, and, disapproving of their doings, wrote to the Virginia commissioners commanding them to leave Maryland undisturbed. Baltimore then ordered Stone to take the government again. As Fuller refused to surrender it, Stone marched against him with the men of St. Mary's, and a battle was fought on the shore of the Severn on March 24, 1655, in which Stone's party were defeated and he himself wounded. The prisoners taken were con- demned to death, and four of them were shot. News of these violent proceedings reached Cromwell, and the whole matter was referred for final settlement to the Commissioners of Planta- tions, whose decision was favorable to Baltimore. Bennett and Mat- thews, the Virginia commissioners, then surrendered Maryland to the Proprietary, who re established his government with Josias Fendall as Governor. Fendall had not been long in office when he entered into a plot to render himself independent of the Proprietary, and, indeed, to annul Baltimore's authority altogether; so he was superseded, and Baltimore's brother, Philip Calvert, appointed governor in his stead. The govern- ment was now established in the form which it retained until the Eevo- lution. The Proprietary, in person or by deputy, was the chief execu- tive, assisted by the Council. The Legislature sat in two Houses, the Governor and Council forming the Upper House, and the elected repre- sentatives of the freemen the Lower House. All legislation originated with the Assembly, subject to the Proprietary's assent. The form was, therefore, that of a liberal constitutional monarchy, with popular repre- sentation. In 1651 Charles Calvert, only son of Cecilius, was sent out as gov- ernor. He was liked by the people, and the Province steadily grew and prospered under his administration. A firm treaty of peace was made with the Susquehannoughs, a warlike nation of Indians at the head of 6 MARYLAND. the bay, and the native tribes of Maryland were taken under the protec- tion of the government. Peace reigned throughout the province ; and the only serious grievance of the colonists was the over-production of tobacco, which the government in vain tried to check. Money was excessively scarce ; and the great staple, tobacco, was the general circu- lating medium for a hundred years or more. Cecilius Calvert died in 1675, and Charles, third Baron of Baltimore, succeeded to his title and dominions. During his administration occurred a transaction which was to result in the loss to Maryland of a large part of her territory. The facts in brief are these : William Penn, to whose father's estate the crown owed a large sum, obtained from King Charles II, in lieu of payment, the grant of a tract of land west of the Delaware River and north of Maryland. There was nothing in this grant that encroached upon Maryland's territory, for the fortieth paral- lel was named in both charters as the southern boundary of the one and the northern boundary of the other. Penn, however, was extremely anxious to carry his southern boundary to the head of the Bay; and after many fruitless attempts to induce Baltimore to agree to a change of the boundary line to his advantage, refused to join him in fixing it, and so the line was left undetermined. He also obtained from the Duke of York (afterwards James II), a grant of the land bounding on the west side of the Delaware Bay, south to Cape Henlopen, land which the Duke had no power to convey, as it was already included in the Maryland charter. Of this also Penn kept a firm hold. The Protestant revolution, as it was called, which dethroned James and gave the crown to William and Mary, strongly stirred men's minds, even in distant Maryland ; and there were always ambitious and unscru- pulous persons in the province ready to fan any spark of popular discon- tent to a blaze. Baltimore had sent out orders to have the new sover- eigns proclaimed, but the messenger unfortunately died on the way, and the delay thence resulting was used to alarm the ignorant and timid. Although the Protestants outnumbered the Catholics eleven or twelve to one, the credulous people were easily persuaded that a plot was on foot to bring down a force of hostile Indians, who, joining with the Catholics, were to make a general massacre of the Protestants. The terrified people hastily took up arms in various places, and the leaders of the sedition, headed by John Coode, a man of infamous character, placed themselves at their head and seized the government. This done, they wrote to King William, assuring him that they had acted from motives of the purest patriotism, and to preserve the Protestants from destruction, and begging him to take the government into his own hand. Accordingly William, without waiting for a legal investigation, assumed the government, and in 1692 sent out Sir Lionel Copley as the HISTORICAL SKETCH. 7 first royal governor. The Proprietary's property and personal revenues were not confiscated, but the whole proprietary government was superseded. One of the first acts of the new government was to make the Church of England the established church of the province. Hitherto all wor- ship had been free, and all the churches had been supported by volun- tary contributions, but now all taxables had to contribute, to the extent of forty pounds of tobacco per poll, to maintain the establishment. Protestant Dissenters and Quakers were allowed their separate meeting- houses, if they paid the tax. The period of royal government was not marked by any momentous incident. During the administration of Francis Nicholson the seat of government was removed from St. Mary's to Annapolis (1694), and a beginning was made toward a system of free schools by the foundation of King William School, at the latter city. Charles, the third Lord Baltimore, died in 1715, and his title and estates went to his eldest son, Benedict Leonard, who had become a Protestant. He, however, died the same year, and his son Charles, a minor, and also a Protestant, succeeded. As the charter had never been rescinded, but only held in abeyance because of the Proprietary's faith, that reason now no longer existed; and on the petition of Charles's guardian, the province was restored to him in 1716. Little of moment occurred in the following years. In 1730 the town of Baltimore was laid out by commissioners appointed under an Act of Assembly, who bought a tract of sixty acres on the northwest branch of the Patapsco at forty shillings per acre, and laid it out in lots of about an acre each. The growth of the town was slow, and at the end of twenty years it had hardly more than as many houses. Annapolis, made the government seat by Governor Nicholson, was erected into a city in 1708. Frederick was laid out in 1745. At this time the population of Maryland numbered about 94,000 whites. The annual export of tobacco was 28,000 hhds. and of wheat about 150,000 bushels. In 1751 Charles, the Proprietary, died, and was succeeded by his only son, Frederick, sixth and last Baron of Baltimore, who sent out Horatio Sharpe as Governor. In the final struggle between Great Britain and France for the posses- sion of Canada, Maryland suffered severely by invasions of the French and Indians, and after Braddock's defeat in 1756, it seemed as if her western counties would be depopulated ; but Governor Sharpe displayed great energy in the defence, and the transference of the seat of war to the St. Lawrence and the lakes removed the most imminent danger. ° MARYLAND. The stamp tax, imposed in 1765, met with violent opposition in Maryland, as it did everywhere, the stamp distributor being compelled to fly the province, and the stamps were shipped back to England, as no one would use them. About this time the long-standing dispute about the northern bound- ary was finally settled, and two eminent English mathematicians, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, were engaged by the Proprietaries of Maryland and Pennsylvania to run the line between the provinces and mark it by suitable monuments. They began their labors in 1763 and continued them for four years. The line thus run is the famous Mason and Dixon's line, dividing the Northern from the Southern States. Frederick, the sixth and last Baron of Baltimore, died in 1771, leaving the province to his illegitimate son, Henry Harford, a minor. If the oppostion to the stamp tax had been fierce, that to the tea tax, first laid in 1767, was still fiercer, and associations were formed througout the province to prevent the introduction of tea. A firm of Annapolis merchants having, in defiance of the public sentiment, imported a consignment of that commodity, popular indignation rose so high that a town meeting was held, and the owner of the brig that had brought it, to avert further mischief, publicly burned his vessel, the Peggy Stewart, with its obnoxious cargo, in the sight of a large con- course of spectators, on October 19, 1774. The associations were felt to embody the spirit of resistance to the tyrannous pretensions of England, but something more organic was seen to be necessary, if the struggle was to be carried on with any hope of success, and delegates were chosen to a Convention which met in Annap- olis. This Convention became the depositary or organ of the sovereign power of the people of Maryland. It appointed the deputies to the Con- tinental Congress, and instructed them from time to time. As it was too large to remain in permanent session, a portion of its members were appointed a Council of Safety, which sat in Annapolis, and was the executive organ of the Convention, assisted by committees of correspond- ence in thp counties. The Council of Safety soon began military preparations, organizing the militia and providing them with military stores and equipments. After the battle of Lexington the Convention prepared a declaration and pledge, declaring the purpose of the people to resist force by force, and warlike preparations went on rapidly. The militia was drilled and kept in readiness; minute-men were enlisted, and Maryland's contingent, known as the Maryland Line, placed at the disposition of Congress. Governor Eden, finding that his presence in the colony was worse than useless, left the Province on June 24, 1776, and the last phantom of proprietary government vanished. Maryland was now a self-governed HISTORICAL SKETCH. » republic; and the Convention emphasized the fact by issuing a formal Declaration of Independence on the third of July. The Convention had always recognized itself to be a merely pro- visional government, uniting functions and powers which in a free State should be kept distinct. It therefore drew up a Bill of Rights and Con- stitution to be submitted to the people, and then abdicated its authority by a simple adjournment, leaving the direction of affairs in the hands of the Council of Safety ; and thus the wisest and most patriotic body that ever governed Maryland ceased to exist. The Constitution provided for a government consisting of a Gov- ernor and Council, a legislative body consisting of a Senate and House of Delegates, and other inferior executive officers. It was adopted by the people, and ratified at the elections. Thomas Johnson, the first elected Governor, was inaugurated in March, 1777, and the Council of Safety dissolved itself. Maryland thus became a sovereign and inde- pendent State, but she did not enter the Confederation until 1781, when she came in as the thirteenth and last State. During the War of the Revolution no military operations of impor- tance took place on the soil of Maryland, though the Maryland troops fought with distinguished valor in many engagements, especially those at Long Island, Camden, Cowpens, Guilford, and Eutaw Springs. Balti- more was threatened early in the war with a naval attack, but the Baltimoreans had fitted out an armed ship, the Defence, and on her approach the enemy retired without doing any injury. After the successful close of the war, General Washington resigned his commission to Congress in the Senate Chamber of the State-house, at Annapolis, on December 22, 1783. In 1791 Maryland ceded to the United States the present District of Columbia to be the permanent seat of the Federal Government. In the war of 1812 with Great Britain, Maryland bore a distinguished part. The number of privateers that sailed from Baltimore, and their efficiency in crippling British, commerce, drew upon her the especial wrath of the enemy, whose cruisers depredated the towns and settle- ments on the shores of the Bay. In August, 1814, an expedition under General Ross, marching through Maryland to the attack of Washington, was met at Bladensburg by a force, chiefly of Marylanders and Virgin- ians, and the Americans sustained a severe defeat and retreated, leaving the way open to Washington, which was plundered and the public buildings burned. In the following month a formidable force was sent to attack Balti- more by land and water. The approach to the city was defended by Fort McHenry and several hastily constructed batteries, and on the land side by earthworks. Part of the enemy's forces were disembarked at 10 MAKYLAND. North Point at the mouth of the Patapsco, but on the inarch toward the city they were met by a detachment of Maryland forces under General Strieker, and a skirmish followed on September 12, in which General Ross, the British commander, was killed ; the Marylanders retiring in good order. This was called the battle of North Point; and the Battle Monument, as it is called in Baltimore, preserves the names of those who fell in defence of the city. The British forces continued their march until they reached the defenders' lines, when they halted, awaiting the co-operation of the fleet. This was checked in its advance by Fort McHenry at the mouth of the harbor, which was fiercely bombarded for a day and night without effect, and an attempt to land men in boats was repulsed with heavy loss by the batteries. As the combined attack on the city was thus frus- trated, the plan was abandoned. The patriotic song, " The Star-spangled Banner," was written on this occasion by Mr. Francis Scott Key, a Marylander, who had gone on board the British Admiral's ship with a flag of truce, and was detained on board during the bombardment. Peace with Great Britain was concluded in December. For nearly fifty years after the peace, the history of Maryland is a story of peaceful prosperity. Canals and railroads were constructed, developing the internal resources of the State, the most important being the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, work on which was begun in 1828. The outbreak of the war between the States in 1861 found the people of Maryland divided in sentiment, though the greater number strongly sympathized with the sister States of the South. A Massachusetts regiment marching through Baltimore on its way to Washington was pelted with stones by a mob, and fired into the people, several persons being killed on both sides. The city and State, however, were soon under control of the Federal forces. No considerable battle was fought on Maryland soil during the war, except that of Sharpsburg, in Washington county, on September 16 and 17, 1862, and she was thus spared the devastation which follows the track of hostile armies. With the restoration of peace and civil government, Maryland again entered upon a career of prosperity, the material results of which will appear in the following pages. The emancipation of the slaves altered, of course, many of the conditions of industry ; but as she had been less dependent on slave labor than the more Southern States, its cessation did not leave her paralysed. The agricultural interests suffered for a time ; but on the whole the change has been beneficial. The greater efficiency of hired labor, and its comparative scarcity, has driven the farmers to more scientific and economical farming, to the abandonment of old routine and traditional methods and crops, and to the higher cultivation of smaller areas, as will be explained in a future chapter. CHAPTER II. PHYSICAL FEATURES. The prosperity of a country is, to a large degree, dependent upon its physical surroundings. Their character determines the pursuits of its inhabitants, and thus, indirectly, their social, political and financial welfare. The residents' of a mountainous district have their peculiar occupations, while those of the lowland find their employment in other ways. If the region borders the sea or inland bodies of water still other means of livelihood are sought by its people. The climate, whether hot or cold, humid or dry, variable or constant, likewise affects the develop- ment of the region. It becomes important, therefore, to know something of the physical features of a country or a State if one would understand its past history or indicate the lines of future prosperity. When we come to examine the physical features of the State of Maryland we find the greatest diversity in surface configuration and climate. From its eastern to its western borders may be found a succession of districts suitable, from their physical surroundings, for the most diverse employments. Maryland possesses portions of all the characteristic divisions of the eastern United States. There is no State in the country which has a greater variety in its natural surroundings. In the succeeding pages of this chapter the Physical Features will be considered under the four following headings, viz : Topography, Climate, Water Supply and Water Power. TOPOGRAPHY. The topography, or surface configuration of the State, will be best understood after a brief account of the leading features of the eastern United States, since Maryland is only a portion of a larger and definite topographic region. An examination of a relief map of the United States shows a gradual elevation east of the Mississippi Valley to the great mountainous area bordering the eastern side of the continent, beyond which the country slopes at first rapidly, then gradually, to the Atlantic coast. The mountainous area is known under the name of the Appalachian Region, while the hilly country which stretches along its eastern base has been called the Piedmont Plateau. To the east of the latter and 12 MARYLAND. occupying the region bordering the Atlantic coast is a low, level area which has been termed the Coastal Plain. A brief characterization of these leading topographic divisions of the eastern United States will precede a more detailed description of the Maryland area.* The Coastal Plain, as a continuous tract, begins in New Jersey on the south shore of Raritan Bay, where it has a width of about 20 miles, and extends thence southward, constantly broadening, until, in Georgia, it reaches fully 150 miles. North of New Jersey it is continued in the islands of Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket, and other land areas bordering the New England coast. The Coastal Plain is characterized by broad, level stretches of slight elevation, cut by the larger rivers that flow across the area from the Piedmont Plateau, and the smaller rivers and tributaries that have their sources within it. All the streams have sluggish currents, and the drainage of the land is imperfect. Throughout, the country is deeply indented with tidal estuaries and bays, the heads of which often reach quite to the border of the Piedmont Plateau, and at many points admit the entrance of the largest ocean-going vessels. The deeper channels are generally the continuation of the leading rivers which suddenly change in character as they enter the Coastal Plain, with great loss in the velocity of their currents. The name " fall-line " has been given to this boundary on that account. The inland border of the Coastal Plain thus marks the head of navigation, and has likewise conditioned, from the earliest times, the leading highways of trade which connect the North and the South. Along this line have grown up the larger cities of the Atlantic seaboard. Trenton, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Petersburg, Columbia, Augusta, together with other less populous centres, are thus situated. To the west of the Coastal Plain, and extending to the base of the mountainous area, is a region of somewhat greater elevation than that which has just been described. It is known under the name of the Piedmont Plateau. To the north, in New England, it is less clearly defined than along the Middle and South Atlantic slope, where it occurs as a broken, hilly country, with undulating surface, but with few ranges of mountains of conspicuous altitude or great extent. It broadens from New York south- ward, reaching its greatest width in North Carolina, where it extends quite 300 miles from the base of the Appalachian Mountains. Through- *See Whitney, J. D.. United States. Physical Geography and Geology. Encyclopedia Britannica. vol. XXIII, pp. 791-802. McGee, W. J., Three Formations of the Middle Atlantic Slope. Amer. Jour. Sci., 3d ser., vol. 35, pp. 120-124. PHYSICAL FEATURES. 13 out most of the Piedmont Plateau the streams flow with rapid currents, and the country is fully drained. The area of high land, known as the Appalachian Region, extends from Cape Gaspe, in Canada, southward to Alabama, a distance of 1,300 miles. To the south of New York it is divided into three more or less clearly defined regions. The eastern district is composed of ranges of mountains called in Pennsylvania the South Mountains, but known in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina under the name of the Blue Ridge. South of Vir- ginia the eastern belt increases in width, and somewhat changes its character, and in North Carolina contains the highest points in the whole Appalachian system. On the western border of the Blue Ridge lies the Great Valley, which, in Pennsylvania, is about 10 miles in width, but broadens southward, attaining in Virginia, for a distance of 300 miles, a nearly uniform width of 20 miles. It forms one of the richest agricultural belts within the Appalachian Region. The central district is known as the Appalachian Region proper, and is characterized by parallel ranges throughout the whole length of the mountainous area. The continuity of the ranges is .frequently inter- rupted from structural and other causes, but sharp ridges and deep valleys everywhere abound. The western district is characterized by undulating ranges which rise from a high plateau that gradually decreases in elevation westward, until it merges into the rolling country of the Mississippi Valley. Along the eastern side of this western area of highland are the Alleghany Mountains. They continue as parallel ranges throughout the region, which is commonly known as the Alleghany District. After this revietv of the leading topographic features of the Eastern United States, let us turn our attention to a consideration of the Mary- land area. The three regions which have been outlined above, viz : The Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau and the Appalachian Region, are all typically represented within the limits of the State of Maryland, and have conditioned, to a marked extent, its economic development. THE COASTAL PLAIN. The Coastal Plain forms the eastern portion of the State, and com- prises the area between the Atlantic Ocean, and a line passing N. E. to S. W., from Wilmington to Washington, through Baltimore. This region includes very nearly 5,000 square miles, or, approximately, one-half the area of the State. It is about 100 miles broad in its widest part. The Coastal Plain is characterized by broad, level-topped stretches of country which extend, with gradually increasing elevations, from the 14 MARYLAND. coastal border, where tlie land is but slightly raised above sea level, to its western edge, where heights of 300 feet and more are found. As the region is cut quite to the border of the Piedmont Plateau with tidal estuaries, the topography becomes more and more pronounced in passing inland from the coast. The Chesapeake Bay extends nearly across its full length from north to south, while the larger rivers and their tribu- taries deeply indent the region in all directions, making the coast-line in Maryland one of the longest in the country. The Coastal Plain in Maryland may be divided into a lower eastern and a higher western division, separated by the Chesapeake Bay. The former is known under the name of Eastern Maryland (or Eastern Shore), while the latter is commonly referred to as Southern Maryland. The eastern division includes the counties of Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico, Dorchester, Caroline, Talbot, Queen Anne, Kent, and part of Cecil. To this region most of the State of Delaware also properly belongs. Nowhere, except in the extreme north, does it reach 100 feet in elevation, while most of the country is below 25 feet in height. Both on the Atlantic coast and the shore of the Chesapeake, it is deeply indented by bays and estuaries. The drainage of the region is simple, the streams flowing from the watershed directly to the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay upon the east, and to the Chesapeake Bay upon the west. The position of the watershed, along the extreme eastern edge of the area, is very striking. In Worcester county, for much of the distance, it is only a few miles from the coast. As a result, the streams which flow to the east are small in comparison to those which drain to the west. Among the more important rivers which reach the Chesapeake Bay are the Pocomoke, Nanticoke, Choptank and Chester, which all have their headwaters within the State of Delaware, and flow in a general southwest direction in sinuous channels. The western division includes the counties of St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, and portions of Baltimore, Harford and Cecil. In elevation it stands in striking contrast to the eastern division, since it frequently exceeds 100 feet in height, even along its eastern margin. In lower St. Mary's county the land reaches an elevation of 100 feet not far from the bay shore, which is gradually increased until, near the border of Charles county, it slightly exceeds 180 feet. In southern Calvert county an elevation of 140 feet is found to the west of Cove Point, and this gradually increases to the northward, until near the southern boundary of Anne Arundel county, the land rises above 180 feet. Farther to the northwest, in Charles, Prince George's and Anne Arundel counties, the land increases gradually PHYSICAL FEATURES. 15 in height, reaching 280 feet to the east of Washington, and this is con- tinued with slight decrease to the northeastward toward Baltimore. The western division is traversed by several rivers which flow from the Piedmont Plateau. Among the more important are the Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco, Gunpowder and Susquehanna. The course of the Potomac is very striking. After flowing in a nearly southeast direction, across the hard rocks of the Piedmont Plateau, it is, apparently, abruptly turned aside by the soft materials of the Coastal Plain, and takes a course for forty miles nearly at right angles to that which it has for- merly held. It turns again as abruptly to the southeast, and flows in that direction to the Chesapeake Bay. The local drainage of the western division is similar to that hitherto described for the eastern. The streams throughout southern Maryland flow chiefly to the westward. The water-shed of the region lying between the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River is situated but a short distance from the shores of the latter, most of the natural drain- age of Calvert county reaching the Patuxent River. A still more striking instance of this is seen in St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's counties, where the streams nearly all flow to the Potomac River, the water-shed of the region approaching very close to the valley of the Patuxent. The same peculiarity of drainage is found to the southward, in Virginia and the Carolinas. THE PIEDMONT PLATEAU. The Piedmont Plateau borders the Coastal Plain upon the west, and extends to the base of the Catoctin Mountains. It includes, approxi- mately, 2,500 square miles, or about one-fourth of the area of the State. It is nearly forty miles in width in the southern portion of the region, but gradually broadens toward the north, until it reaches 65 miles. It includes all, or the greater part of Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore, Harford, Carroll and Frederick counties. The country is broken by low, undulating hills, which gradually increase in elevation to the. westward. The Piedmont Plateau in Maryland, is divided very nearly in its central portion by an area of highland known as Parr's Ridge, into an eastern and western district. In the character of the rocks these divisions afford sharp distinctions, which are not without their effect upon the relief of the land. The eastern division has, on account of its crystalline rocks and their complicated structure, a diversified topography. Along the eastern margin the land attains, at several points, heights exceeding 400 feet, reaching at Catonsville 525 feet above sea level. To the west the country gradually increases in elevation, until it culminates in Parr's Ridge, which exceeds 850 feet in Carroll county. 16 MARYLAND. The drainage of the eastern district is to the east and southeast. On its northern and southern boundaries it is traversed by the Susque- hanna and Potomac rivers, which have their sources without the area, while the smaller streams, which lie between them, either drain directly to the Chesapeake Bay, or into the two main rivers. Among the larger of the intermediate streams are the Patuxent, Patapsco and Gunpowder rivers, whose headwaters are situated upon Parr's Ridge. The Patapsco, especially, flows in a deep rocky gorge until it leaches the Relay, where it debouches into the Coastal Plain. All these streams have rapid currents as far as the eastern border of the Piedmont Plateau, and even in the case of the largest, are not navigable. The broad, fertile limestone valleys are a striking feature in this area, and are represented to the north of Baltimore in the Green Spring and Dulaney's valleys. On account of the complicated character of the stratigraphy, the valleys take different directions, and are of different form and extent. The western division extends from Parr's Ridge to the Catoctin Mountains. Along its western side is the broad limestone valley in which Frederick is situated, and through which flows the Monocacy River from north to south, entering the Potomac River at the boundary line between Montgomery and Frederick counties. The valley, near Frederick, has an elevation of 250 feet above tide, which changes slowly to the eastward toward Parr's Ridge, and very rapidly to the westward toward the Catoctin Mountains. Situated on the eastern side of the valley, just above the mouth of the Monocacy River, and breaking the regularity of this surface outline is Sugar Loaf Mountain, which rises rapidly to a height of 1,250 feet. With the exception of a few streams which flow into the Potomac directly, the entire drainage of the western district is accomplished by the Monocacy River and its numerous tributaries, which flow in nearly parallel west and east courses, from Parr's Ridge and the Catoctin Moun- tains. As the deepest portion of the valley lies considerably to the west of the centre of the district, the streams upon the east are longer and of greater volume than those upon the west. The water-ways at a distance from the main valley, flow in well-marked channels, which are frequently deeply cut into the land. THE APPALACHIAN EEGION. The Appalachian Region forms the western portion of Maryland, 'bordering the Piedmont Plateau. It comprises about 2,000 square miles, or, approximately, one-fifth the area of the State. It includes the western portion of Frederick, and all of Washington, Alleghany and Garrett counties. It consists of a series of parallel mountain ranges PHYSICAL FEATURES. 17 with deep valleys, which are cut nearly at right angles by the Potomac River. Many of the ranges exceed 2,000 feet, while some reach 3,000 feet and more, in the western portion of the mountainous area. The Appalachian Region is divided into three distinct districts, an eastern (Blue Ridge and Great Valley), a central (Appalachian Mountains proper) and western (Alleghany Mountains), which are separated from one another upon clearly defined structural differences. The eastern division comprises the area between the Catoctin and the North Mountains, and has a width of about 25 miles from east to west. Along the eastern border of this region the Catoctin Mountains extend from north to south, reaching the Potomac river at Point of Rocks. They attain an altitude of 1,800 feet. Succeeding this range upon the west is the Middletown Valley, with an elevation of 500 feet at Middletown. Running through its centre from north to south is the Catoctin Creek, which receives the drainage from the western flanks of the Catoctin Mountains and the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a continuation of the South Mountains of Pennsylvania, and extend as a sharply defined range from the northern boundary of the State to the Potomac river, which they reach at Weverton. Their crest forms the boundary between Frederick and Washington counties. The Blue Ridge reaches an elevation of about 2,400 feet at Quirauk. The Blue Ridge of Virginia is not the direct continuation of the mountains so named in Maryland, but of a smaller range, the Elk Ridge Mountains, that adjoin them upon the west. They are pierced by the Potomac river at Harper's Ferry. Occupying the greater part of this eastern district, and reaching to its western border, is the Hagerstown Valley, a portion of the Great Valley of the Appalachian Region hitherto described. It reaches an altitude of about 500 feet at Hagerstown, but gradually becomes lower toward the south in the vicinity of the Potomac river. The Antietam River and its tributaries occupy the eastern side of the valley, and the Conococheague River and its tributaries the western. The central portion of the valley is accordingly somewhat higher than its sides. The central division, which comprises the Appalachian Mountains proper, is bounded by the North Mountain upon the east and Will's Mountain, near Cumberland, upon the west. Prof. H. D. Rogers describes this district as follows in his report of the First Geological Survey of Pennsylvania : " It is a complex chain of long, narrow, very level mountain ridges, separated by long, narrow, parallel valleys. These ridges sometimes end abruptly in swelling knobs, and sometimes taper off in long slender points. Their slopes are singularly uniform, being in many cases unvaried by ravine or gully for many miles ; in other instances they are trenched at equal intervals with great regularity. 18 MARYLAND. Their crests are, for tile most part, sharp, and they preserve an extra- ordinarily equable elevation, being only here and there interrupted by- notches or gaps, which sometimes descend to the water level, so as to give passage to the rivers [Potomac] The ridges are variously arranged in groups with long, narrow crests, some of which preserve a remarkable straightness for great distances, while others bend with a prolonged and regular sweep. In many instances two narrow contiguous parallel moun- tain crests unite at their extremities and enclose a narrow oval valley, which, with its sharp mountain sides, bears not unfrequently a marked resemblance to a long, slender, sharp-pointed canoe." Among the more important of the ranges in Maryland west of North Mountain are Tonoloway Hill, Sideling Hill, Town Hill, Green Eidge, Warrior Ridge and Martin's Eidge, the two latter reaching 2,000 feet and upwards in elevation. They are arranged in groups of three parallel and closely adjoining ridges on the east and west, with more distant ranges in the middle of the district. The drainage is altogether to the southward into the Potomac. The deeper valleys in the eastern portion of the region have an elevation of about 500 feet in the vicinity of the Potomac, but they gradually became higher toward the west. Evett's Creek, at its mouth, near Cumberland, has an elevation of about 600 feet above sea level. The western division occupies the extreme western portion of Mary- land, and includes the Alleghany Mountains in its eastern half. They gradually merge into a high plateau, with gently undulating mountains rising from the surface, which continue beyond the western borders of the State. The leading ranges of this district are Dan's Mountain, Savage Mountain, Meadow Mountain, Negro Mountain, Winding Eidge and Laurel Hill. Heights of 3,000 feet and more are reached in Savage and Negro Mountains. The partially-adjusted streams give much variety to the topography. They flow in part to the southward into the Potomac, but in Garrett county the greater number drain to the northward through the Youghio- gheny Eiver into the Monongahela. This separation of the drainage has particular interest, since it marks the water-shed between the streams which flow into the Potomac and thus reach the sea by the eastern slope of the Appalachian Moun- tains, and those which flow to the Gulf by way of the Ohio and Mississippi Eivers. CLIMATE. The climate of Maryland is greatly diversified by reason of the complexity of its surface configuration, the presence of the sea upon its eastern borders, the great area of highland which occupies the western division, and the bays and estuaries which- deeply indent the land in all PHYSICAL FEATURES. 19 directions in the Chesapeake region. On account of these disturbing conditions, the same parallels of latitude show very great variations in the character of the climate. Although the climate in general is what is known as continental, it is greatly modified in the eastern portion of the State by the ocean and the Chesapeake Bay, and in the extreme southeast becomes almost oceanic or insular, surrounded as the land is on nearly all sides by water. A description of the climate of the State has been rendered possible as a result of the extended observations of the Maryland State Weather Service, which was organized two years ago, under the joint auspices of the Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Agricultural College and the United States Weather Bureau, and was recognized by the Legisla- ture of the State at its last session. Over fifty stations have been established in the several counties, so that every important variation which takes place within the limits of the State may be observed. Many records of temperature and rainfall were kept at isolated points throughout the State before the organization of the State Service, and these, together with the fuller and more accurate observations which have been taken during the last two years, afford the data upon which the conclusions of this chapter will be based. The climate of the State will be considered under the following heads, viz : — Temperature, Precipitation, Humidity, Winds, Barometric Pressure, Medical Climatology. TEMPERATURE. The great diversity in the physical features of Maryland, with its consequent effect upon the climate, renders a characterization of the temperature of the State, as a whole, quite impossible. The difference between the coastal portions and the mountainous regions is so great that the monthly, seasonal and annual means for the State do not of necessity indicate the temperature for any single locality, although they are of interest in making comparisons with other areas. The following table of mean temperatures of the State is made up from all the localities which are mentioned in the later lists, and includes all the authentic observations : TABLE OF MEAN rEMPEEATURE FOR MARYLAND. Monthly Mean. Seasonal Mean. pi 03 a C3 ft 34.8 3 ft <1 a 72.5 1-5 75.8 < 1 CO O O 5 « !> c "2 a ft w 1 a a" a < 3 % % g s < 32.8 39.6 51.7 02. G 74.3 66.9 44.0 35.5 51.2 74.0 55.0 34.4 53.8 20 MARYLAND. Upon an examination of the table it will be observed that the coldest month is January, with an average mean temperature of 32.8°, while the warmest month is July, with an average mean temperature of 75.8°, a difference of 43°. The greatest changes in mean temperature take place in the Spring and Autumn months, while those in Summer and Winter are very slight. Since the temperature is modified to a marked degree by altitude and proximity to the sea, the State of Maryland will naturally fall into the four following divisions, the topographic features of which have been already described, viz : Eastern Maryland "i Southern Maryland ) = 0oa ° tal p l<*™- Northern Central Mar yland= Piedmont Plateau. Western Mar yland= Appalachian Region. An examination of the following tables will show the differences in temperature which are found in the several districts. Since Eastern Maryland extends much farther north than Southern Maryland its mean temperature is lower, although it is generally warmer at the same latitude : TABLE OF MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR THE FOUR CLIMATIC DIVISIONS OF MARYLAND. Climatic Divisions. Eastern Maryland ;34.8 Southern Maryland 35.3 Northern Central Maryland 30.7 Western Maryland 30.5 h 36.1 37.4 33.9 40.552.6 42.353.4 I 38.250.9 31.6 37.2 49.8 62.172.8 I 63.974.1 5,72.8 7 70.3 75.8 7.7 75.7 73.8 • ^ 1^ C) "^ irt ot CO X 10 «WO • G ^OQ ■ •& CO lO 00 CO CO 13 •.taqopo *>•"$■ CO • G 3 lO lO IO • nomot-n i.O CO l-O CD 10 1C CO CO in GO tH •tHCO© • OJ O O CM CD CO ■* 10 M9qiU91Cl9g OS i> CO o • to t- 10 • . 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C a... 7 Linwood, Carroll Count; 8 New Windsor, Carroll C 9 Union Bridge, Carroll C Emmitsburg, Frederick 1 Frederick, Frederick Co 2Mt. St. Mary's, Frederic] 3 New Market, Frederick 4 New Midway, Frederick 5 Distributing Reservoir, 6 Receiving Reservoir, D. s I it a 2 s # * ^ io *r JlOIOlOf - LC »-' s 28 MARYLAND. *.ia quia %dd g ■IsnSny •A\i\£ ■i^H •{ucly •jtaruqa^ •^.mui^f •^J— opininv ■apniiSuoT; ■apnitiuq l- i- ;r to cr --Z O '~Z \Z — ooi>t- ■ cd on 03 oi cs co i-H T-i co ■ cs o'J t> C3 01 < co co c? tc :r c <^ ■*# co^^ cooq^ocd i>i>J>!SH>t- co o CO to HGO0DWH ^ CO CO^ CO |> CO CO -^ CO C C3COC9WCOCOCOCOCOC3 O — o o o 00000 i>moooooooo ioioiocot-t^cioiioco OCOCOCOCDCDCOCQIOO CO , rt ( 10CO'^'<*-^lOW(M t>o£>£-cococococsos HQcoocaow-^io ^COCO^COCOCO"tfC+2 o o 2 £» SH-SS g 2 ■*< <) 3 "Si*. « 3 o S. fl « « S3 a --"S 53 g a g.2 j^*!^ Stp«6iiSa« . ,M S3 ■X' c; o th « :: ^ o o £~ PHYSICAL FEATURES. 29 i-i « CO-* 1~ co t- COOiOH«MtJ(io 6 £ o3 cT „■ CO S 03 ^3 3 •£ a s . o C= o. 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Beginning End. to to to to" to to to to to to \-± j-- kj >-- ■QNYIAHVIM 08 32 MARYLAND. t-00 050 i-l CO CO^f IO to -^ ^ ^ io io io io io io io io bo J O 1-5 -j >H eS j =« a) J* O ' • H o pl, _o o m s , McCli ourdan. others, kins, th. lonel El lonel El Weathe B £ cj OJ to fl O SCO O O Hauss n. llmgh ith. Hansh other C. H chell a . H. H ;eF. S 3nant- mant- d Stat . o «H .13 . *j td F^w « ° d £ B (3 B Ph QOjjtJ (MIOH®« T-i CO IO CO CO O .fl M ■som 1-1 • ■ .(SO O t-HrHHO) 1-3 •S.IB9X • ■ - -r-i CO CM i-H CO CD CO CO COODCOCOCO t- io IOCS CD CD GO CD CD ~ p 00 CO 00 00 00 cocooococo o T-l ,-H 1-M^H T-H T-l T-H T-l T-l T~l ■pug; - fl~ 13 fl" fl" fl"^ fl" fl" fl" 5*c3 C3 C3»c3c3c3 Ph bQ «h>-5 1-5 1-5 |i< 1-5 l-s 1-5 l-i CO -^ IO "* *> CCOHHH i> JC CD O O O E-ODC.C3t- CO 00 OO GO CO GO 00 CO a X' X' •SumutSgg May, 1 Jan, 1 May, 1 Nov, 1 Jan, 1 Jan, 1 Jan, 1 Sept, 1 Nov, 1 Nov, 1 Jan, 1 OOO ■* Oi-ilOCNOO o •avajt HOT TH M"*^TfT)l CO IO tO IO 10 10 10 10 IO ■ IO o 10 CO QQ •unmjny C3 -^ ^ ^^^^^ GO t* O IO iO IO iO iO iO IO IO CO IO ^ t- io «ffln©« o *C CO \i9tnnmg -^co co 10 10 t- co ^ t-t- t- t-I>t-t-t- CO in CO r-lO CO OHfflOO CO © •Smidg CD CO O CD CO th -r-1 CO ij! o tJiio IO TtllOIOlOlO t- m TS o O £3. c 5 z i County. County. . County.. DO c 02 1 ?2 roll Count •, Carroll C , Carroll C Frederick ederick Co :, Fredericl Frederick Frederick Reservoir, servoir, D. D. C O f- !*) 03 6 8 wood, Car v Windsoi on Bridge mitsburg, derick, Fr St. Mary's v Market, v Midway, tributing eiving Re shington, g 02 3 £ .3 S'S g £ +s SS.s§« t-COOOn CO CO'tlQOC- ■* -^ 1C 1C IO IO IO IT it IO PHYSICAL FEATURES. 33 COCSOH«W-*IOCOt- 10iOOCDCOCO>cc>COCDO -a .O c« H H > Ah' H a" -c- 3 n O J. E. Bell. C. Feldman. E. G. Kinsell. Charles Felcma II. Shriver. E. T. Shriver. F. F. Brown. T. C. Atkinson. L. R. Cafran an 3 2 -^< i~ o o o co> -* • o £r ,d 'sou 7-H • T-l a ^ ■ i-< • CO lO i-t t-h • »3 ■s.rea^ CO OiOiCOCOCOCOCOCO^O ! "-s r. i-r. c:^r. t"3 R X X X. X X X X X X X 3 O •pug; of------.. PS 3c30c3c3o3c3a}cy7 i-s S £ S S S S fl Q £ ! GOC3CQO}CS03i-C: 3 i- i- <:- c: X i- o -t- <- 7 1 X X X X X X X X X X •SmumSag 3 3 «£l a" o a~g~o l" tH t- CO r~i CO GO • o •aya^ s 10 odsid O iO io io - MCiO CD CO T-i OS CO r- C i> •.lainijVi. O CD 00 Ci -* LO © i> £- w T-t CO CO c* CO CO CO W CQ O cr CO O OS £> Oi CO © GO 1 '- i> K •nraujny s CD © -H CO ce »o o cr JO — © C\flO w cr i> •jaurmng t- LI C > ^ CO *> t~ t- cd CO cr Tt< « LOOC!«M cr -* •Sui.idg © © to CQ GO © t-< CO JO-*-*lo-* CO ci o O :A>> J : • >>a +=*>>»■ >>« o a a *= ■ +^ a "^ r( 3 c • a; O r- < S jrsburg, Washington Cou jrstown, Washington Co n Spring Furnace,Washii] ;mont, Washington Count berland (a), Alleghany C> berland (b), Alleghany C< tcherville, Alleghany Co lavage, Alleghany Count o CM a CO ^ -1- 5 Ms so ~.mZ 0'S^'C330"eo j"3s o -.R?,oa X' — — — C? CO -* J- — <~ iro o cd ~ © O O CO to CO 34 MARYLAND. PRECIPITATION. The atmospheric precipitation in Maryland occurs both as rain and snow. There is no portion of the State in which either is entirely wanting, although the snowfall is far less in the eastern and southern districts than in the northern and western. The snowfall never fails completely even in the warmest winters, although it may he reduced to insignificant proportions. The precipitation is more or less equally distributed throughout the months, when the means for a long term of years are taken into con- sideration, although wet and dry periods characterize the seasons of a single year, causing marked variations from the normal. A certain con- stant increase in the mean precipitation is found to occur in the spring and late summer, with a corresponding decrease in the autumn and whiter. The western portion of the State has a less amount of annual precipi- tation than the eastern. A heavy rainfall characterizes the region which lies to the east of the Catoctin Mountains, the easterly winds, as they reach the highlands, precipitating their moisture in the Frederick valley and over the western slope of the Piedmont Plateau. The eastern slope of the Piedmont Plateau has again less precipitation. The western portion of the Coastal Plain has a much drier climate than the eastern, although numerous local exceptions appear. For exam- ple, the western shores of the Chesapeake have relatively much greater precipitation than the eastern, which makes the average precipitation for Southern Maryland exceed that for Eastern Maryland. The central and western portion of Eastern Maryland has a much greater rainfall than the area bordering the Atlantic. The precipitation generally accompanies the areas of low pressure which traverse the country from west to east, and pass to the north of Maryland. It commonly occurs on their eastern front during the preva- lence of easterly winds. In the following table will be found the mean monthly, seasonal and annual precipitation for the State as a whole, and the four climatic divisions of the same, which have been previously characterized. TABLE OF MEAN PRECIPITATION FOR MARYLAND. >> ^, x> ,Q & 3 & a s jj> 3 ft o o

< m O £ R Maryland. . . . ! 3.31 3.07 3.92 3.75 4.21 3.72 4.11 3.77 3.67 2.75 3.22 2.69 Graphical Representation of Mean Temperatures in theFonr Climatic Divisions of Maryland. JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV DEC JAN SO, 1 1 1 1 , 1 1 , , -^80 s~ -X / \ />** \ ' / \ I \ \ Y /' ( / \ l/l / u I' 1 / \ \\ 1' II /' // \ \y i 1' \ \\ \ \ \ \\ \\ \\ 1 : I A\ i \\\\ i \>Y h \ m\ i 1 ii \ A\ 1 // \\\ //// \ * V / /// \ l * f/l \ \ \\ ii \ \ ,ii \ \\ VI \\\ 1 (l 1 \ ' 1 \\\ 1 \ \ \\ if'l \ \ ; III \\\\ //'/ \\\\ ll \ ^ 1 1 'hi \'\ y\ in \\ \\ ill! \ \ 'iii \ A\ 1 \ w\ / J ' \\V i V V / / it \\ \\ , / / ' \ v \ v\ / / /I \ \ ^ '^y / / \ \ ' / / \ \ <, / \ / V / / \s ^ JAN. FEB. MAR. APR. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN WESTERN MARYLAND EASTERN MARYLAN D NORTHERN-CENTRAL MARYLAND SOUTH ER N MARYLAN D PHYSICAL FEATURES. 35 TABLE OF MEAN PRECIPITATION FOR MARYLAND — CONTINUED. Seasons. # ■ a a 3 S 02 «i £ a; 12.88 11.60 9.64 9.31 42.43 TABLE OF MEAN PRECIPITATION IN THE FOUR CLIMATIC DIVISIONS OF MARYLAND. Climatic Divisions. Eastern Maryland Southern Maryland Northern Central Maryland Western Maryland 3 51 3.20 3.50 3.01 3.22 3.51 3.10 a. 45 4.06 4.20 4.39 3.02 4.044.29 4.114.40 3. 6214.06 3.23 4 3.18 3.70 3.48 4.53 4 4.42 4.45 2.77 3.393.04 3.802 4.03i2.74 3.462.35 2.70 4.11 3.25 2.82 2.67 60 3.13 35 Climatic Divisions. Eastern Maryland Southern Maryland Northern Central Maryland Western Maryland Seasons. CQ cc 12.39 12.71 12.07 10.33 11.74 11.96 11.91 10.78 9.13 10.77 10.02 8.63 9.40 9.31 9.73 8.81 42.66 44.75 43.73 38.55 On the succeeding pages are given the stations at which the longest records of precipitation have been kept. They vary from one to over fifty years. At Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Harbor, there is an almost continuous record since 1836. In Baltimore City the earliest data were collected in 1817, but there have been numerous breaks in the record. The variations in annual rainfall are quite marked in some instances. The lowest recorded annual rainfall in Baltimore, for example, was in 1819, when there were 28.75 inches; the greatest was in 1846, when there were 62.04 inches, while the mean annual rainfall is 44.34 inches. At Fort McHenry the lowest annual rainfall reported is 22.43 inches, in 1870; the highest, 66.38 inches, in 1889. Records have also been kept at other places for a considerable period, and similar striking variations in the annual precipitation are found. 36 MARYLAND. 3 t- iC CO i-H CS <* t- H .-< C- -# CO t- OlOOOfflCONTfi JCOCDt-COiO-FCCCO^COi-U^COCO^: iiOHOJHffiddoiMMcod'HCJi-c * IC CO t-H t- o c ■Saudg U9qui8;d9g •jstiSny ■Xinp JXMC* OS O O - •* O C CD COG HOHt-NHl -t C5 CO i-H W OJ *t-CCHOt-«NC jTjfr-SiWMHC H(DOiM«COt-W'*c: : -p it ?! ~ rs :■:■ o -f : coioo-*ocoaOH(M WOiOHiOOKllMO* CO CM* •*>' CO ■"#" Tji -* rh CO rH 'tudy •jCrBruqa^ •£iimirBf tOttXOOCCOTjIHC r-tCWOSO? ^a.CO.^OlCCffCmiCOCOG'.lOiOr-l!; J 2 O " ' bDOO : -^ a s 3(5 £Oi. MOD C3 i-i -rj* OS 00 0: i CO" CO CQ W iC i> OS -+■ :■: •-:> :■"-*-*■* -t< ic co ^ ^COCOOC5lCOOtDCDOl-IOSC )OOCOOCOOH(MCCt-r-ic "Snudg rHjoggo:--LOi't*i-tDc:w:oNHOootcico OOOtHOOOOSOOC uaqnia^dag ■Tt£-CSOC0£--*£-t-100SC INt-WcO^t S TH tW lO ED O O ■judy ■taruqajf ■XiutiUBp -NCO^C-NCO^OHCTNCQCinO i - ' * X 'C ?> 05 CPJOOOOI «Olfli-it-H10t-O10 00l CO* CO rH irf 05 CO r-I 01 1C CI -^" c C6-^©W«0»iS«t-0>-IH(MOC OlOCOC-HCQt-HIC Tti CO C5 (M' tJH Tji CO -*' IT. THOOSOSlOt-OSt-C^OID'-DOOi-it'OOeOCOi-iC 5 O O W -^ O .§5 TO b 5f cs o-s 2=3 >>§§§g3oQO :r9« ; o =5' i •& OJ ho &0.O - S a .. -<1 2 '?».9 a a "? § a-2.2 S 38 MARYLAND. HUMIDITY. The capacity of tlie atmosphere to hold moisture varies, hut vapor of water is always present in greater or less amounts. When the atmosphere is near saturation the air is moist, but when it is capable of taking more water it becomes dry in proportion to the amount which can thus be taken. If the saturated state is taken as the standard of comparison, or 100, then the relative amount of moisture can be indicated by percentage. Observations have been recorded at comparatively few points, so that reliable means are difficult to obtain. The following table gives the relative humidity of a few stations during the year 1892 : >> p 3 3 Stations. cS E< El 03 03 B CD Em p 3. 03 a5 a "3 ho El < o O a CD > O a 3 o CD o CD 79 78 73 65 69 77 72 73 72 67 76 74 73 85 87 84 79, 7?. 80 78 83 78 71 77 84 79 80 74 80 73 74 70 69 65 66 70 75 75 73 76 82 73 80 i 74 72 68 76 70 70 74 72 Prom 1871 to 1892 the mean relative humidity in Baltimore has been as follows : 1871 to 1892. •3 1-5 8 El o 8 03 ci El ES >"5 >-5 El < 3 s CD P. CD 02 3 & o o C 3 3 s a d) 3 C CD 3 70 65 64 61 65 68 68 70 '74 ! 68 70 , 68 67 6 The prevailing winds in Maryland are northwest. During the summer months they are more from the south, varying from southwest to south- east in the eastern and central portions of the State ; while in the winter months they are more from the northwest and west. In the mountainous regions in Western Maryland the winds are more constantly from the northwest and west throughout the year. Continuous records have been kept at only a few points sufficiently long to establish reliable means. Those obtained at Baltimore during the last 22 years are the best. They are given below : PHYSICAL FEATURES. 39 MEAN DIRECTION OF WIND AT BALTIMORE DURING- THE PAST 22 YEATtS. Month. Direction. Followed by Bain or Snow. Most Likely. Least Likely. March N. W. N. W. N. W. N. W. S. E. S. E. S. W. S. w. N. N. E. to S. E. 1ST. E. to S. E. S. E. to S. W. S. E. to S. W. N. E. to S. E. S. E. to S. W. S. E. to S. W. S. E. to S. W. E. to S. N. to W. N. to W. N. to W. N. to W. May July N. to W. N. to W. N. W. to N. E. N.W.toN. E. N. to W. December Annual Mean N. W. N. W. N. W. N. W. E. to S. N. E. to S. E. N. E. to S. E. N. to W. N. to W. N. to W. Otlier stations, at which less complete records have been kept, indicate the same general conclusion, except that the westerly direction of the wind veers more and more to the southerly in passing from the inland mountainous region toward the coast. Along the shore line of the State during the warmer months there are inflowing currents of air, or sea breezes, which moderate the temperature of the land for some distance from the coast. They generally blow from mid-day till sundown, and are due to the heated atmosphere over the land rising and thus causing the cooler air over the water to flow in to take its place. BAROMETRIC PRESSURE. The variations in barometric pressure are not very great in the more populous portions of the State. Since none of the larger towns are situated at a height of even 1,000 feet above sea level, the variations in the mercury column due to' elevation would not, at ordinary temperatures, exceed one inch. Even the highest ranges of the western portion of the State would show a difference of but little over three inches. In recording barometric observations, however, it is customary to make cor- rections by reducing the readings to a common datum, which is that of sea level. The most important variations in the barometric pressure are due to the passage of areas of low pressure, few of which, however, take their track directly across the State. Most of them pass to the north of the confines of Maryland. Their coming is generally accompanied by rainfall ; and are preceded by a rise and followed by a fall in temperature. Barometric observations have been taken continuously at only a few points in the State, and no important general conclusions can be drawn from the 40 MARYLAND. records. The mean monthly barometric readings for Baltimore from 1871 to 1892 are given in the following table: ^ >> 8 A ■s -Q ,Q ,a x> Year. =s ■£ >> t=-> w •g O > ci o >-5 fe % CO -* r-t -rH CO C .cooi oooe r or co -+" lo -* -+•" of o5~ -tf oo co co ^IO-tlOO >i0 07 CD O — i.O O ■4 rH i-H i-H tH i-I .-< i-< tH r-< 05 W O 48 HO)ONOiC"#N©COC. co CO -V I- CI Ci i icocomcowo moc-wo«c D tO O W M Ol CO O CO T' I- C r ■ / ■ h < - r ■- } t. :.'" r- x i - i -4 ,-H CD 1(0 I> OiOO TP— t 5WHMO cs coToo os CO C. U ^MN^O-jCONOiO^HNt tiWOOO DOW-*COOHr4H'*tOHl>0-*NHr-o xj c? ct - 05 CD 1C CO 05 CO 30 -V — C 00 ~ t- O OS i-< C". 3 05 lO 0^05 U0 O frH~crcc~co~ -+~-ti of -Ti-'i-""-^ — ■ of o5"«D"^-rr-roroo*oo"corcT h th o5 co :d t~ cm - :■'■ — ( - c: :o ■— i cd o cr. -f o x co cr cr. o uo os os cp oo ■ CD CO 1 CD CO - CO I ■ ■ ~ ( - 3 C C C) C. H -H O ■* ■tH^COOr-OCOHt-OWW(M?J r "t c * ( ^. (?J "^l^ 1 ;coTt4"co rtfoo'i--'" rfio erf ^ of v^^cq^lS-^ takers iCTj i - « O 3 1 CD cs t- o •* CD- X X' !- t Cf5' co -t- i tH £- 00 © Tt 1C -P 77 7 1 77 x — J.7 7> x :: CO - Oi -P X -f © •- TO © *CP i-< 03 C' ir> -# — ? - : c — x< x — :o x © co 70- I- X ©-p. h -P 7 > 7 • 7 C3 0! 70 -t 70 03 03 0! t- of t- T-i co as go -h o t- Oi co o iy © • © X' O 3 O^. t~ CO 03 1- © J X) . iO 70 73© -P X.- X CO JO f- CO X , ff! OI Q iC r- D '7 X TO ? - CO C7 .i-l C21-I02 r-lO'JCOOt-ir © i> ©cot-oiftown • • . !© 7 7 r. -D '0 iO X' CD — 1 c- r- 1 C2 t- C- -ft ■* GO i-H CO X iO © © CO-* --H x t- — < i> ira C2 IO io x o> i> oi © o — < — < jo © © .-,<& id oi © oi co Oi -* ■* © « -* ~r — ' 7 • to tt — © *- © co co o © p)i-n :o x "_ t ' i~ co — x ~ :t co © "J t— < — ■— ■ © :" -r :~ © x -r — i- x © -p -*■ ?i © x :t id x -p f- i- x — -p oi -ri cr iO ~ © co ?"> tp — d t- ?> -" 71 o> i- 77 — ~ «o j.o *- © ci © — .-< D? C7> C2 01 02 01 i-( Oi 03 CO tJH C3 CO ■* tt CO t* t* CO iO ID IT © t-^" w to <3 PS H^tD«moiooocowaoocoaiHw-(t> . ■* ce i- l: C X X CO © i - • .- : ■; 7 • 01 -P r. — '0 ) © 0i Oi o D — Oi o> © '.T — — © 77 — 7 > 77 i- — C7 J- 'O *- co i~h -p <«i- n to •4 ?? -f :: <- »- -T- ~ — :7 -r c --tf- co j.o id © © CD X- Oi © CO CC © X — C"? — C7 jO {- -f 01 ■— y~> C> © 71 77 i - IO rH C2 rH rH i-l ^ T-l t-H ,-< .-H r-l rH rH i-H rH rH T~ t-^ hi ccT H B E> r T H^cDino'i , MO'-iif;Ni00t:iu:'#t-HcocoN-*c3J-. o 3 - x -" f - © T y ir. - ? w - y : - x © o> © X c. 70 -p © ■* co io "o co i.- 7 .' i r ;-. 1.7 i-o — 7 ' x -i- :: (- y— r : 7 — o -p © © x ;t ci ,.-; -co.—* r- < - o. © co — • -+ x 71 co ~ -~ — 71 X — ' U0 t-. O Oi CO Oi f- 0i Oi X X -p 1 CO I- © .— © tp 1-1 t-T r-li-'OSi-trHOSCttOJCOCOCOIO'^Ca ^T t~ •** TP Oi 01 ~ CO X C7. CO t- Or Oi X 'Oi — ' O 02 CO Oi 05 CD O s cc^i-ccco - --h co -^ r- Ti x o.o:cc-ci t- CO lO CO Oi L- .7 y. i- 1- l~ - "C J- 77 i.O C J-0 CD T< >-H X t- 10 — C7 X i-O -H 1 f Oi i0 -7- ~ CO 77 r ~ T. 7"> X -f 77 CD -r 71 — ^— co ~ t- — oi 1.0 x -r 77 r 1 — t- co y o. 77 77 — 01 77 t- •^h Oi Oi OI Oi Oi *o CO -r -r i - 1 t- 77 1.7 -r :o X TO CO X- Oi t- cb ecT .^CJi^COO^^r^CD^^lOCOr-Oi-iCDC^ThO^rH © ?3 TO i- 1-1 CC GO CC O -" O i- :: O l 7? *r t W CO- CO — ■ C7 ID CO 01 X X X 7? -f iO 17 70 — 7 ' iO 0J © 1-1 C-Oi © 02 OT> Tp r- © r-i TO >.0 -P -0 70 — f"- D. CD' -— "CD CO C- >-t Oi ■** Ci rH © © CO i. r 'O — J -■ Oi — Oi TO -ti t- Oi t- © CO i-i t-i i-H rH i-h rH rH C2 i-l C3i-HCMT-trHi-«i-(C2CMC2 co" C0Wt*O(SC0Wtt!C0OOOTHC0'-*O'-IN!DW -OUT) -. y 77 71 X t- CO -r 70 O CO- JO -* 1 - i - 3 :"-£-HCO rnOOCI X CD -r" CO O 70 X 1-1 CO CD -f "* lO ^ CM X) 70 .- C CO (M ^ ri lO CO 70 CD <"-- — 1 77 iO '.' .' 70 — j 7J ■ CO CJ W h ^ rt r-i ■* J- ■/- O N N H O W t- rt M «5 Oi Oi 7 rH © CO irtCOCDCDCDt-T^-rf'TtlCOTtlOli— 1WH1- iHr IH H i^Ci00^0 02CO'-'O^COT^iiOO-cHCi , *t'COr- -f 0! i.- Oi t- Oi Oi 1-1 t*H CO ># ifT: O © © C-. t- C7 co. jo 10 co 10 co :: l7 n - ■:: H « ■* C H » O -H X O Oi Oi CD 10 7' 77 i.7 — '- '7 TO- Oi 70 X ID 77 •— 01 CT- 01 01 LO 01 O Oi E- \f. OOHinODHOHiOO'^iCO'* © 3 OW02C0^1CCOt-COC»0'-IC?COH11f7)CD^COCiO-^C2 L~ I- t- I- f- l-~ I- I— 1- l- X CO X X X X X X X X O. Oi ~ f r^ 1- rH p- TH r- r^ — r^ T-lr-'T-(r--•* I-ICOIC Oi O * (M CM "^ ■S ^ CO CD JO CM OC lOWWOt'C OS rH CO i-t Ol cr CO H Of O -f JO CO CT CO CO o o oococot-co cococot-c •* OJ t- »o m« T-- COO: -i ^ pa a 'p co t-cs r- t- "# ?[ QW OS (N HOOtHJ>00* ■* O OS CO CO *-- CM GO CO CD CM i- O-t-iOWCC t- oojcojocc t-cowr.^ir O ^ i> O « cr -toMoo-a C tO COCO CO C7 ^CO cococoo ONCOC ~JJ~- 0"! ^ CO JO 05 CO < cm r- •tf CM Ht- CI r-" CO CO ■* r-i CO JO .- CO CD — co ^ co coos coco a- CM CM t- i-i CM OC CO CD CM CO — OS m r-COKlWC H©MOC«0' CO T > -h JO Cf C: CO ■* -— OJ ^ co c- os ^ c cctcooc^ J3 CM M lO CM i-l i- r-i tr- § a m K C3 ee os co t- ir ciowic-*c t- CO CD fc- CT Ot-^ODMf t- CO r-t OJ CD CM ^^^tH-JcT rH to co" to" I-i" -rf r-T TJT lO r-i CM CO O CO OSO ■* CM £- r- CO CM CO Obt" O00H t-C r-t CO i-H CM Oi ■3 ocomicir JO GO -* _< OS t o o co cm o ir co o ei t- jo ■* cm os t- co go cr OS JO JO -* COO C-O TtiCOC CO CM O OS ■* CM coioosiocot- -ft CO CO E- C- OS K .a cjowmo; O — • O t~ OCT OGO GO Tti OCT co jo t- eo ■* co — JO -IH GO CO -P « § O OS CD t- r-^lO C- CO CM JO OS Ol -* O PO. ^* T-H r-1 tH 1-1 I- COHWO-; iJlOOHCJC cm ooiooc o~ Ot-HOCOCT O CO CO 01 CJ tt< a OS t-COTf coo- CO O CO CO JO o a iojoqococ<- CO OS OS JO t- CS co CO t- GO CO CC CD — 1 t-4 CO Tf< CM CMCO CM CO CO OS I- i-i Cr CO CO I> CM CO rf CCiO^ cr CT <( CO CM i-iCMlO C3 t-h CM CO CM C t- ^iCOiCO" CO JO o *#»- CM CO O O OS i- JO O ■ CM O * jh c-i q in c JO — CO •* t- JT CM T-H • CO O ■ t- O^CM ?"? nr i - CM^O^i-l 0_t-< •lOCM • ^ ja co" co"t-T CM g; CO T-. T-H H 3 S CQ WHWMtt WrH CM — CC CM OS t-I CO CMC i> r-l • 05 »o • ffl H coou c$ W Tt N CCH H H '" • CO"* • £ t> <) OSOCO I> OffiC o o OOOOlOO CD CO -t c- OT g os rH r-1 CM JO^ js oT jo' V* M pa ►J B C5 ca -* JO CMt-ICC _^ H O i> JO CO tH CO i-i CI t> «i GQ w ^J >*h± '• • a p 3 O =: ■ ' ° c ** c 5 c < = - c c 'c c — -= £ a i c < 13 J: < C ? DC ,3 :"&.j § " ^ AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 163 In commenting on these results in the Census Bulletin it is stated that "in Maryland, the total area in cereals in 1889 was 1,239,428 acres, as compared with 1,378,276 acres in 1879, a decrease of 138,848 acres, or 10.07 per cent. There was a decrease of 78,111 acres in the area of corn, of 58,569 acres of that in wheat, of 2,725 acres in buckwheat, and of 1,932 acres in oats. On the other hand, there was an increase in the areas in rye and barley of 1,897 acres and 592 acres respectively." Properly to understand and appreciate the significance of this decrease in the area devoted to these staple crops, and the lesson it teaches of the direction agriculture is taking, it will be well to consider these results in some detail. The following tables, compiled from these results and those of the 10th Census, give the acreage and average yield of wheat and corn per acre for the different counties in the State, arranged in the order of the yield per acre in 1879. It is hardly proper to compare the yields of but two years, as the difference in the season may be amply sufficient to produce marked differences in the yields per acre. There are, indeed, two factors which would tend to influence the yield per acre in these returns — the climatic conditions and the very marked decrease in the acreage. It will be seen that the decrease in acreage has been decided in those regions having the lighter soils, which are not well adapted to the production of wheat, and it is probable that in general the lands least adapted to wheat or corn are those where the cultivation of these crops has soonest been replaced by that of other crops better adapted to the lands. The result of this natural selection would be an apparent increase of the yield per acre. Due allowance must be made for the effect of the season or crop production. The following table will give an idea of the climatic conditions for the two census years under consideration. The data covers all the crop season of the staple crops : 164 MARYLAND. METEOROLOGICAL DATA FOR BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. (UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU.) Wheat Season. Temperature. Rainfall. 1878-9. 1888-9. Difference 1878-9. 1888-9. Difference 69.4 58.3 46.9 35.3 31.3 32.1 43.7 53.7 65.7 73.3 7S.8 64.0 51.4 46.8 35.9 37.6 29.4 42.8 54.0 65.0 70.7 — 5.4 — 6.9 — 0.1 + 0.6 + 6.3 — 2.7 — 0.9 + 1.3 — 0.7 — 2.6 — 3.1 0.82 4.41 3.55 5.61 2.59 1.55 1.65 3.69 2.74 3.92 3.16 4.90 2.99 3.04 3.26 4.22 2.53 5.71 8.70 6.82 6.17 11.03 + 4.08 — 1.42 — 0.51 — 2.35 + 1.63 + 0.98 + 4.06 A il + 5.01 Mav + 4.08 Tnne + 2.25 + 7.87 33.69 3.06 59.37 5.39 +25.68 53.4 52.1 — 1.3 + 2.33 1878-9. 1888-9. Difference. C\ <\l 106 101 83 137 158 — 23 p. J n^ + 36 106 + 52 Corn and Tobacco Season. Temperature. Rainfall . 1879. 1889. Difference 1879. 1889. Difference April 52.7 65.7 73.3 78.8 74.6 64.1 54.0 65.0 70.7 75.7 73.8 73.5 + 1.3 — 0.7 — 2.6 — 3.1 — 0.8 + 9.4 3.69 2.74 3.92 3.16 6.71 2.72 8.70 6.82 6.17 11.03 1.40 4.59 + 5.01 Mav + 4.08 TllTTP + 2.25 Tnlv + 7.87 Ano-nst — 5.31 + 1.87 22.94 3.83 38.71 6.45 +15.77 68.2 6S.8 0.6 + 2.63 1879. 1889. Difference. fl • rlavs 72 41 44 62 90 — 28 Plnnflv rinvq + 21 3 + 37 It will be seen that tlie mean temperature was considerably lower in the wheat season of 1888-9 than in that of 1878-9. There were over 25 inches, or 76 per cent, more rainfall in 1888-9, and 52 more rainy days, or 50 per cent, more than in the earlier period. In the corn and tobacco seasons, from April to September, inclusive, the mean temperature was about the same in each season, but it was very differently distributed. There were nearly 16 inches, or 69 per cent, more rainfall in the season of 1889 than in that of 1879, and this rain fell on 37 more days, giving uniformly wetter conditions. The tobacco crop AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 165 of 1889 was exceptionally small, and of poor quality on account of this excessive rainfall. These climatic conditions must be borne in mind in connection with the data which follows. Wheat. The accompanying table gives the acreage and average yield of wheat per acre in each county in the State, compiled from the tenth and eleventh census : ACBEAGE AND AVEEAGE YIELD OF WHEAT PEE ACEE. (Compiled from the Tenth aud Eleventh Census.) 1879. Acres. 1889. Acres. Per Cent. Difference 1889. 1879. Bushels. 1889. Bushels. Difference Bushels. 569,296 15,042 6,581 18,554 10,854 14,181 510,727 8,571 3,527 12,444 6,237 8,250 — 10.3 — 42.9 — 46.4 — 32.9 — 42.5 — 41.8 14.06 7.1 7.6— 8.3 9.0 9.0 16.35 9.6 7.0 10.7 10.9 8.9 + 2.29 + 2.5 — 0.6 + 2.4 + 1.9 — 0.1 Southern Maryland. St. Mary's — 41.3 — 37.1 — 46.0 — 35.1 + 6.5 — 25.1 + 19.6 + 0.4 — 10 1 8.2 7.1 7.2 7.6 10.2 10.3 13.5 14.1 14.8 9.4 9.6 10.2 12.3 14.8 14.7 16.9 19.9 17.2 + 1.2 + 2.5 + 3.0 4- 5.3 4- 4.6 + 4.4 + 3.4 + 58 4- 2.4 Eastern Shore. 5,821 3,720 25,979 18,336 8,082 41,223 33,129 37,581 3,661 2,008 16,952 19,617 6,050 49,313 33,289 33,754 Talbot Kent — 15.8 — 32.6 — 37.8 — 7.8 + 11.5 — 5.2 — 4 4 — 20.1 — 14.9 — 8.7 — 2.2 10.6 8.9 10.7 ■ 13.7 14.4 15.7 16.5 16.7 16.9 16.9 18.0 14.4 11.7 11.8 17.4 17.7 19.1 17.1 18.1 15.8 16.1 17.5 + 3.9 + 2.8 4- 1.1 + 3.7 4- 3.3 4- 3.4 Northern and Western Maryland. 7,549 4,122 28,629 40,077 29,875 18,445 25,143 35,673 83,767 56,923 5,086 2,652 26,369 44,704 28,812 17,628 20,071 30,237 76,429 55,648 Cecil — 12.2 14.8 16.2 + 1.3 The counties in the agricultural regions of the State are grouped together, and they are arranged in the order of the yield per acre in 1879, rather than in the last census year, because this was under the old regime when wheat was a staple crop in all parts of the State, and also because the climatic conditions of that season are believed to have been more nearly normal than in the last census year. The three most striking things about this table are the very great reduction in the acreage of wheat, the yield per acre, and the increased yield in 1889 over 1879. In adjusting itself to the new conditions and demands of the 166 MARYLAND. market, it is natural that the cultivation of wheat will be given up first on those lands which are least productive, and we find this to be the fact. There has been a decrease of over 40 per cent, in the acreage of wheat in Southern Maryland. On the Eastern Shore there has been a reduction of 15.8 per cent., and this has been almost entirely in the four southern counties of Worcester, Wicomico, Dorchester and Somerset, which we shall see later are largely covered by typical truck lands similar to those of Southern Maryland. In Northern and Western Mary- land there has been a reduction in acreage of about 12 per cent., and this has been principally in the coal regions of the extreme western part of the State. The reduction in acreage in Harford and Montgomery coun- ties is probably due to other causes than the character of the land, and in the former it is probably largely due to the extensive canning indus- tries and to the pasturage and fattening of cattle. None of the other counties show a very marked reduction in acreage, and Carroll county shows a considerable increase. It will be seen later, when speaking of the soils in these different agricultural regions in detail, that the pre- vailing soils in Southern Maryland, a,nd in at least four or five counties of the Eastern Shore, are not suited to wheat, but that they are admir- ably adapted to fruit and truck, and this notable decrease in the acreage of wheat shows that they are being turned to uses in which they are far more profitable and more valuable. In regard to the average yields per acre, given in the table, it will be remarked that they are seemingly very low. It must be remembered, however, that these averages are for entire counties, and include all varieties of soils, methods of cultivation and manuring. As before remarked and as will be shown later, the lands devoted to wheat cul- ture, especially in Southern Maryland, in several counties of the Eastern Shore, and in the extreme western counties of the State, include large areas ill-adapted to the cultivation of wheat. This reduces the average yield per acre ; and it is as harmful to the farmer himself to misuse his land by a cropping to which it is not adapted as it is to other producers whose lands are especially adapted to this crop, for it depresses the market value without benefiting the producer. It is from such lands as these which produce small yields per acre that so much is said of the hard times and the low prices of wheat, and it is such areas as these in which the acreage of wheat should be reduced and the lands applied to the raising of crops for which they are better suited. It is hardly fair, therefore, to judge of these agricultural regions by the average yield per acre of wheat, because, after all, it does not interest a prospective settler to know what the average yield is or what a neighbor's yield is as much as to know what can reasonably be expected by his own methods of cultivation and manuring. It would be AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 167 fairer to judge by what a good farmer can expect, and for this these averages can, in nearly all cases, be about doubled. For example, the wheat lands in Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties, around Davidsonville, West River and Marlboro districts, produce eighteen bushels per acre with ease. On the good wheat lands in Queen Anne, Talbot and Kent counties, on the Eastern Shore, and in all the counties of northern central Maryland, together with Frederick and Washington counties, from twenty to thirty bushels per acre can be produced with ease, and as much as thirty to forty bushels can be depended on with the very best lands and with good farming. Yields as low as any of those given in the table would be considered very poor farming in any of the respective counties, and it would be safe to say that a good farmer could depend on twice this yield per acre on the better class of wheat lands in these different localities. Farmers in this locality cannot afford to grow wheat as a staple crop on lands which produce less than fifteen bushels per acre. In comparing the yield per acre in the two census years, there are the two factors to be considered, the decrease in the acreage, which, by weeding out the lands least adapted to wheat culture, would tend to increase the average yield, and the difference in the climatic conditions of the two seasons. It will be remembered that the season of 1888-89 was decidedly wetter than that of 1878-79, and there were about 50 per cent, more rainy days. The increased precipitation and generally more moist conditions, unless altogether too wet, would be favorable and would tend to increase the yield on the lighter soils, but might depress the yield on the heavier soils. It will be seen from the table that, as a rule, the greatest increase of yield per acre in 1889 over 1879 was in those counties where the yields were smallest, and, as we shall see, where the lands are generally lighter in texture. On the whole there is seen to have been a remarkable decrease in the acreage of wheat, especially in those counties where the yield is low, and where, as will be seen later, the soils are too light in texture to give profitable yields per acre of wheat. The staple crops of the fertile lime- stone lands of Western Maryland, of the prevailing lands in Northern Central Maryland and the heavier lands on the Eastern Shore, will always be grass, wheat and corn, because these lands are sufficiently strong to give large yields of these crops per acre; but still there are many other crops admirably adapted to these lands and to the peculiar market advantages of this locality, the cultivation of which could be profitably extended. Indian Corn. There has been a very marked reduction in the acreage of corn as well as in that of wheat, and this has been general throughout all of the counties, as will be seen by the accompanying table. 168 MARYLAND. ACREAGE AND AVERAGE YIELD OP INDIAN CORN PER ACRE. (Compiled from the Tenth and Eleventh Census.) 1879. Acres. 1889. Acres. Per Cent. Difference 1889. 1879. Bushels. 1889. Bushels. Difference Bushels. 664,92S 23,368 25,922 10,848 28,897 29,674 586,817 20,630 19,900 7,830 23,836 24,561 — 11.7 — 11.7 — 19.4 — 24.8 — 17.5 — 17.2 24.01 15.5 15.9 19.5 32 7 23.4 25.44 15.4 14.1 18.2 24.7 20.7 Southern Martland. — 18.1 — 11.5 — 5.3 — 30.0 — 30.1 — 15.4 — 10.4 — 7.4 — 5)2.6 19.4 10.8 12.7 16.4 16.7 17.2 24.2 26 4 26.5 18.6 7.8 10.6 13.3 17.4 13.3 20.7 28.4 27.2 0.8 Eastern Shore. 41,214 44,588 39,380 30,590 36,452 42,204 27,551 21,364 3 9 38,653 I 34,639 29,937 ; ^7,731 26,053 | 20,133 Kent Talbot — 16.7 — 11.4 — 24.8 + 2.5 + 5.1 — 6.9 — 14.2 — 7.2 + 2.9 — 0.4 — 9.9 18.9 23.5 23.9 U8.2 28.5 28.9 30.5 32.9 33.5 34.1 38.3 17.3 28.3 20.3 34.2 37.5 36.3 37.3 34.8 30.0 38.4 37.9 1.3 Northern and Western Maryland. 3,714 8,661 17,915 31,983 35,287 39,433 25,764 31,920 52,002 26.506 3,290 6,513 18,377 33,624 32,840 33,825 23,905 32,832 51,782 23,890 3.6 + 6.0 + 9.0 + 74 + 6.8 + 1.9 — 3.5 + 4.3 0.4 — 6.4 30.2 33.5 + 3.3 The total acreage of corn is considerably larger than that of wheat, but it is somewhat differently distributed. There is a much larger acreage of corn than of wheat in southern Maryland and in the lower counties of the Eastern Shore, but there is generally a lower acreage in the wheat-producing counties of the Eastern Shore and in northern and western Maryland. Thus in 1879 there were 3,720 acres in wheat and 44,588 acres in corn in Worcester county, while in Washington county, where the heavy limestone lands prevail, there were 56,923 acres in wheat and only 31,910 acres in corn, considerably less than in Wicomico county. There are several reasons for this. In the first place, the fine wheat lands are too valuable for wheat and grass to put in corn, and wheat does not do so well after corn ; the heaviest wheat and grass lands are not the best for corn; there is a great deal of land in southern Maryland and in the lower counties on the Eastern Shore which will produce corn much better than it will wheat; and on account of the lower yield per acre it takes a larger acreage to provide grain and fodder AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 169 for the stock, especially as there is comparatively little hay or pasturage where these light lands prevail. The decrease in acreage has also been somewhat greater. In the counties showing a small average yield per acre of wheat there is a relatively small acreage, and the notable decrease of from 35 to 45 per cent, in acreage in these counties did not count for much in the State, as a whole. With corn, however, this is not so, for Wicomico and Worcester counties are shown to have the lowest average yield per acre, but there is only one other county which has a larger acreage. The acreage of corn in southern Maryland is about the same as in that of the finer wheat-producing counties, although the average yield is only about one-half or two-thirds as much per acre. While there is not, therefore, as much apparent decrease in acreage in the different counties, yet the more even distribution in the acreage makes the actual decrease of area in corn a little more than that in wheat. Tobacco. This has been a staple crop in Maryland from the very earliest colonial days, and has contributed more than any other facto r to the growth, prosperity and commercial importance of this State. For upwards of two hundred years Maryland and Virginia produced nearly all the tobacco which was consumed in Europe. Very stringent laws prohibited the growing of tobacco in many of the European countries to secure a revenue through the importation of tobacco from this country. For a time Virginia obtained some revenue directly through an export tax. The cultivation of tobacco increased so rapidly in the two colonies that an effort was made to maintain the value of the crop by legislative enactments, as the rapidly increasing production tended to lower the price. Tn 1619, 20,000 pounds of Virginia tobacco were exported; in the next year this exportation had increased to 40,000 pounds; in 1621, 55,000 pounds, and in 1622, 60,000 pounds. In 1639 such a quantity was produced that half the crop was ordered to be burnt to reduce the amount to 1,500,000 pounds. The following year the value was fixed by law at 12 pence per pound, and in 1641 this was increased to 20 pence. In 1664, however, Virginia gave up this attempt to determine the value of the product, as Maryland would not agree to the necessary restrictions to keep up the price, and the production rapidly increased, while the price fell as low as 10 shillings per hundred-weight in 1662. As early as 1638 tobacco was the universal tender for all debts, public and private ; and so continued for about 100 years, during most of which time it fluctuated between Id. and 2d. per pound. The Legislature of 1732 fixed the price of inspected tobacco at 12 shillings 6 pence per hundred-weight. At this time about 30,000 hogsheads were produced in the State annually. 170 MARYLAND. The production of tobacco has varied greatly, from time to time, for various causes. In 1790 tlie total exportation from the United States amounted to 118,460 hogsheads, which was not exceeded in any one year until 1840, when 119,484 hogsheads were exported; hut at the same time the total value of the crops often amounted to as much in years when only half this amount was produced. In 1825 the crop in Maryland amounted to 15,924 hogsheads, in 1846 it was 41,029, and in 1860 there was the largest crop which has ever been produced in Maryland — 51,247 hogsheads. In 1865 the yield was 25,479 hogsheads; in 1879 it was 46,521 ; in 1890, on account of the very unfavorable season, the yield was 14,027 hogsheads, but in 1891 the yield had increased again to 27,336 hogsheads. In 1892 the yield was about 21,000 hogsheads, of excellent color and quality. Of this France alone contracted for about 13,000 hogsheads. Tobacco, until the late war, was produced in all the counties of the Eastern Shore. Since the abolition of slavery, however, the cultivation of tobacco has been given up entirely on that shore, and in 1889 only one acre, yielding fifty pounds, was reported in the Census, although in 1849 over 8,000,000 pounds had been raised in Queen Anne's county alone. The production of tobacco in Maryland is at present confined almost exclusively to the southern counties, although a small amount is pro- duced in some other localities, especially in Montgomery, Howard and Frederick. During the present century, and especially within very recent years, the total production of tobacco in the United State and in foreign countries, has been enormously increased. It has extended to all but one or two States in this country, and large quantities are produced abroad. This great increase of production has been accompanied, of course, by a falling off in the price per pound, and the common grades of tobacco bring very low prices at present. The market demands, however, are constantly changing, and the farmers are introducing those grades which command the highest prices. The Maryland tobacco is strictly an export tobacco, and goes princi- pally to Holland, France and Germany. France alone usually contracts for about 10,000 or 13,000 hogsheads of Maryland tobacco. It is very mild, has a sweet flavor and free burning qualities, making it specially suited for pipe smoking. For a long time Maryland, Virginia and Ohio were the only States which produced the light grades of tobacco suitable for pipe smoking, but other tobaccos have of late years come into com- petition with them. On account of this competition, a series of very unfavorable seasons for tobacco, the deterioration of the tobacco lands, and less perfect methods of cultivation, manuring and handling, the crop has brought very low prices of late years, and many farmers are turning their attention to other crops. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 171 The accompanying table shows the acreage and yield per acre of tobacco in the two census years, compiled from the returns of the Tenth and Eleventh Census. ACREAGE AND AVERAGE YIELD OF TOBACCO PER ACRE. (Compiled from the Tenth and Eleventh Census.) 1879. 18S9. Per Cent. Difference 1879. 1889. Difference Acres. Acres. 1889 Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 38,T74 17,966 — 53.9 6S3 2 687.7 — 4.5 5,538 2,904 — 47.4 801.2 847.1 — 45.9 6,271 3,750 — 40.2 708.1 561.5 — 146.6 6,848 3,683 — 46.2 567.5 483.7 — 83.8 7,913 3,651 — 53.8 650.2 551.8 — 98.4 9,637 5,322 — 44.7 682.2 603.1 — 79.1 12 11 — 8.3 800.1 1240.9 + 440.8 4S 1 — 97.6 1372.9 1100.0 — 373.9 52 154 + 196.1 1309.3 1066.5 — 242.8 162 60 — 62.9 846.7 916.6 + 69.9 208 115 — 44.7 667.9 797.2 + 129.3 429 162 — 62.2 864.4 759.8 — 104.6 1,053 460 — 56.3 765.4 729.6 — 35.8 Southern Maryland. St. Mary's Anne Arundel . . . Calvert Charles Prince George's. Northern and Western Maryland. Baltimore ... Cecil Harford Carroll Howard Frederick Montgomery. Note.— No tobacco was returned from the Eastern Shore in 1889, except one acre from Wicomico, yielding fifty pounds. No tobacco was reported from Alleghany, Garrett and Washington counties in 1S89. It will be seen that the production of tobacco is, at present, nearly confined to the five Southern Maryland counties. There has been a reduction of over 50 per cent, in the acreage of tobacco, which is pretty evenly distributed in all sections of the State. This decrease in the acreage of tobacco is undoubtedly accompanied by an increased acreage of fruit and truck. It will be seen later, in describing the tobacco soils, that efforts are being made to introduce other varieties of tobacco, and with the great diversity of soil formations in the State, there is no reason why a different tobacco should not be successfully produced which would meet the higher demands of the market. It will be seen also, in describing the tobacco soils, that the tobacco plant is extremely sensitive to climatic conditions, and for this reason, as well as on account of the notable reduction of over 50 per cent, in the area planted, it would not be proper to draw any close comparisons between the yields per acre in the two census years, especially as both seasons were extremely unfavorable to this crop. Truck and Fruit. It has been stated that the area devoted to the cultivation of the staple crops, grass, wheat, tobacco and corn, has nota- bly decreased in the past decade, and this is largely due to, or is at least compensated for, by a notable increase in the acreage of fruit and truck. This is the direction agriculture is taking at present. 172 MARYLAND. It is difficult to obtain figures which will show this change exactly, as the census returns of grass are not yet compiled, and the truck returns have been on a different basis from that formerly taken. The value of market-garden products sold in 1879 is given in the tenth census, at $873,968, and over 60 per cent, of this is credited to Baltimore county, and is probably market gardening proper as distinguished from truck farming, as these two industries are separated and defined in tbe eleventh census. In the eleventh census the value of the products of truck farm- ing alone for the Baltimore district, exclusive of market gardening, is $3,784,696 with $2,413,648 additional accredited to the peninsula com- prising Delaware and the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and "Virginia. The Baltimore district includes all Maryland, except the Eastern Shore, also West Virginia, and a few counties of Virginia not in the peninsula and Norfolk districts. Mr. J. H. Hale, special census agent, writes that most of this truck came from Maryland, and but little from West Virginia and the few counties of Virginia that send their products to the Baltimore market. There can be no direct comparison between the results of the two census years, but these figures will serve to indi- cate to what vast proportions this interest of truck farming is growing. In 1889 the value of the products of truck farming, exclusive of market gardening, peaches and small fruit, for Maryland alone must have been at least $4,000,000, although the season of 1889 was an unfavorable one for these crops. In this same year the statistician of the U. S. Department of Agriculture estimated the total value of the wheat crop of the State at $4,998,124, and of the corn crop at $6,495,031, so that in point of value the truck compares favorably with either of these staples, and with market gardening and fruit it far exceeds these other interests, and in point of fact it is constantly and rapidly increasing in volume and in value, while the wheat and corn acreage is decreasing. Very large areas of land well suited to truck have not yet been taken up on account of a lack of transportation facilities. Then again, this truck was produced on not over 50,000 acres, but to produce the wheat and corn crops Mr. Dodge estimates that 546,064 and 733,239 acres respectively were required. The average value of the truck land is about $98 per acre, as given in the Census Bulletin, No. 41. The average value of corn and wheat lands in the State can hardly exceed $20 or $30 per acre. The distinction made between market gardening and truck farming in the eleventh census is thus stated by Mr. J. H. Hale : " The production of fruits and vegetables for market has always been prosecuted with great success, in earlier days as a branch of general farming, and more recently as a specialty known as market gardening. The business is usually carried on with a few highly-enriched and AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 173 thoroughly-cultivated acres of ground and a rotation of crops, so grown that there may be a daily supply throughout a considerable portion of the year. The farms are usually within a reasonable driving distance of cities and towns, and the products are generally sold to the retailers, and in many cases, especially in the larger towns, directly to the consumer. " Truck farming, although it also consists in the production of green vegetables for market, is distinguished from market gardening by the fact that, while the market gardener lives near a market and delivers his products with his own teams, usually producing a general variety of vegetables, the truck farmer lives remote from market, is dependent upon transportation companies and commission men for the delivery and sale of his products, and usually devotes himself to such specialties as are best suited to soil and climate. " Of the vegetables grown by the truck farmers the leading classes are as follows : Watermelons, cabbage, peas, asparagus, melons other than watermelons, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, Irish potatoes, celery and string beans, ranking in acreage in the order named ; beets, cucum- bers, cauliflower, carrots, egg-plants, kale, lettuce, lima beans, parsnips, radishes, rhubarb, squashes, sweet corn and turnips are also grown as truck-farm crops, but only to a limited extent as compared to the first named. These, and other vegetables not here mentioned, being grown mostly by market gardeners than by truck farmers." The following table gives the acreage and the net income per acre of the leading classes of vegetables on truck farms in the Baltimore and peninsula districts. This does not take into account the vegetables grown in market gardens near local markets, nor where the crop is grown in large quantities, as- field crops, as is frequently the case with potatoes : NUMBER OF ACRES AND NET INCOME PER ACRE ON LEADING VARIETIES OP VEGETABLES. Eleventh Census, Bulletin No. 41. BALTIMORE DISTRICT. PENINSULA DISTRICT. Peas Cabt Tomatoes. Sweet Potatoes Irish Potatoes. Asparagus Spinach Watermelons. . String Beans . . Cucumbers Kale Celery Beets Miscellaneous . Total. . . . 37,181 5,170 29.50 4,165 96.50 3,780 34.00 3,150 52.10 2,860 68.50 2,270 87.75 1,980 37.60 620 42.00 585 28.70 360 27.50 261 47.00 198 87.75 134 80.60 11,648 Sweet Potatoes. Cabbage Peas Watermelons . . Spinach Irish Potatoes. String Beans . . Kale Tomatoes Cucumbers Celery Beets Miscellaneous . Total . 4,860 48.60 3,275 95.00 3,224 26.00 2,640 84.00 2,469 43.00 2,128 32.60 1,295 ' 77.25 615 32.00 590 50.00 416 43.00 313 26.00 97 66.00 67 80.00 3,725 174 MARYLAND. To produce this truck a very intense system of cultivation is prac- ticed, and the expenses are very great, while much of the success, after all, depends upon the season and the condition of the markets. It frequently happens that a crop bringing a good price when marketed, would not have paid for the expense of transportation if put on the market a day or two later. The truck planters, therefore, aim to get their products to market at the earliest possible moment. First-class truck land varies in value from $50 per acre to $200 per acre, or even more, depending upon the kind and condition of the soil, and particularly upon the location and ease of transportation. Land immediately on the water is worth several times as much as similar land two or three miles from the water or railroads, on account of the difficulty and expense of transporting the tender and bulky crop, and the damage done in the hauling and handling. Many of the very finest truck lands in Southern Maryland are lying out as barren wastes, and can be purchased for a merely nominal sum of from $1 to $5 per acre, on account of the present lack of transportation facilities. When this country is opened up and developed by railroad lines, which will foster this interest, thousands of acres of the very finest truck and fruit lands will be available, and the southern portion of the State will be one vast market garden. The labor on these truck farms is scarce, and wages are necessarily high. The work is both continuous and exacting. Good laborers get from $12 to $20 per month, with rations and a house. Skilled laborers get more. Women get from 50 cents to 75 cents per day, and men from 75 cents to a dollar. The labor cost, on the leading varieties of veget- ables, as given in the Census Bulletin (No. 41), in the two districts under consideration, ranges from about $10 to $30 per acre. The cost of seeds and plants ranges from 50 cents to $10 per acre, depending upon the kind of vegetable. The fertilizer cost is from $10 to $50 per acre, while the average net income per acre is estimated at from $30 to $100. Certainly this is beyond all comparison more profitable than wheat or corn, besides the possibility of creating new or larger demands. Trans- portation facilities are constantly inproving and enlarging, and the use of refrigerator cars, holding as much as four tons of ice, has made it possible to transport vegetables to almost any distance in a fresh and healthy condition ; new markets for early truck and fruit are opening up in the West and as far north as Canada. What may be done by the introduction of new vegetables may be seen in the case of the tomato. As late as 1830, the tomato was grown only as a curiosity, and as an ornamental plant in gardens. It was hardly known as an edible plant, and, indeed was by many considered poisonous. It is now one of our principal crops, and is a staple article of food in nearly all families the AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 175 year round. It is used in its fresh state during its long season, and there is an enormous industry in canning it for winter use. The market demands have been increased by forcing the plants to an early maturity, and by improved transportation facility. Only five or ten years ago tomatoes, in the early spring before the local crop was ripe, were a luxury, whi ch few could afford ; now successive crops are brought here in abundance from the South, and they become a staple article of food almost as soon as the winter is over. In our own State they are forced under glass, or on the light truck soils, to an early maturity, when they still bring a good price, while the later crops, from the heavier soils of the State, are extensively canned for winter use. Much the same may be said of strawberries, of lettuce, celery, asparagus, and many other crops which were considered luxuries a few years ago, but which now are staple articles of food during a comparatively long season, even in families of moderate means. It will be seen presently in describing the soils of the State that much of the success of truck farming is due to the character of the soil. Light sandy lands are most valuable for this industry, because when properly treated the crop ripens much earlier than on the heavier lands and, in consequence, demands a much higher market value. The aim of the truck planter is to get the crop to market at the earliest possible date, or else to delay it until the crops from the other parts of the State have given out. On the heavier lands of Northern-Central and Western Maryland, most of these vegetables may be grown with great success, and, as a rule, the plants are much larger and yield more per acre, but the crop is later in coming to maturity. It reaches the market from one to three weeks later than the crop from the lighter truck lands, and it must come into competition with similar crops from all parts of the State. As a consequence, there is usually a glut in the market and the crop frequently does not pay for the expense of transportation. The whole business of truck farming is comparatively new, having existed as a separate industry only since 1860. Where the crop cannot be sold with profit in the fresh state, it may be canned and preserved for winter use, and this canning industry has grown of late years to enormous proportions, and has given a great stim- ulus to truck farming. Maryland has been the leading State, and Harford the leading county for this industry until 1891, when from various causes, and partly on account of variable seasons, New Jersey took the lead, to yield it again, however, in 1892. The largest yield of tomatoes was in 1888, when 968,733 cases were put up in this State alone, each case holding two dozen cans. In that same year there were over a million cases of corn put up in the State, 176 MARYLAND. although this figure is far in excess of the production in subsequent years. In Harford county there has been a larger area planted in tomatoes for canning purposes than in any similar extent of territory in the United States, and this industry has replaced, to a large extent, the culti- vation of the old staples, wheat and corn. Tomatoes and corn are the principal crops in these northern counties; in the southern counties and on the Eastern Shore, peas, beans, strawberries, peaches and cherries are extensively raised for canning. A greater part of the tomato crop, and nearly all the corn crop is packed by local canning houses, although when the peach crop is short, many of the city packers turn their attention to tomatoes. As a rule, the other vegetables and fruits are shipped to the cities for canning. As there is no particular purpose in having the crop intended for canning mature early, the yield and quality of the crop is of more impor- tance, and the soils are selected with reference to these particulars. The lighter soils of the gneiss and gabbro formations are selected for this purpose because they are easier worked and the crops mature better than on the heavier lands. The bulk of the pea crop is grown in Anne Arundel county. In 1892 365,000 bushels of peas were canned from this one county, as estimated by the Canned Goods Exchange, and this is a low estimate, for it does not include the product of the local canning factories. The production of fruits did not exist in this State as a separate industry before 1830. At this time there were only a few peach orchards adjacent to Baltimore City, and the cultivation of strawberries was confined to small areas in market gardens. About this time, however, a Mr. Cassidy came from Philadelphia and bought three hundred acres of land in Cecil county and put out the first large peach orchard in the State, except those in Anne Arundel county supplying the local Balti- more market. Mr. Cassidy sold his crops in Philadelphia for excellent prices, and this stimulated the growing of peaches on the Eastern Shore, and the industry spread with great rapidity. By 1840 the peach crop exceeded the market demands, and there was a glut in the market, the crop bringing the lowest prices which have ever prevailed. This demor- alized the peach growers, and many orchards were subsequently rooted up. About this time, however, the canning interest sprang up, and not only relieved the market at that time but it has constantly and steadily increased the demand. The peach interest is at present confined to the Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland and to the mountains in the far western part of the State, which latter has been treated of in another place. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 177 There are few peaches now grown in Cecil county, where the industry was introduced into the State, or in the northern central counties, as peaches do not do well on these heavy gabbro and gneiss soils. The peach interest has been steadily moving southward on the peninsula for some years back. About forty years ago the "peach yellows" seriously crippled the peach industry in New Jersey, and this disease has been gradually spreading southward, and has destroyed many of the orchards in Delaware and in the northern counties on the Eastern Shore, but it is not felt at all in the southern counties of the peninsula. The Eastern Shore counties rank in the importance of the peach industry about as follows : Kent, Queen Anne, Caroline, Dorchester, Talbot, Wicomico, Somerset and Worcester; but the industry is rapidly extending in the lower counties, and it is believed that before long this will be the great peach-producing area. In southern Maryland the industry is very extensive in Anne Arundel, Calvert and St. Mary's counties. It is impossible to get exact figures of the total peach crop, as the crop is shipped in such various ways. The most trustworthy estimates, however, place the average crop of the peninsula, including Delaware and the Eastern Shore counties of Maryland and Virginia, at 2,000,000 bushels, although it has at times reached double this amount, and has been almost a failure in other years. The mountain peach industry has an advantage over the lowland crop in that the mountain crop is seldom, if ever, a failure, while the lowland crop is very frequently injured by late frost. The two crops do not conflict, as the mountain peaches come in after the lowland crop is over and bring an excellent price. Before 1830 strawberries were confined to small patches in market gardens near the cities. Between 1830 and 1840 a Mr. Crisp came over from Kent Island and put out a large strawberry bed in Anne Arundel county, not far from Baltimore. He shipped the berries to Philadelphia and got an excellent price for them ; and these were probably the first berries shipped from the State. The interest thus started spread rapidly, and it is estimated that in 1892 no less than 1,000,000 quarts of straw- berries were shipped to northern and western markets from Anne Arundel county alone, besides a large quantity consumed in the Baltimore market. The introduction of the refrigerator car has widened the market for strawberries enormously. Four tons of ice are put into these cars, and the berries can then be shipped to Canada and opened in almost as good condition as when they left home ; and the cry of "Ann Aranel " straw- berries is about as familiar and as welcome in Montreal as it ever has been in the Baltimore markets. The crop is shipped direct by the producer to New York, Boston, Canada, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and to all points reached by a 12 178 MARYLAND. single railroad system, where the cars can be billed through and run on a fast freight schedule. In this way they can be sent by fast freight about as quickly and usually for about half the cost as when sent by express. It is interesting to note the way the direction of shipments changes as the season passes. Early crops come to the Baltimore market, or pass through it from the South, in successive crops from Florida, South and North Carolina and Virginia, and then, when our own crop is passed, berries are shipped here from New York and other northern points; so the crop goes up the coast and back once in a season, and the interme- diate points have both a northern and southern trade. The strawberry interest is greatest in Anne Arundel county, although it has lately assumed large proportions in Baltimore and some of the other northern counties. It has been taken up with great interest in all the Eastern Shore counties, especially in Wicomico, Caroline and Som- erset. The admirable railroad and water facilities on the Eastern Shore, together with the peculiar nature of the land, adapt this region particu- larly to the fruit and truck interest. Pears have not been grown to any very great extent as a special industry in this State, but of late years the interest has been increasing. This is the case especially on the Eastern Shore, where pears are replac- ing peaches to a very considerable extent in the northern counties. It is said that the blight, Which has been very destructive in other parts of the State, gives little trouble on the Eastern Shore, and that where it does occur it yields readily to treatment. Wild blackberries grow very abundantly in southern Maryland and on the Eastern Shore, and this is even now a very important industry in the State. The first attempt at planting the improved varieties was in Anne Arundel county, about 1855, shortly after the introduction of the Lorton berries had aroused an interest in the culture. The cultivation of blackberries is an important industry in Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, and in Caroline, Wicomico and the upper Eastern Shore counties. Raspberries are cultivated quite extensively in Anne Arundel county, principally for canning and preserving. The canning industry has greatly increased the demand for fruits and vegetables and has increased the value of the crops. Thirty years ago fresh berries usually sold in Baltimore for about one cent per quart. They now bring five or ten cents per quart, and even more. Peaches retailed at about ten cents per peck, but now average about thirty cents. Peas brought about forty cents per bushel, and now bring, on an average, about $1.20 per bushel. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 179 Dairying. The production of milk and butter on the farm for home consumption and, to a limited extent, for near markets, has always been successful in certain sections of the State; but, like truck farming, dairying has only existed as a separate industry within recent years, and it has grown very rapidly on account of improvements in dairy methods and of the great extension of markets by the improved transportation facilities. The dairy interest entered this State from Pennsylvania, butter being at first the principal product. Within very recent years the milk trade has replaced the butter to a very large extent, as new markets have been opened, or rather as means of transportation have been improved. The principal markets for milk are Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia, in the order named, and the milk trade is carried on within a radius of about twenty-five miles of these centres. Harford, Baltimore and Montgomery counties are the largest milk-producing counties in the State, on account of their location near Baltimore and their excellent transportation facilities. Frederick, Carroll and Cecil counties come next in order in the extent of the milk trade. This interest has grown to very large proportions. The milk trade is practi- cally confined to those portions of the State where hay and pasturage or other good forage can be produced, and it is further limited by distance from the markets and by the means of transportation. The second advance in the development of the dairy interest in the State was in the introduction of creameries for the disposition of milk which was too far from the markets to be sold as such. The first creamery was established in the State about 1884, and they have rapidly increased until there are at present between fifty and sixty establish- ments in different parts of the State. There are a few co-operative creameries where the owners of the cows also own or have an interest in the factory and divide the expenses and the profits of the business. Most of the creameries, however, are proprietary affairs owned by an individual or a company, where milk is bought outright for a certain sum per 100 pounds. The creameries are not confined to butter-making alone, but in certain times of the year and in certain conditions of the market cream and ice-cream are sold in large quantities. Some of the skim-milk is made into cheese, but it is usually considered a waste product and is fed to hogs. The manufacture of cheese has never been much of an industry in the State. There is still much farm dairying and much butter is made on the farms, but large sections have changed to the production of milk, and farmers are selling more and more of their milk to the creameries rather than manufacture it themselves into butter. The rapid growth of the creamery interest has resulted from improved dairy methods, by which 180 MARYLAND. dairying has been made independent of an ice supply, which was regarded as essential twenty years ago The chief obstacle in the dairy interest, and one which is universally felt, is garlic. It is impossible to eradicate this from the pastures. Certain chemical methods have very recently been introduced in Holland by which the taint of garlic in the milk has been removed, and these may, perhaps, obviate this disadvantage. The creamery industry is quite extensive in Howard, Montgomery, Frederick and Carroll counties, with Mt. Airey as a centre of the district. It is also an important industry in Cecil and Kent counties, and a few creameries are scattered as far south as Talbot county on the Eastern Shore. The dairy stock is, for the most part, the native stock of the country with a strong infusion of Jersey blood. The Holstein-Friesian have been favorites with some for milk production for several years, and there are several fine herds in different parts of the State. Guernseys have been introduced within recent years and have been gradually increasing in numbers and favor. In the western counties farmers still cling to the Durham or Short-horn as the foundation stock. Fattening Qattle. Another very important industry of a special line, which has attained very large proportions in this State, is the fatten- ing of store cattle for market. The following information and account of this industry has been obtained mainly from Hon. David Seibert, of Washington county, Mr. Robert H. Miller, of Montgomery county, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and Mr. S. A. Williams, of Har- ford county. Store cattle are purchased about the month of September, the number depending upon the size of the farm, the amount and condition of the pasturage and the amount of corn fodder and of other similar products which are available to feed them on. Usually from 10 to 100 head of cattle are purchased according to these conditions. Cattle weighing from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds are desired for this purpose, and those which come from Virginia and West Virginia are preferred. The cattle are at once turned cut "to pasture, and often they are not otherwise fed until they are sold the following year. When the winter is severe, however, the cattle are fed for two months on short or soft-ear corn, which is not considered marketable, and with corn-fodder, hay and straw. When the inferior corn is exhausted good ear-corn is often crushed with one-fifth oats, or light mill-feed bran is mixed with the crushed corn, and fed at the rate of three gallons to each animal per day. The pastures, however, are the mam dependence, and usually the farm is stocked with reference to the extent and condition of the pasture. When sold, the smaller and lighter AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 181 cattle are sent to the Washington, Baltimore or Philadelphia markets, while the tops or best ones are purchased for the Liverpool market. The price of store cattle and of fattened cattle varies greatly with the season and the state of the market. The prices for store cattle range from about |3 to $4 per 100 pounds gross weight. The selling price varies from about $4 to $5.25. The cattle are usually kept from eight to ten months, and they gain on an average from 300 to 450 pounds in that time, or about fifty pounds a month. This increase in weight and the advance in the selling price are supposed to cover the expenses of feeding and keeping the cattle, and a good deal of rough food is utilized in this way which would otherwise be wasted, and the lands are improved as they get the benefit of a large amount of manure produced. This industry is confined principally to the northern central and western Maryland regions, where there is an abundance of grain, wheat, straw, corn and corn fodder. The interest is rather declining in northern central Maryland, as the margin is narrower between the buying and selling prices and other interests have taken the place of the old staples of grass, wheat and corn. It is increasing, however, in western Maryland, especially in Washington county, where the farmers are stocking their farms to the fullest capacity, realizing the benefit to the lands of having the stock in the increased production of the staple crops through the utilization of the rough food on the place and returning it to the land again in the form of manure. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL SOIL FORMATIONS OF THE STATE. There is a greater number of geological formations in Maryland than in any other State, and consequently a very great variety of soils. To understand the variety of interests presented by this diversity of soils, and to know what crops are best adapted to the lands, we must understand these different soil formations and their relation to the growth and development of plants. It will be necessary to review very briefly the generally accepted views in regard to plant nutrition, so that we can understand why certain crops are best adapted to these different lands. We must try to understand why it is that a yield of thirty or forty bushels of wheat per acre can be obtained from the heavy limestone soils of western Maryland as readily as five or ten bushels from the light sandy truck lands of southern Maryland, or why truck will ripen much earlier on these light sandy lands than it does on the heavier wheat lands; for it is only when we understand these rela- tions of soils to the life, growth and development of plants that we may hope to understand the adaptation of our different soils and the treatment best suited to maintain their fertility, or to increase their productiveness. 182 MARYLAND. Much of this work on the Maryland soils has been done by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and will appear later in the form of a bulle- tin. It is published here by permission of the Secretary of Agriculture. Credit should also be given the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station for co-operation in the work for a period of about two years. The Prevailing Views of Plant Nutrition. The prevailing views in regard to the nutrition of plants may be briefly stated. Before Liebig's time the mineral matter which composes the ashes of plants was generally believed to be an accidental impurity and not in any way essen- tial to the life or growth of the plant ; but since Liebig's doctrine of the mineral theory of plant growth it has been proved that plants require certain mineral substances for their life and normal growth. The most common and most abundant of these mineral substances are phosphoric acid, potash, lime, alumina, magnesia, iron, silica, sulphuric acid and the like. These mineral substances are necessary to build up the vegetable tissues, and to form the various organic substances which are contained in the cells, and they are required also for various physiological actions which take place in the growth of the plant ; for example, potash is required in the transfer of starch and of other food materials from one part of the plant to another. These mineral matters are ordinarily obtained from the soil. Different plants require different amounts of this mineral matter. Thus, 100 pounds of pine wood contain less than half a pound of ashes or mineral matters obtained from the soil, all the rest of its substance being obtained directly or indirectly from the atmos- phere. The tobacco plant, on the contrary, which is the grossest feeder we have among agricultural plants, contains from 15 to 25 pounds of mineral matter derived from the soil in one hundred pounds of the plants. It has been proved, that of the mineral substances entering into the composition of plants, all are present in abundance and in an available form for plants to feed on in nearly all soils, with the exception of phos- phoric acid, potash and lime, and possibly also magnesia and sulphuric acid. Soils rarely contain less than one ton of phosphoric acid and of potash per acre one foot deep, and usually from two to twenty tons of each, and when we consider that the roots of plants usually go very much deeper than twelve inches and that the surface of the ground is constantly wearing away a little, it will be seen that there is a very large amount of plant food in the soil for crops. Nitrogen is another very important plant food, entering largely into the composition of organic matters. Strictly speaking, this is not of mineral origin, for the direct source of supply is the organic matter of the soil. It was probably originally derived from the atmosphere, but it has not yet been satisfactorily explained how the free nitrogen gas of AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 183 the atmosphere is converted into the organic matter of the soil, except that it has recently been shown to be principally through the agency of bacteria. It was thought by Liebig and his immediate followers, that a com- parison of the analyses of a soil and plant would show what was lacking in the soil for a large crop production. A plant having a large amount of lime in its composition, for example, would require a highly cal- careous soil, while a plant having a large amount of nitrogen would require a soil especially rich in nitrogenous matters. A large amount of work has been based upon this belief in the analysis of soils and plants, and tables have been prepared for calculat- ing the exhaustion of soils by crops and their enrichment by manures. It has been clearly demonstrated, however, that there is no such simple relation between the ordinary chemical composition of plants and soils, as was at first supposed. It has been shown that the amount of food material taken up from the soil by a single crop is relatively so small that its loss cannot be detected with any certainty by a subsequent chemical analysis of the soil, while the addition of no more than 20 pounds of potash or of phos- phoric acid or of some nitrogenous compound, may insure a good crop where otherwise it would have been a failure. This quantity of plant food is relatively so small that if it were uniformly mixed with the soil it could not be detected by an ordinary chemical analysis. Further- more, it has been shown repeatedly that very barren soils, or soils " worn out " and " exhausted," may have as much plant food, as shown by the ordinary chemical analysis, as other soils which are known to be exceedingly fertile. It is no wonder that, as these facts become apparent, there should be a revulsion of feeling, and that these soil investigations should be dis- credited. Fortunately the investigations have not stopped here. This plant food is derived from the disintegration of the mineral matters in the soil, such as the feldspar, mica, &c, and in the decomposi- tion of these minerals new compounds are being constantly formed. For instance clay, which in its pure form is a silicate of alumina con- taining a little combined water, and the silicate of potash, which is a form of potash readily available to plants, are being formed from the decomposition of some of the feldspars and micas, while these decom- position products themselves may act on other constituents on the soil, forming new compounds, which are more or less readily available to plants. There are probably, therefore, constant and continual changes in the chemical composition of the soil ingredients. It is commonly held, nowadays, that only a small part of the plant food in the soil is in such a form of chemical combination as to be readily available to plants, and 184 MARYLAND. that it does not accumulate in the soil in an available form, hut if it is not taken up at once by plants it quickly reverts to a rocky or insoluble form in which it is no longer available. It is further believed that plants differ in their capacities for extract- ing food from soils. It is a common expression that rye will thrive where wheat would starve. It does not follow, by any means, that a plant containing a relatively large amount of nitrogen in its composition does best on a highly nitrogenous soil, or that it requires a special nitrogenous manuring, for, as a rule, the highly nitrogenous leguminous plants, such as peas, respond more readily to phosphoric acid or to potash than they do to nitrogen. Other plants, requiring relatively large quan- tities of phosphoric acid or of potash or of lime, seem \o be able to gather these ingredients with comparative ease from the soil, and respond more readily to an application of other plant food of which they contain relatively very little in their composition. These two facts then are commonly held: that only a relatively small amount of plant food in the soil is in a form which is readily available to plants, and a soil is " worn out " or " exhausted " when the store of available plant food is used up or depleted, when means must be taken by rest, fertilization or by green manuring to increase this available food supply; and that plants vary in their powers of gathering food from the soil. Starting from this it was suggested that the direct question should be put to the soil to find out what was lacking for a maximum produc- tion; and with this object extensive series of field experiments with fertilizers have been carried out in all parts of this country and abroad. It was at first thought, and is still held by some, that this method of field experiments with fertilizers would show what the different classes of plants require for their best development, and that from these results special fertilizers could be prepared for wheat, corn, cotton or for any other crop. Professor Atwater carried out a very extensive series of field experiments of this kind with the co-operation of farmers in all parts of the country. His results show, however, that even in such a compara- tively small area as the State of Connecticut the corn crop required very different fertilizers on different farms ; on one farm only phosphoric acid showed any marked effect in increasing the crop, on another farm potash, on another farm nitrogen, and on still another farm all three of these elements were required to give any marked increase in the crop. These results are not at all uncommon nor exceptional. It is a very common experience that the same kind of plant requires different treat- ment and responds to different kinds of fertilizers on different soils; and further that they respond more readily to different fertilizers in different seasons. None of the various schemes which have been suggested for determining the amount of available plant food in the soil have given AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 185 much definite information of more than local interest in regard to the special requirements of plants or the soil. The results of these field experiments, which have been carried on in some places for fifty years, are very uncertain and conflicting, and while they are doubtless of value in showing the general needs of a particular field, the results cannot be used with safety in the cultivation of the same crop on a different kind of soil. It is as easy to produce forty bushels of wheat per acre on some of our heavy limestone lands as it is to produce five or ten bushels on some of the light truck lands of southern Maryland. The conditions are so entirely different in these two types of soil that it is not to be expected that the same method of cultivation and of manuring which gave a yield of forty bushels on the limestone land would give an equally large yield on the tiuck soil; and it would be still more absurd to suppose that the methods used in the moist climate of England would give the same yield on these light truck lands. It is a source of great disappointment to many farmers to find a certain brand of fertilizer, a certain kind of treatment, or a certain rotation of crops which has been eminently successful on the heavy soils of western Maryland, or under the peculiar conditions prevailing in England, does not give the same results on the lighter soils of southern Maryland. The time has passed for blindly following rules of manuring, crop- ping or of rotation simply because they have been successfully followed for generations in England. The conditions have altogether changed, and the successful farmer must specialize his work as the mechanic does, and raise only such crops as suit his conditions and surroundings. The light fruit and truck lands of southern Maryland have been shown by a chemical analysis* to contain as much plant food as the fertile grass and wheat lands of northern central and western Maryland. So far as the total amount of plant food is concerned, the truck lands seem to have as much as many of the stronger types of land, but less available plant food. Plants require relatively so little of the vast supply of food material in the soil, that if the low yield of wheat on these truck soils were due solely to a lack of available plant food it would be very easy to add to the soil as much plant food as would be required by a large crop; and it would be reasonable to expect in this case, as the plant would be independent of the soil for its food supply, that a large crop of wheat could thus be raised, but this is not so. For even if all the elements of plant food required by a large wheat crop were added to the truck soil in *The chemical analysis is being made of samples of all the principal soil formations of Maryland by Prof. K. L. Packard, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, at the Johns Hopkins University; and when this careful chemical work has been completed it will be published in a bulletin. 186 MARYLAND. the most available form, there would be no certainty whatever that the yield would be very materially increased. Let us inquire, then, what are the conditions which determine the peculiar fitness of the different soils in the State for certain crops, and see if we have these under any control, so that by changing these conditions we can influence the yield or quality of our crops. This matter has been treated quite fully in Bulletin No. 4 of the Weather Bureau of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and in the Monthly Eeport of the Maryland State Weather Service, vol. 2, No. 10, January, 1893, both of which have been freely used in the preparation of this matter. In a green-house, where all the conditions of plant growth are under nearly perfect control, the same kind of soil may be used to grow almost any kind of plant, whether it be oranges, bananas, pineapples, roses, geraniums, tomatoes, cabbages, lettuce or radishes. The same kind of soil may be used, but each kind of plant will require certain conditions of moisture and heat, and when these conditions are changed the development of the plant may be largely controlled. If a geranium be wanted for a simple foliage plant it can be kept from blooming and developed to a very large size with a great number of leaves by keeping the soil moderately warm and moist. If it be desired to have the plant bloom profusely the soil must be kept drier and cooler. Thus the development of the plant is under nearly perfect control, and it is very customary for florists to force their plants to any kind of development by the simple control of moisture and heat; to make large and leafy plants of them, or to keep them smaller by checking this excessive growth of foliage and make them put all their substance into a profusion of flowers and fruit. We see the same effects in nature. In very heavy, wet soils and in wet seasons plants are inclined to grow very large, and they do not put on as much fruit as they should, considering the size of the plant and the amount of food-material they have gathered from the soil and air. Under these conditions tobacco plants are large and rank, the leaves are coarse and sappy and do not cure well or take on good color ; on drier soils and in drier seasons the leaves have a finer texture and a brighter color. The cotton plant shows this influence of the wetness or dryness of the soil and of the season to a very marked extent, and wheat shows it, although to a less extent. Indeed, it is well known that the "season," that is, the conditions of moisture and heat, have far more effect upon the crop than fertilizers usually have. The effect of fertilizers them- selves is very largely dependent upon the season. We find, then, that in nature as in the green-house the development of plants and the yield of crops is very largely dependent upon the conditions of moisture and heat under which they are grown. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 187 We have a large number of distinct types of soils in Maryland, ranging in texture and in agricultural value from the very light, sandy soils of the pine barrens and of the truck lands to the very heavy limestone soils of western Maryland. The light, sandy soils are so open and porous that water readily descends through them after a rain. The heavy limestone soils, on the other hand, are so close in texture and so retentive of moisture that the rainfall passes down through them very slowly. The rainfall does not do the crops any good until it enters the soil. Even assuming that we have the same amount and distribution of rainfall over the whole State, the soils are so different in their retentive powers that some will maintain much more of this rainfall for the crop than others. For example, the limestone soil will maintain, on an average, from 18 to 20 per cent, of water, or about 400 tons of water per acre one foot deep ; while the light truck soils will maintain only about a quarter of this amount, that is, about 5 or 6 per cent, of moisture, or say 100 tons of water per acre. The limestone soil to the depth of one foot maintains an amount corresponding to 4 inches of rainfall, while the light, sandy truck land maintains an equivalent of only 1 inch of rainfall. Now the difference in the effect on a crop of a season when there are 4 inches of rainfall a month, and when there is only 1 inch of rainfall a month, is very great. For if we have an average of 4 inches of well-distributed rainfall a month a good wheat crop is assured on the limestone soils, but if we have an average of only 1 inch of rainfall a month the crop will be a failure. As a matter of fact we have, on an average, about 4 inches of rainfall a month in Maryland, and this is sufficient for a good wheat crop on the limestone soils, but, as we have seen, the light, sandy truck lands are so porous that they let this water down very freely, and only maintain for the crop an amount equal to about 1 inch of the rainfall. The effect is nearly the same as if the soil were uniform in both cases, and 4 inches of rain had fallen on the crop on the limestone soil, but only one inch had fallen on the other crop. Now we have seen that if there should be as much difference as this in the amount of water supplied to plants in a green-house, that those plants which received the most water would develop into large, leafy plants, which would be late in coming to maturity, while the plants receiving the less amount of water would be smaller, but there would be a greater tendency to fruit, and the plants would mature much earlier. This is precisely the effect on the two soils under consideration. When wheat is sown on the sandy truck soil it does not tiller well, but throws up one or two stalks which attain hardly any size before each takes on a seed head and the plant ripens. The conditions have not been favorable for the development of a sufficient amount of foliage to gather enough 188 MARYLAND. plant food from the soil and atmosphere for a large crop, but the plant has been forced to maturity before it has attained sufficient size. The crop is large in proportion to the amount of food material which has been gathered by the plant, but there is relatively so little of this that it gives a very small yield per acre. On the heavy limestone soil, on the other hand, the crop grows slowly, gets a good root development, tillers well, and produces a mass of foliage which gathers a quantity of food material from the soil and air. The conditions in these light, sandy soils, while unfavorable as a rule to wheat and grass, are distinctly favorable for forcing crops to an early development, and this is what gives them their great value for early truck. By forcing these vegetables to an early maturity the crop is put on the market two or three weeks earlier than is possible on the heavier soils of the State, and it gets the benefit of a high mar- ket price; while the same crop grown on a limestone soil would be so late in coming to maturity that it would have to compete with all other parts of the State, and there would likely be a glut in the market and the crop would bring a very low price. A number of samples of soils were taken in the truck area of southern Maryland which show the relation of the texture of the soils to the local distribution of plants. The following table gives the mechanical analysis of the sub-soils, showing the amount of the different grades of sand, silt and clay : MECHANICAL ANALYSES OF TRUCK AND WHEAT SUBSOILS FROM SOUTHERN MARYLAND. Conventional Names. EadyTruck, Truck and Tomatoes, ' Wneat £ nd Marley. Small Fruit.! Cabbage, Grass mm. 2-1 1-.5 .5- 35 .35-.1 .1-.05 .05-. 01 .01-. 005 .005-. 0001 Fine gravel Coarse sand. . . Medium sand . . Fine sand Very flue sand. Silt Fine, silt Clay Total Organic matter, water, loss. 0.49 0.76 2.05 4.96 8.55 3.31 40.19 ! 35.04 5 41 27.59 19.26 2.89 12.10 i 8.42 6.06 7.74 11.38 40.15 2.23 4.13 13.14 4.40 10.59 23.84 99.70 9S.13 96.85 0.30 1 1.87 3.15 0.00 0.38 1.07 0.78 3.41 43. OS 13.81 30.21 92.80 7.20 Clay. Surface area. Approximate number of grains per gram . 472 467 478 Early truck, Marley Truck and small fruit Peas, tomatoes, cabbage, wheat Strong wheat and grass land 4.40 10.59 Sq. an. 615 1,244 2,242 3,479 1,950,000,000 4,767,000,000 10,923,000,000 14,457,000,000 AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 189 472 represents the very early truck lands of Marley, which will be described in another place. The other soils were taken about three or four miles from Marley, and are from the same farm and only a few hundred feet apart, so that all the soils are under practically the same meteorological conditions and have practically the same amount of rain- fall. 480 is a strong grass and wheat land from a ridge having an elevation of about 160 feet. It would be classed anywhere as a strong wheat soil and very good grass land. 478 came from a level plateau or terrace just under the ridge, and was evidently formed of the same material. It is a much lighter soil than that on the top of the ridge, but it is still a good wheat land. It is too heavy for sweet potatoes and cantaloupes, and it is too heavy for early truck. It is considered a good tomato, corn and cabbage land, although the crops do not ripen as early as on the lighter soils. Peas do well on this land, but they cannot be grown two years in succession, for the large amount of nitrogenous matter in the roots and vines makes the soil very close and heavy, and the second year there is a large amount of pea vines, but a very small crop of peas is obtained from them. Wheat is nearly always sown after the peas, then grass, followed by corn, and then peas again. Some such rotation as this is necessary to keep the land open and in good condition. 467 is well suited to truck and small fruits. It is a coarse, sandy soil, and matures the crops very much earlier than either of those just mentioned. It is not as light in texture nor as early as the truck lands at Marley. 472 is a typical sandy truck land from Marley. The crop matures on this land from one to three weeks earlier than on the other soils mentioned, and while the yield per acre is not as large, the crop brings a very much higher market price. The productiveness of these lands increases with the amount of clay they contain and with the number of grains of sand and clay per gram. These are the very conditions which determine the relation of the soils to water and the amount of moisture they maintain. It cannot be doubted that the peculiar adaptation of these soils to the different kinds of crops is due to the texture of the land and to the relation of the soils to water. The strong clay soil (480) is not lacking in any particular plant food which would be required by a crop of sweet potatoes or of cantaloupes. It probably contains the elements of plant food needed by a crop of tomatoes, but the tomato vines would be large and bushy — they would be late in coming to maturity, and the yield would be very small in proportion to the size of the plants. All kinds of truck would be late in 190 MARYLAND. coming to maturity. These are signs that the soil is too moist and has retained too much of the rainfall for the best and earliest development of these crops. These conditions are favorable to grass and wheat, for both these crops require a long and slow period of growth so that they can put on a large amount of foliage before it is time to ripen a crop. The light truck land, on the contrary, will not grow a large crop of grass or wheat because the conditions are not favorable to the slow growth required by these plants to produce foliage to gather food material from the soil and air, as previously explained, for the crop. If these truck soils were systematically irrigated, and the crops on them were supplied, either naturally or artificially, with more water than the soils themselves can maintain under existing climatic condi- tions, good crops of grass or wheat could be grown. The very conditions which make them unfit for grass and wheat, however, give them their peculiar value for early truck, as the crops are forced to maturity much earlier than they can be produced on the heavier soils of the State. With exactly the same rainfall these light truck lands will maintain about five or six per cent, of water, while the heavier grass or wheat land (480) will maintain about fourteen to sixteen per cent, of water. It seems probable, from this and other evidence, that if the physical conditions of moisture and heat are favorable to the proper development of crops, that plants can, in general, get all the food they need from any soil. The relative amount of moisture which these soils can maintain will depend not only upon how many grains there are in one gram, but upon the way in which these grains are arranged, as well as upon the amount and condition of the organic matter in the soil. It is a well known fact that the continued use of lime on stiff heavy clay lands makes them looser and more loamy, and less retentive of moisture. Indeed, lime is very injurious to light sandy lands unless there is sufficient organic matter " for the lime to act on." For if the lime is used on such lands when there is an insufficient supply of organic matter, the soils are made still less retentive of moisture. If there is sufficient organic matter, however, in the soil, or supplied artificially, for the lime to act on, it makes even these light soils closer in texture and more retentive of moisture. This is the reason why lime is so universally beneficial to all classes of soils; but with the heavy, impervious clay soils it must be used alone, while with the light sandy soils it must be used in connection with organic matter. In the deterioration of lands, when soils become " worn out " or " exhausted," the texture of the soil changes so as to change the rela- tion of the soil to water, and the soil may thereafter be able to maintain AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 191 either more or less water than formerly, which will make the conditions unfavorable for the crop. The development of the crop shows very plainly that the conditions of moisture in the soil have changed, for the plants are either inclined to excessive growth of foliage, or they ripen up while the plants are still small, as the case may he. Fertilizers have a very marked effect on the texture of soils, and it is possible, through their use, to change the arrangement of the grains of sand and clay, and so make the soil more or less retentive of moisture. We thus have in our manures and fertilizers very powerful means of maintaining or of changing the texture of the soil through the arrange- ments of the soil grains, thereby changing the conditions of moisture and heat, which they can maintain for the crop. This physical effect of fertilizers is probably of the very greatest importance. The following table gives a list of the most important soil forma- tions in Maryland, with their location, the crops best adapted to them, the average content of sand, silt and clay showing the texture of the lands, the surface area of the grains and the approximate number of grains in one gram. The relative agricultural value of these lands for the staple crops is about as given in the table ; the Trenton limestone being the finest type of grass and wheat land, and the Lafayette being the poorest in the State. The agricultural value for these staple crops increases with the percentage of clay. 192 MARYLAND. tf n< p «1 tXi P M |Zi K CO t> CO £- t- OS CO CO CD W CO iO lO b- t- t> O O O OO Q tc to O O O CO o CO h t- t- CO c» ■* * TH •* O 05 CI CO O ft 5 jm° r-n* Of -"di" CO* of r-T TlT TjT TjT ■* -*" -* -* rjT Oi" «~ t-H H J-t IM T-H i-l OJ o 5 5 o * <8 5 ^^ CO iOOiOQlCOO H H « W CO CO o O O lO m lO Q O lO © lO »C Q © »C lft H H CO S IOCO CO 3 O Q O O O O 1T3 "° %. ~ CM ^o O OOlClOQOO os co t- ^ w « co co up in 10 »c C5 OJ H t-l W r- ■ *» ; *? 3 • o3 a o i 3 : g 3 • O » : * 3 a 3 O O of P " = : 2 a O ■2 _a a r 3 ^ c3 o cd o a 2 g,1 OJ 3 . g i '• 3 : : a -g a 1 CC] 03 c/ ^ J t*> ■- ■ 3 • *^ « £ .2 s 5 -3 j o 03 B3 o », o 1 :-3 - : m I ■ ■o | :| ford and •oil and ] ny Count Somerset eghany C :deriek V ft a t 3 a H& 1 '• oS ; : w % '- 9 d — t< a m.2 "J ^ o a o CK S O W n Cm O S , ■a I to ._ *= a •° A o 3 > •§ P S a S3 c ■ terraces along the Pc ds of Southern Maryla Is of Queen Anne and f : o I ^ > : -§ I £ ill iri ds ("Red lands") of! ds ( "Red lands") of ds of Garrett and Alle s of Dorchester, Wicom ds of Washington and ds of Cumberland and f Sout ads al ;d WO d frui of So f Sout f rivei at Ian n lam o, g g S a § 1 ■ 1 Montgomei and wheat 1 and wheat 1 and wheat 1 md wheat la and wheat 1 and wheat 1 °^^ 00 5?? : J barrens truck inerset truck :co lane t lands t lands and w t and ( •- ~ "p^ c T3 >>0 — ri" 3 O c/ P CO CO CO CO CO CO § j^^fla | .3 J ° F Kh JH^^O^^ !* a £ c3 IS C > ■PS o 3 Oh S> o P* s £° M O g T3 . ja a > p. ■pH P. a a B £ X fi o 00 Pn mm. 2-1 1-.5 .5-. 25 0.00 0.07 0.98 0.00 0.23 2.76 0.83 0.28 0.98 0.00 0.00 0.48 0.00 0.40 0.57 0.00 0.56 31.26 0.00 0.23 1.71 0.00 0.25 0.39 0.00 0.46 6 61 .35-. 1 .1-.05 .05-.01 .0I-.005 .005-.0001 12.22 29.58 22.19 10.13 19.14 12.85 47.13 12.89 4.07 19.19 1.74 52.74 16.91 3.35 19.57 3.06 50.32 14.19 6.78 20.38 22.64 30.55 13.98 4.08 21.98 4.62 30.70 26.16 9.44 32.53 6.08 30. S3 30.03 11.21 23.78 10.65 29.05 22.45 6.56 33.92 12.19 9.15 30.89 13.33 Clay 24.45 95.31 4.69 99.11 0.89 95.82 4.18 95.11 i 94.20 4.89 [ 5.80 95.27 4.73 94.75 5.25 96.27 3.73 96.97 Organic mat 3.03 Approximate No. Locality. Clay. Surface area. number of grains per gram. Per Cent. Sq. cm. 250 348 3' 5 180 155 3t6 141 352 Chanpwille 19.14 2,453 8,918,000,000 19.19 2,097 8,452,000,000 19.57 2,214 8,917,000,000 Plum 20.28 21.98 3,380 2,493 9,357,000,000 10,2.8,000,000 22.53 2,732 10,456,000,000 23.78 2,853 11,161,0(10,000 South Pope's 23.93 24.45 2,681 2,847 10,933,000,(100 11,302,000.000 These lauds make fairly good wheat lands, but this is about the limit of profitable wheat production, and a soil having less than 20 per cent, of clay, or approximately 9,000,000,000 grains per gram, is too light in texture and not sufficiently retentive of moisture for the economical AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 203 production of wheat under the prevailing climatic conditions. This represents, however, merely the skeleton structure of the soil, and this could be so filled in and modified as to make it more retentive of mois- ture; but experience has shown that a soil lighter than this Las not sufficient body to warrant the expense of converting it into a good wheat land. The soils are too light for grass. They are valued as wheat lands in about the order in which they are given in the table, except that it would seem that 245 should have been given a higher place in the table, as it is considered a very fertile wheat land; but this may have been due to the sampling. The samples in the accompanying table are of strong wheat and grass lands of southern Maryland. They are considered the very finest type of wheat lands in that locality : MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF SUBSOILS OF STRONG WHEAT AND GRASS LANDS FROM SOUTHERN MARYLAND. .0.5-. 01 .01-. 005 .005-. 0001 Conventional Names. Fine Grave I. . . . Coarse sand Medinm sand. . Fine sand Very fine sand. Silt Fine Silt Clay Davidsonville Clay. Total Organic matter, water, loss. 0.00 0.00 0.29 2.43 23.56 29.23 6.36 33.45 94.32 5.68 Davidsonville, James Iglehart. 0.00 0.27 0.64 3.20 22.58 26.25 10.43 32.40 95.76 4.24 Herring Bay. 0.00 0.00 0.50 3.50 36.28 19.04 6.78 32.43 Clay. 142 Davidsonville, clay, T. S. Iglehart 247 Davidsonville, James Iglehart 179 Herring Bay Approximate. Surface number Area. | of grains per gram. Sq. cm. ,604 I 15,148,000,000 3,537 14,903,000,000 3,389 I 14,433,000,000 These samples were taken from very rolling lands where the loam, if it had ever accumulated, had been removed by washing, leaving exposed the yellow clay which seems to underlie all the wheat lands. There is a very marked relation between the agricultural value of these lands and the texture and general appearance of the soils. If the soils are in a fair state of cultivation, in which the arrangement of the grains can be assumed to be sensibly the same, the agricultural value increases quite regularly with the percentage of clay and the approximate number of grains per gram. The yield increases, however, in nearly all 204 MARYLAND. cases and with most crops, at the expense of the quality of the crop pro- duced. In the case of tobacco and truck, as the quality or time of maturity is of more importance than the quantity of crop produced, the lands are valued, within certain limits, as the soil is lighter in texture and contains less clay and fewer grains per gram. It is not a matter of the chemical composition of the soil nor of the amount of available plant food in the soil which determines this local distribution of crops, but it is a matter of the texture of the soil, and especially of the relation of the soils to water and the amount of water which they can maintain for the crop under existing climatic conditions. Lime has been considered the very best fertilizer for these wheat lands ; but lime with plenty of organic matter in the soil " for the lime to act on," otherwise it will " burn out the land; " so that where the lime is applied, as it should be every few years, clover or some green manuring is considered a necessary adjunct. This combination of lime or organic matter would tend to make the soils more retentive of moisture. The Marlboro, Davidsonville and West River districts have been famous for the excellent condition in which the lands have been main- tained, and for the good farming which has prevailed. The value of the lands has, however, depreciated in recent years ; labor is scarce and many of the farms are heavily mortgaged, so that good farming lands can be purchased very cheaply. The farmers in this locality suffered severely as a result of the late war, and they have been unable to bear up under the burden of their debt. They have not yet adjusted themselves to these new and changed conditions of agriculture, nor adapted their farming to the present market demands. A number of efforts have been made to introduce a different variety of tobacco into southern Maryland, as the type which has been raised there so successfully in the past meets with such wide competition in the increased production of this same grade of tobacco in other parts of the world. Efforts have been made to introduce the fine bright tobacco of North Carolina, but the soils selected for the experiments have been much heavier in texture, as shown by the mechanical analysis, than soils adapted to this grade of tobacco in the South. There are other soils, however, almost identical in texture with those in the South to be found in the Columbia and Lafayette formations which are probably well adapted to the production of these bright tobaccos. Experiments are to be tried on these lighter soils. The accompanying table gives the analyses of the sub-soils from four localities of the fertile river terraces of southern Maryland: AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 205 MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF SUBSOILS OF WHEAT LANDS. River Terrace. .1-.5 .5-.25 .25-. 1 .1-.05 .05-.01 .01-. 005 .005-. 0001 Conventional Names. Fine gravel.... Coarse sand . . . Medium sand.. Fine sand Very fine sand. Silt Fine silt Clay Total. Organic matter, water, loss. 0.38 2.72 11.64 7.23 6.74 33.92 10.62 23.45 St. Mary's. 0.44 1.05 2.67 5.03 9.75 34.82 14.52 25.03 96.70 3.30 93.31 St. Mary's. 2.01 5.24 1.75 2.17 2.45 37.21 15.52 29.27 95.62 Opposite St. Mary's. 0.41 0.42 1.64 3.45 9.48 41.88 11.98 26.24 95.50 4.50 Clay. Surface Area. Approximate number of grains per gram. 199 201 205 203 Benedict Saint Mary's Opposite Saint Mary's. Saint Mary's 23.45 25.03 26.24 29.27 Sq. cm. 2,765 2,889 3,188 3,509 10,737,000,000 11,936,000,000 l-',205. 000,000 13,578,000,000 The river terraces border the Potomac and Patuxent rivers and their tributaries in the lower part of the peninsula, and are considered very strong wheat lands. They are classed geologically with the Columbia formation; but, as will be seen from the mechanical analyses, and as shown from the agricultural value of the lands, they are very much stronger soils than those of the same formation on the bay shore, which form the early truck lands between Baltimore and Annapolis. The terraces have an elevation of from twenty to sixty feet above tide, and are about half a mile wide, with the Lafayette formation rising beyond this into the pine barrens of the higher lands further inland. The terrace lands have good body, and are capable of a very high state of cultivation, and many of them are maintained in excellent condition. Some of the land around St. Mary's has been under cultivation for two hundred years without apparent deterioration, although there is nothing at all peculiar in the appearance of the land to indicate any unusual con- ditions. The soil is about six or eight inches deep, but neither the soil nor subsoil appears to have more organic matter than is usual in the lands of southern Maryland, nor do they appear different from the same class of lands elsewhere. They have been taken care of, and have been very intelligently handled. There is a narrow strip of coarse, sandy soils bordering the Chesa- peake Bay, from Baltimore down to South River, entirely devoted to the 206 MARYLAND. production of early truck and vegetables for the Baltimore and the larger northern and western markets. This same character of soil is found on the Eastern Shore and along the Atlantic coast as far south as Florida, and it is very generally devoted to truck farming. The sandy soils and subsoils of the early truck lands between Balti- more and Annapolis contain from four to ten per cent, of clay. Other things being equal, the lighter the soil, and the less clay it contains, the earlier the crop. Soils having over seven per cent, of clay are rather heavy for the earliest truck, but are well suited to tomatoes, cabbage, small fruits and peaches. Geologically, these light soils belong to the Columbia formation. A large part of this area is still lying out as a barren and unproductive waste for lack of proper facilities for transporta- tion. This matter of cheap and quick transportation is so great a factor in the trucking interest, owing to the bulky and perishable nature of the market truck and small fruits, that lands directly on the water courses, or on the railroads, have a value many times greater than similar lands situated only a mile or two distant. Peas, tomatoes, cabbage, sweet potatoes, watermelons, canteloupes, strawberries, raspberries and peaches may be grown, and are grown, with more or less success, on nearly all kinds of soil ; but this area of sandy land in southern Maryland will produce these crops from one to three weeks earlier than the heavier wheat and grass lands in other parts of the State. This puts the truck into the Baltimore and northern markets much earlier than it can be produced on the heavier soils of the State, and insures the early truck farmers from competition from the State at large, and they get very fair prices, as their crops are sold before the market prices fall with the glut of summer vegetables. The trucking business requires a very heavy outlay for manuring and for labor, and everything depends upon the crop getting to market at the earliest possible date, to take advantage of the high prices; and no pains or expense is spared to force the maturity of the plant and hasten the ripening of the crop. The early truck lands are much too light for the profitable production of wheat or corn, or of any of the staple crops whose period of growth extends into or through the summer months, not because the soils are deficient in plant food, but because they are so coarse and open in texture that they are unable to maintain a sufficient water supply for these crops during the hot spells which are liable to occur. It is not that these light, sandy lands produce as much yield per acre of the different kinds of market truck as the heavier lands that they are utilized for trucking, but that they ripen the crops earlier and so get advantage of the higher prices. There are, therefore, peculiar conditions desired in an early truck land, just the opposite conditions, indeed, from those required for AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 207 a good grass or wheat soil. The soil, or rather subsoil, of the truck lands should be very light in texture, containing not over ten per cent, of clay, and for the very earliest truck not over six per cent. If they have more than this the land is too retentive of moisture, and the growing period is prolonged and the ripening of the crop is delayed. In the truck land with less than six per cent, of clay the soil is drier and probably cooler, and these are conditions which would hasten the maturity of the crop. Other things being equal, the more clay a soil contains the more retentive of moisture it will be, and the greater the amount of moisture which will be maintained in the soil for the crop. The fine particles of clay not only make the spaces within the soil exceedingly small, so that the rainfall must pass downward very slowly through the soil, but by increasing the area of the water-surface it increases the power the soil has of drawing water to the plant to supply the loss from evaporation and to replace that which has been used by the plant. In a heavy clay soil this supply of water may be so abundant as to prolong the growth of the plant and increase the size and yield per acre, but may greatly retard the ripening of the crop and make the texture coarse. The average yield of wheat in Washington county is given by the census as eighteen bushels per acre, and this is principally from a limestone soil having over forty per cent, of clay. Wheat can not be economically produced on the light truck lands. It is not that the soils of Washington county contain necessarily more plant food than the truck lands of southern Maryland, but that having more clay the soils are stiffer and are more retentive of moisture, and they can maintain a more abundant supply of water for the crop. These limestone soils are too retentive of moisture for early truck. In an average season they would maintain such an abundant supply of water that, although large crops would be assured, the crops would be late in coming to maturity, and would come into competition with crops from all parts of the State. The light character of the land, therefore, gives the early truck planter a monopoly of the market. The mechanical analyses of the subsoils from a number of localities are given in the accompanying table, with the surface area and the approximate number of grains per gram, with such notes as may be necessary on the agricultural value of these lands : 208 MARYLAND. MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF TRUCK SUBSOILS FROM SOUTHERN MARYLAND. Marley Neck. Conventional Names. 471. 472. 591. 469. 473. 590. Diameter. Marley P. 0. Marley P. O. 1 mile north of Marley P. O. Glen- burnie. Albert Ham- mond. 2 miles north of Marley P.O. mm. 2-1 0.28 5,42 41.45 26.73 12.46 7.23 3.21 4.07 0.49 4.96 40.19 27.59 12.10 7.74 2.23 4.40 0.39 5.52 36.53 24.91 11.79 9.89 4.51 5.41 3.47 12.05 44.06 18.02 9.59 5.73 1.37 5.46 0.44 6.46 36.73 19.54 10.28 13.42 5.61 7.14 0.91 1 .5 5.45 .5-. 25 28.73 22.81 13.44 .05 .01 Silt 14.77 4.29 Clay 9.16 Total 99.84 0.16 99.70 0.30 98.95 1.05 99.75 0.25 99.62 0.38 99.56 0.44 471 472 591 4i.9 473 Marley P. . .do. 1 mile north of Marley P. O.. Glenburnie Albert Hammond 2 miles north of Marley P. O. Clay. 4.07 4.40 5.41 5.46 7.14 9.16 Surface area. Sq. cm. 5S3 615 796 654 987 1,173 Approximate number of grains per gram. 1,809,000,000 1,955,000,000 2,458,000,000 2,406,000,000 3,315,000,000 4,078,000,000 These soils from Marley Neck represent fairly well the early truck lands along the bay shore. Those lands having less than 6 per cent, of clay, as shown by the table, are considered very typical early truck lands ; soils having 6 per cent, of clay are considered rather heavy for the very early truck, but are excellent for small fruits. Tomatoes, for example, will ripen a week earlier on land having 4 to 5 per cent, of clay than on lands having 8 or 9 per cent, of clay. Tomatoes and cabbage do better and yield more per acre on the heavier lands ; but they are not so early, and consequently do not bring as good prices as the crops from the lighter soils. Time is everything to the early truck plants ; and these light lands have some peculiar property which adapts them to this early truck and matures the crops earlier than on any other soils of the State. The loam soils are much better adapted to the small fruits and peaches than the very light lands. These truck lands appear to be remarkably uniform in texture, and the slight differences which appear in the percentage of clay and in the approximate number of grains per gram are very sharply defined in the agricultural value and importance of the land. The soils having the lowest percentage of clay and the least number of grains per gram are, with the exception of those directly on the Bay shore at the end of the AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 209 river necks, invariably regarded as the earliest truck lands, and one can readily tell from the general appearance and texture of the soil to what class of land the sample belongs. The light soils mature the crop earlier, but the heavier loam soils produce a larger yield per acre and generally a better development, and would be considered naturally stronger soils. These soils are too light for the profitable production of the staple crops, as the yield per acre would be extremely small and they could not compete with the stronger and heavier soils from other parts of the State and of the country. Their peculiar value lies in the fact that they can produce during the spring and early summer small fruits and vegetables earlier than they can be produced in other parts of the State, so that they have the advantage of good market prices. The reason of this is undoubtedly due to the physical structure of these soils, especially to the relation of the soils to water. It cannot be due directly to the amount of available plant food they contain, for no addition of mere plant food would make these soils as strong and productive as a limestone soil unless the whole texture of the land was changed. A few years ago these light, sandy lands had hardly any market value, as they would not produce any of the staple crops economically. Since the introduction of truck farming, however, these have become the most valuable lands in the State. Lands situated close to the river or along a line of railroad where good transportation facilities are offered are worth from $50 to $200 per acre, and even more ; but where these transportation facilities are lacking the very finest truck lands are still lying idle, and can be purchased for a merely nominal sum of from $1 to $5 per acre. As the country is developed and transportation facilities are offered, and when methods of packing and transportation are improved, these lands will become of great value. The Lafayette formation, covering a large area in southern Mary- land, forming what are known as the pine barrens, have, as a rule, very coarse, sandy soils, containing less than five per cent, of clay in the subsoil. These lands are so coarse and open in texture that they have little agricultural value under existing conditions. They are, however, admirably adapted to very early truck, and when the country is opened up and transportation facilities are provided these will be among the most valuable lands in the State. Many of these lands also have the same texture as the fine, bright tobacco lands of North Carolina, and they are adapted to some of the fancy grades of the bright tobacco. Of the other soil formations in southern Maryland the Eocene and Cretaceous formations have about the same texture and agricultural value. They contain from eight to fifteen per cent, of clay in the subsoil and are well adapted to fruit, truck and tobacco. There is comparatively 14 210 MARYLAND. a small area of these formations in this part of the State, and they are, therefore, of very little agricultural importance. Several lines of railroad are projected through this region, and when proper transportation facilities are provided, the whole of southern Maryland is admirably adapted to fruit, truck, tobacco and the dairy interests, where the lands are sufficiently strong to maintain pastures and raise forage for stock. The Potomac formation, crossing the State from Washington through Baltimore to the Delaware line, is of little present agricultural value. The prevailing soils are stiff clays of variegated colors. They contain from forty to fifty per cent, of clay and should be very strong and fertile lands, as productive as the Trenton limestone soils. As it is, they have little agricultural value, and much of the land is lying out as a barren waste. The reason for this is probably to be found in the arrangement of the grains of sand and clay, as the clays have the effect of being puddled and are nearly impervious to water. By proper treatment these lands can undoubtedly be improved and be made highly productive. The requirements in the improvement of these lands are that they should be properly under-drained and then such methods, fertilizers and crops be used as would tend to make the soils more loamy so that moisture can circulate through them more freely. SOILS OF THE EASTERN SHORE. The geology of the Eastern Shore has not been worked out in sufficient detail to give a basis for these soil investigations. The bound- aries of several of the formations have not been determined, and some of the formations have not even been identified, so that very little work has been done as yet on the soils. There are four principal soil formations in this region. The strong and fertile wheat and corn lands of Queen Anne and Talbot counties, which are probably formed directly of the Chesapeake formation, are similar to the strongest wheat lands of southern Maryland, which have already been described. These lands have a stiff yellow clay sub- soil, with about the same texture as the gabbro, gneiss and phillite lands of northern-central Maryland. The lands are very level, but have good underdrainage. The fields are large and perfectly level, making the cultivation extremely easy. Wheat is grown on the heaviest lands, and corn and fruit are grown on the lighter loam soils. There is a prevailing impression that grass cannot be grown on these lands, and there is cer- tainly very little permanent pasture or sod land. This is probably due to the fact that wheat has been raised on these lands continuously. Wheat and corn have been the staple crops in the past on these heavy lands. There are some pastures, however, which have been unbroken AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 211 for twenty or thirty years, and they are as strong and as fine now as any of the grass lands of northern Maryland could maintain. This shows the possibility of these soils, if attention could he generally directed in the proper channel. The Eocene soils of Kent county have not been studied as yet. In Dorchester and the lower counties of the Eastern Shore, the wheat lands are of a different character from those in Queen Anne and Talbot. The subsoil is a white or grayish clay, and is very close, and very retentive of moisture. These lands need underdrainage. They should have a very high agricultural value, but, as a matter of fact, they are too close and too retentive of moisture for wheat. Before the war, when there was an abundance of labor, these lands were kept in admir- able condition, and they were exceedingly fertile. There are still some farms kept up to the very highest condition of cultivation, and these show that the lands, when properly cared for, are admirably adapted to wheat and grass. It has not been determined whether the white clay, forming the subsoil of these wheat lands, belongs to the Chesapeake formation, or, as seems rather more probable, to a later formation, probably the Lafayette, or possibly a horizon of the Columbia. There are large areas of light sandy lands of the Columbia forma- tion overlying the stiff clays, varying in depth from a few inches to a number of feet. These form the early truck and fruit lands of the Eastern Shore. They appear to be identical with the early truck lands of the Columbia formation of southern Maryland, which have been already described. The areas of this formation have not been outlined. These light sandy lands occur in Kent county, cover nearly the whole of Caroline county, and there are wide areas in Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset and "Worcester. These lands are admirably adapted to early truck and fruit, but, as has been shown, this interest has only existed as a separate industry within recent years, and there are large tracts of these lands which have not yet been developed, but which are lying out as barren wastes. The admirable railroad and water facilities for ship- ping truck, however, make it certain that the present rapid development of the trucking and fruit interest will continue, and that these lands will be taken up in a short time, and applied to the purposes for which they are so well adapted. 212 MARYLAND. LIVE STOCK. The principal agricultural regions of the State have been already- described in some detail, and it remains now only to speak of some special features which have a bearing on the breeding and raising of live stock. Two elements of paramount importance in stock-raising are an abundance of food and a plentiful supply of good water. These two conditions are found in the northern and western parts of the State, where the lands are admirably suited to grass, wheat and corn. The blue grass on the limestone soils in several of the counties is particularly tender and succulent, and is considered by many to be even more nutritious than that of Kentucky. Cecil county is especially noted for the excellency of its timothy, and in all these counties mixed hay of a good quality is produced, as well as an excellent quality of grain and straw and fodder in great abundance. Skim milk can be obtained in the neighborhood of the creameries for feeding hogs. These lands, which have a rolling surface, are abundantly watered, as it is rare to find a field of considerable size which has not a spring or a stream of pure water. Such streams, flowing through pastures, add greatly to the value of the land for stock-raising. The proximity to the ocean and bay makes the climate of the State more uniform and exempts it from the extremes of temperature so common in the far West, while the hills and mountains mitigate the severity of blizzards. The southern part of the State is less abundant in pasturage and water and is not so well adapted to general stock-raising; though there are regions more favored in these respects, and years ago Southei-n Maryland was famous for the attention given to breeding fast horses. This was especially the case before the late war. There were then no railroads and all local traveling was done by riding or driving. Fox hunting, races and tournaments were the principal amusements, and the young men especially took great pride in their horses. Horse-breeding was not then as now pursued as a gainful business, but as a luxury or necessity. Under the changed agricultural conditions this interest has greatly declined. Nevertheless, more than one owner of valuable stock has lately selected these southern counties to establish stables. While the country is flat, and hills are rarely seen, it is very well wooded and the woods afford protection to the stock in winter ; while, from the neighborhood of the bay and ocean, the climate has an almost insular mildness. The innumerable estuaries, river-mouths and salt marshes, which extend all along the Southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts, are very favorable for cattle-ranges, though the lack of pasturage and running streams operates as a disadvantage. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 213 Statistics. The census statistics of cattle, sheep and hogs for 1890 have not yet been issued; but the following statistics of horses, mules and asses are taken from Bulletin No. 103, issued August 19, 1891. These statistics are confined to farms of over three acres, thus excluding the animals in towns and cities as well as those on smaller holdings : On June 1, 1890, there were on these farms 130,395 horses, 14,064 mules and 97 asses. In 1860 the number of horses was 93,406. The decrease in horses on farms from 1860 to 1870 amounted to 3.97 per cent., being much less than in many of the other Southern States. From 1870 to 1880 there was an increase of 31.33 per cent., and from 1880 to 1890 an increase of 10.70 per cent. There were 9,829 mules and asses in 1860 and about the same number in 1870; and in these there was an increase from 1870 to 1880 of 27.78 per cent., and from 1880 to 1870 of 12.74 per cent. There were foaled in 1889 11,855 horses, 209 mules and 32 asses, and in the same year 7,296 horses, 831 mules and 26 asses were sold and 6,088 horses, mules and asses died. Breeds of Horses. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that greater progress has been made during the past fifteen years in the improvement of horses, and in the past twenty or twenty-five years in the improvement of all kinds of stock, than had been made in the previous century. Nevertheless, impartial judges see that with this great improvement in recent years there have been some heavy losses which are to be deplored. With horses, speed has been the great end and object of improved breeding. A horse that can make a mile, or even a half or a quarter of a mile dash in the shortest time wins the premium and the applause of the multitude. The constitution and the endurance of the animals are altogether secondary considerations, and these most valuable qualities have been greatly impaired in the development of the modern race-horses. With cows, likewise, the improvement has been, until recently, in the line of great yields of butter for relatively short periods with high feeding. This reached its height in the recent Jersey craze, when these animals brought immense prices, but were so delicate and sensitive that they had to be tended as carefully as one would care for a child. When the fancy for Jersey cattle declined many breeders were financially crippled, but it has had good results for the live stock interest, as this has taken a healthier turn now, and constitution, endurance and general utility are more carefully considered. With cattle the tide is already turning toward the development of the most generally useful and valuable qualities. With horses the tide has hardly yet turned, and speed is still bred for with very little regard to constitution or endurance. Maryland was famous for its horses in colonial days, and, indeed, until about fifty years ago. This was due to the social life of the times, espec- 214 MARYLAND. ially in southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, where slavery pre vailed, and where the people were dependent for their exercise, pleasure and social intercourse upon their horses. Besides this, liberal premiums were offered by our people from pure love of the animal and the interest in its development. With the changed conditions of agriculture, how- ever, this interest declined, and when the scientific improvement of live stock was introduced fifteen or twenty years ago the high quality of animals once found here was almost a thing of the past. It is a history common to all the Southern States where the peculiar conditions incident to slavery prevailed ; and nearly all the older States which have felt the recent changes in agricultural conditions have experienced this period of depression, to which they are only now adjusting themselves. It is true that the live stock interest is in a healthier state, and very marked improvements Lave been made in recent years as a direct result of the depression fifteen or twenty years ago. Thoroughbreds {Running Horses). The breeding of thoroughbreds in the State has, with a few exceptions, been spasmodic and without any particularly good results. This failure has been justly attributed to the lack of scientific methods with the breeders themselves. The excellent results which a few breeders are attaining illustrate the value of the most advanced methods. One establishment in this State for the breeding, rearing and training of thoroughbreds was started only a few years ago, but has already attracted the attention of the racing fraternity, at least, throughout the Eastern States. The stock at this farm ranks with the very best in the country, and the successes attained from early develop- ment have not been excelled even by California, which has so long boasted of its early developments. The horses on this farm are valued at nearly a quarter of a million of dollars ; the purses won in a single season have exceeeded $100,000. The expenses incident to the breeding and training on such a large scale are very great, but the profits accruing have made the enterprise very remunerative. Standardbred or Light Harness Horses. It is in this class that the greatest improvements have been attained. Indeed, more horses of this class can be found to-day on the road than were to be found ten years ago in the training stables. This industry of the breeding of trotters and pacers has been remarkable in its recent development, and it is not confined to any part of the State. A single county now produces more standardbred horses than were produced in the whole State a few years ago, and there are only a few counties in the State where the breeding of this class of horses is not established as a business. So general and widespread has the industry become that a breeders' association was established about three years ago, and this association is able to give from their own stables a race meeting each fall, lasting several days. AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 215 Many of the larger stock farms have private tracks where the animals are trained. The market for these horses has extended into all parts of the United States, and the growing demand for fast light-harness horses abroad has been the means of extending the market to foreign countries. Stallions of unblemished ancestry are to be found in abundance in the State, and even if they are not bred to rnares of equally high pedigree, yet good results are obtained in the general improvement of the progeny; and the importation of broodmares of good breeds is tend- ing further to raise the quality of this class of horses. Coach Horses. Unfortunately very little attention has so far been paid to the breeding of this very useful and profitable class. The stal- lions of this class now in the State are of the "French Coach" and "Cleveland Bay" variety. One or two good stallions have recently been imported into the State, and good results are expected within the next few years. The appreciation and demand for this breed is increasing every year. Draught Horses. Much more attention has been paid to this class of horses, largely through the influence of a public-spirited citizen of Baltimore, whose i inportations of Percherons of fine quality have led to a more thorough appreciation of this class. A number of Clyde stallions have also been imported, and these have given a good class, though a limited number, of grade animals. General Utility Horses. The main dependence of an agricultural region is the general utility horse, which can be used for al 1 kinds of work. It seems rather strange that with the natural advantages of the State, our farmers have been slow in giving proper attention to this class of animals. The mare that works in thj plow all the week and pulls the family to church on Sunday is bred to this or that horse either because the fee is small or because he had once trotted a fast mile. The results of such breeding are far from satisfactory. This is beginning to receive the attention it deserves, and certainly there is no more impor- tant subject for the farmer to consider. While there may be some grounds for pride in the fact that the trotter has been developed in this country to a degree of speed never dreamed of a few years ago, we must not forget that he is scarcely more of what may be termed a general utility horse than is a thoroughbred. The trotter is bred for speed, and to such a degree has this specialization been carried, that unfortunately the qualities of endurance, conforma- tion and action have been neglected and impared to a very great extent. Even our farmers have been imbued with this craze for speed. As a rule, and under the average conditions of farm life, there is no more chance of obtaining a great winner than there is of drawing a capital prize in a lottery. Our farmers are now beginning to perceive this, and that for 216 MARYLAND. sure and substantial profits in breeding, the animals must have bone, muscle, power and constitution, combined with a moderate amount of speed, and with sufficient nervous energy to enable them to stand long trips with some weight behind them. The Hackney horse seems to fill this want very well, and there is cause of congratulation that a worthy son of the great Confidence lias been added to the list of breeding stallions in the State. It is to be hoped that more of this class of horses may be introduced into the State, for it is believed that by judicious crossing of trotting and thoroughbred mares, a good class of light and heavy-harness roadsters may be obtained. Mules. Although there is a steady and a growing demand for these valuable animals, at good prices, they are rarely foaled in this State, but are usually brought from the West. The reason for this is on account of the scarcity and high price of jacks, a good Spanish jack being worth from $1,500 to $3,000. Cattle. Fifteen years ago some of the finest herds of Jersey cattle in the country were owned in Maryland, and about that time there was an exhibit of Jersey cattle at the State Fair, which was probably as fine as could have been found elsewhere in the country. The craze for Jerseys, born of the fictitious values, broke suddenly, and many breeders lost heavily. The herds were broken up, and have been scattered through the State and elsewhere. This has been followed by a much healthier condition, and a system of grading has resulted from this decline in value of the thoroughbred Jerseys, much to the advantage of the State at large. The breeders now consider the endurance and constitution of the animals, rather than their performances under artificial conditions for limited and very short periods of time. The introduction of the Holstein-Friesian cattle was made upon this more stable basis, and a large number of these cattle are found in different parts of the State and they are looked upon with great and increasing favor. A few herds of thoroughbred Herefords are owned in Baltimore county and on the Eastern Shore. In the western part of the State some Durhams of excellent quality are bred. It was considered, by many experts, that, at one time, the finest herd of Durham cattle in the world was owned in Maryland, but the death of the owner caused the herd to be broken up, and the good effects of the sale are apparent in the improved breeding of the stock in that section of the State. Short-Horns are still bred in the western counties, mainly because oxen are used for hauling, and because large animals are desired for beef. Sheep. The sheep interest has always been in a very healthy condi- tion in this State. Probably a majority of the farms support flocks of sheep, and the interest is growing. The Southdowns have been a favorite AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK. 217 breed, and the fine flock at Druid Hill Park, in Baltimore, has done much to awaken an interest in the improved breeds. Sheep require very little care, and have to be housed and fed, at most, not over two months in the year ; the remainder of the time they run at large in the pasture fields and in the corn and stubble fields, after the crops are removed. They yield a handsome return for the small amount of care and expense they are to the farmer. Hogs. Previous to 1875 the Chester-White, crossed with the White- China, was the favorite breed of hogs; but about that time the scientific breeding of Berkshires was begun, and this is undoubtedly at present the favorite breed of hogs. For years Maryland possessed what was prob- ably the finest herd of Berkshires in the United States or England. The herd still contains its finest blood, although it is considerably reduced in numbers. There are a number of herds of this breed in the State, many of them of the finest blood, as also a few herds of Poland-China, Small- Yorkshires, and some Jersey-Beds. CHAPTER VI. NATURAL HISTORY. K THE FLORA OF MARYLAND. Any attempt to give an account of the flora of Maryland must of necessity prove unsatisfactory. No botanical survey of the area included within her limits has ever been made, and in the absence of the information which such a survey would afford, much that would be of great interest and utility must be omitted and general statements must take the place of exact details. It is not probable that many plants new to botany would be brought to light, since there are no such sharp botanical lines between neighboring States as would lead us to expect plants in one not found in others close at hand; but many plants known elsewhere, but not previously reported in Maryland, would doubtless be found, and the distribution of the different genera and species would be ascertained, together with their relations to soil and climate. Not only has there been no general survey, but little has been published of the work done by individuals. Dr. William E. A. Aikin prepared a catalogue of the " Phsenogamous Plants and Ferns " growing in the vicinity of Baltimore, which was published in the Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Science and Literature in 1837, but has long been out of print. Mr. Howard Shriver published a list of plants collected near Cumberland, and the present writer published, in 1888, a preliminary check list for the vicinity of Baltimore, in which the work of Dr. Aikin was freely used. BOTANICAL EEGIONS. The State of Maryland has three distinct geological regions which will serve also as the botanical divisions : the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains. A somewhat irregular line from Havre de Grace through Baltimore to Washington divides the ten thousand square miles of land area into two nearly equal portions. The Coastal Plain lying to the east of this line is characterized by a comparatively level surface of little elevation, the fresh water streams having a more or less sluggish current and a tendency to spread out into marshes. It is divided into two portions by the Chesapeake bay, and each portion is much sub-divided by rivers or rather arms of the bay, up which tides advance. Many plants find here alone the conditions . NATURAL HISTORY. 219 necessary to their existence. Shore plants, plants growing in deep water, salt marsh plants, and plants requiring wet sandy soil, may be mentioned as peculiar to this region. The Piedmont Plateau extends from the Coastal Plain to the base of the Catoctin Mountains, and has an elevation of from two to nine hundred feet above sea level. The surface is rolling or hilly, and the streams have generally a more rapid current. This section is less peculiar in its vegetation. Rich woods and meadows covered with a rank herbaceous growth are characteristic. The western portion of the State consists of mountains and intervening valleys. The streams to the east of Little Savage Mountain flow into the Potomac, while those to the west seek the waters of the Ohio. The plants peculiar to this region are principally such as find their way thus far south only along the mountains ; though many plants found sparsely in the Piedmont Region are here much more numerous and grow more luxuriantly, giving the general aspect of vegetation a character of its own. A striking feature of this part of the State are the Glades, upland meadows, believed to be the basins of former shallow mountain lakes. The State Geologist in 1841 thus describes them : " These are natural meadows of variable extent, with a deep mould for soil, apparently in its origin produced by the decomposition of a red, shaly sandstone, to which time has added a rich accumulation of decayed and decaying vegetable matter. This soil throws up a spontaneous growth of succulent grasses and plants -that afford the finest and most abundant pasturage for cattle during a long portion of the year, and in the months of June and July present to the eye of a traveler who crosses them a delightful parterre composed of flowers of all hues, over which the botanist would be rejoiced to roam among old and, perhaps, new acquaintances. The whole extent of these glades within the limits of Allegany county may be estimated at about twelve thousand acres, the greatest portion of which, east of the Yohogany, is located towards the summit of the dividing mountains. They are not connected with each other, and their outlines are very irregular, spurs and ridges intersecting them and knolls sometimes rising up from amidst them." This great variety in land surface has given rise to a great vax-iety in vegetation. Some plants are to be found only on certain rock formations to which they have become specially adapted. An example of this is found in Talinum teretifolium, Pursh. This plant grows on almost naked serpentine rocks, which become at times extremely dry. Its cylindrical leaves enable it to store up water as a supply in time of need, and it continues blossoming and ripening its seed during the severest drought. Several specimens were placed in a tin pan, without earth and unwaterecl, to experiment upon its endurance in this respect. They continued to bloom from day to day for the space of two weeks, when the experiment was interrupted. 220 MARYLAND. The mean temperature of Baltimore for the past twenty-one years was 55.3°, the extreme range during that period being from — 6° on January 1, 1881, to 102° on July 18, 1887. The winters differ much in severity, giving rise to a longer or shorter flowering season. December, January and February are generally without flowers, except witch-hazel, which blooms in December, and winter is occasionally prolonged to the end of March. The mildest winter of which there is any exact record was that of 1889-90. The mean temperatures for five months were : November, 48°; December, 46°; January, 44°; February, 43|°; March, 42°. The ranges for the same months were : November, 70° to 28° ; December, 73° to 23° ; January, 73° to 20° ; February, 74° to 23° ; March, 77° to 12°. In this extraordinary season fall ended, as regards flowers, about the first week of January, while spring began the last week of December, the seasons completely overlapping. Twenty-six species were found blooming between December 25 and February 16, viz : I. Summer or fall plants in bloom much later than usual : Aster prenanthoides, Muhl. Dec. 25, Jan. 3. Lepidium Virginicum, L. (Peppergrass). Dec. 25. Achillea Millefolium, L. (Yarrow). Jan. 3. Chrysanthemum Leucauthemum, L. (Ox-eye Daisy). Dec. 25, Jan. 3. II. Spring plants in bloom much earlier than usual : Hepatica triloba, Chaix. Dec. 25, Jan. 5, Feb. 16. Cerastium vulgatum, L. (Mouse-ear Chickweed). Dec. 25, Feb. 16. Symplocarpus foetidus, Salisb. (Skunk Cabbage). Dec. 25. Corylus Americana, Walt. (Wild Hazel-nut). Jan. 3, Feb. 16. Antennaria plantaginifolia, Hook. (Plaintain leaved everlast- ing). Jan. 3, Feb. 16. Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh. (White Maple). Jan. 4. Viola palmata, L. var. cucullata, Gray. (Common Blue Violets). Jan. 4. Nasturtium officinale, R. Br. (Water-cress). Jan. 4. Houstonia cferulea, L. (Bluets). Jan. 4, Feb. 16. Alnus serrulata, Willd. (Alder). Jan. 5, Feb. 16. Acer rubrum, L. (Red Maple). Feb. 16. Ulmus Americana, L. (American Elm). Feb. 16. Luzula campestre, DC. (Wood Rush). Feb. 16. Salix Babylonica, Tourn. (Weeping Willow). Feb. 16. Poa flexuosa, Muhl. (Spear Grass). Feb. 16. NATURAL HISTORY. 221 III. Plants blooming usually in spring, summer and fall : Stellaria media, Smith. (Common Chickweed). All dates. Poa annua, L. (Low Spear-grass). All dates. Capsella Bursa-pastoris, Moench. (Shepherd's Purse). All dates. Malva rotundifolia, L. (Common Mallow). Dec. 25, Jan. 5. Taraxacum officinale, Weber. (Dandelion). Dec. 25, Jan. 5. Draba verna, L. (Whitlow Grass). All dates. Lamium amplexicaule, L. Jan. 4. The seven last mentioned are hardy, naturalized plants from Europe, and two of them, Stellaria media and Draba verna, may often be found in bloom after a few warm days during the winter months. The rose, Pyrus Japonica and English daisy were blooming in parks and gardens in the last week of December. The peach trees bloomed in February, and suffered severely from the cold weather of March. On the whole, the season was very unfavorable for fruit. FORESTS AND FOREST TREES. The first settlers of Maryland found a land having a great abundance of grass on the plains and in the open fields, but for the most part thickly wooded. "Fine groves of trees appear," says Father White, "not choked with briers or bushes and undergrowth, but growing at intervals as if planted by the hand of man, so that you can drive a four-horse carriage wherever you choose through the midst of the trees." The many hicko- ries, the oaks, "so straight and tall that beams sixty feet long and two and a half feet wide can be made of them," the cypress trees growing to a height of eighty feet before they have any branches, and with trunks that three men with arms extended could barely reach round, excited the wonder of the colonists. As late as 1841, Prof. J. T. Ducatel, State Geol- ogist, describes the aspect of the country from the mountain tops in Allegany, then the westernmost county of the State, as " at first grand and imposing, but the eye is soon gratified, as it rests upon apparently interminable forest." "The crests and flanks of the mountains are covered principally with pines and chestnuts. The yellow and spruce pines are most abundant of that species of timber in this section of the county; the white pine occurring only in few places. On the bottom lands are found nearly all the most valuable forest trees ; oaks, walnut, poplar, locust, hickory, the Magnolia acuminata, or cucumber tree as it is here called, and the maples, among which is the sugar maples, which beautifully overshadows extensive camps, whence the smaller farmers of the county, and indeed most of the inhabitants, are supplied with sugar. The lime tree (Tilia glabra), here called linn, is also conspicuous amidst the larger trees of these forests. Among the flowering shubbery are 222 MARYLAND. particularly noticed the mountain laurel (Rhododendron maximum), calico bush (Kalmia latifolia) and the wild honeysuckle (Azalea viscosa) of large size, bearing a cluster of white flowers that emit a delicious fragrance." The agricultural development of the land, and the demands of com- merce, have affected the flora to a very great extent, but Maryland may still be considered as well wooded. Trees deserve especial attention, not only because they are most conspicuous, among the most beautiful, and the most useful of vegetable growths, but because of their great importance in distributing the rainfall and in modifying the climate. While on the one hand the healthfulness of a country in our latitude may be increased by clearing away part of the originally almost unbroken forest, on the other hand, destructive torrents, and equally destructive droughts are the consequences of too great denudation of trees. Maryland, it is believed, is still in most parts, on the safe side, and, if proper attention be paid to the preservation of forests in those regions which are not adapted to agriculture, this will continue to be the case. The continually increasing demand for wood, and the destructive manner of obtaining what is merchantable, so generally employed, as well as the ravages of fires, due to accident or carelessness, render it advisable to take precautionary measures. This may the more easily be done, since forest culture, or forest preservation, in the many hilly or mountainous regions which can be turned to no other use, would be sure to pay handsomely in time, owing to the increased price which forest products are certain to bring in the future. The natural forests of the country cannot long withstand the destruction now going on, and the application of scientific principles to forest growing in this State, would not only render much otherwise useless land wealth-producing itself, but would be a means of preserving the agricultural lands against the evils resulting from a deficiency of trees. In number of species, and probably in number of individuals, the oaks rank first among our native trees. The white oak (Quercus alba, L.), post oak (Q. stellata, Wang.) and swamp white oak (Q. bicolor, Willd.), resemble each other in general appearance, and in their hard and durable wood, which is used in making agricultural implements and carriages, for railroad ties and fence posts. The laurel oak (Q. imbricaria, Michx.) is used for shingles ; the pin oak (Q. palustris, Du Roi) for planks ; the bark of Spanish oak (Q. falcata, Michx.), of chestnut oak (Q. Prinus, L.) and of black oak (Q. coccinea, Wang., var. tinctoria) is used in tanning; the wood of black oak is used by coopers and carriage-makers ; all the above, together with water oak (Q. aquatica, Walter), black jack (Q,. nigra, L.), willow oak (Q. Phellos, L.) and black scrub oak (Q,. ilicifolia, Wang.) make good fuel. NATURAL HISTORY. 223 Of four or five species of hickory, the shag-bark (Carya alba, Nutt.) furnishes the most valuable wood, tough, elastic and durable. Pines fit for lumber have become scarce, but specimens of white (Pinus Strobus, L.) and yellow pine (P. mitis, Michx.) may still be found. Pitch pine (P. rigida, Mill.) and Jersey scrub pine (Pinops, Ait.) are plentiful, but valuable only as fuel. From the wood of the cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata, L.) pumps and bowls are made; the yellow poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera, L.), a local name brought down from early colonial days for the tree elsewhere known as tulip tree, white (Acer dasycarpum, Ehrh.), red (A. rubrum, L.), and sugar maple (A. saccharinum, Wang.) common locust (Rob inia Pseuda- cacia, L.), chestnut (Castanea sativa, Mill., var Americana), beech (Fagus ferruginea, Ait.), white ash (Fraxinus A mericana, L.), white ( Juglans cinerea, L.) and black walnut (J. nigra, L.) and wild cherry (Prunus serotina, Ehrh.) furnish valuable woods for finishing the interiors of houses, for making furniture and for cabinet work. From dogwood (Cornus florida, L.) handles of tools; from sour gum (Nyssa sylvatica, Marsh.) and American elm (Ulmus Americana, L.) hubs of wheels; from sycamore (Platanus occidentalis, L.) meat-blocks, and from hop-hornbeam (Ostrya Virginica, Willd.) mallets and mauls are made. Red cedar (Juniperus Virginiana, L.) is used to make moth-proof chests and for fine posts. The native fruits growing on trees are not very numerous, yet some of them do not seem to have received the attention from pomologists which they deserve. The European settlers finding the fruits of their old homes to thrive in their new abode did not deem it necessary to develop and improve the wild fruits about them. The persimmon attracted the attention of Captain John Smith, who speaks of three sorts of plums, the red and the white, like English hedge plums, " but the other, which they call Putchamins, grow as high as a Palmata. The fruit is like a medlar; it is first green, then yellow, and red when it is ripe. If it be not ripe it will draw a man's mouth awrie with much torment, but when it is ripe it is as delicious as an Apricock." The persimmon growing wild is subject to much variation in the size and quality of its fruit. A judicious selection and cultivation of one of the almost seedless varieties often found in a state of nature would doubtless repay the care bestowed upon it. The serviceberry (Amelanchior Canadensis, T. and G.) is another fruit that is worthy of cultivation. The Chicasa plum has been improved and is sometimes cultivated. Elderberries are used in making wine, and in some places the dried berries are made into pies. The sugar maple is extensively used in making maple sugar. The wild nuts most prized are black walnuts, chestnuts, chinquapins, hickory nuts (the shellbark being the best) and 224 MARYLAND. wild hazelnuts. The white walnut is little used in Maryland, except for pickling, the black being considered much superior. To the massing of trees in forests the landscape owes much of its attractiveness, and there are few more beautiful objects in animated nature than an individual tree which a favorable environment has allowed to attain its perfect development and symmetry. Each species has its own particular form and its own peculiar beauty, no less, though different, in our temperate zone than in the tropics, and only less noticed because more familiar. Humboldt considers it an undertaking worthy of a great artist to study the character of the different vegetable groups " on the grand theatre of tropical nature." The delicate shades of our early spring, the deeper hues of summer, the gorgeous tints of autumn, and the sober colors of bare trunks and limbs of winter offer a no less attractive variety to the painter or the lover of beauty. The red maple, the dogwood and the red-bud give to the forests of early spring a contrast of colors, which adds much to its charms. Intimately associated with trees are the larger climbers, which depend upon them for support. The most important of these are four species of grape : Vitis Labrusca, L., V. rotundifolia, Michx., the northern and the southern fox-grape, V. asstivalis, Michx. and V. cordifolia Michx., both locally known as chicken-grapes. Both the northern and southern fox-grape have been cultivated ; the former has given rise to the Isabella, the Catawba and the Concord, while the latter is the origin of the Scuppernong grape. The climbing bittersweet (Celastrus scandens, L.) Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia, Michx.), often confounded with poison-oak (Rhus Toxicodendron, L.), and trumpet creeper (Tecoma radicans, Juss.) should be mentioned for their beauty, and poison-oak should be known to be avoided. It may be easily distinguished from the beautiful and harmless Virginia creeper by its three leaflets. Its near relative, the poison sumach, (Rhus venenata, DC), a swamp shrub from six to eighteen feet in height, enjoys with it the odious distinction of being the only plants growing in Maryland which are poisonous to the touch. Among the lesser climbers are : Virgin's bower (Clematis Vir- giniana, L.), moonseed (Menispermum Canadense, L.), climbing hempweed (Mikania scandens, L.), several species of morning-glory, and wild yam (Dioscorea villosa, L.). The greenbrier, of which there are three species common, renders in many places the shrubbery along streams difficult of passage. NATURAL HISTORY. 225 NATIVE SMALL FRUITS. The wild strawberry, blackberry, dewberry and raspberry are every- where plentiful. Three species of huckleberry, as many of blueberry and one of cranberry are found. The fruits are extensively used in the country districts, and dewberries, blackberries and huckleberries (by which name blueberries also are commonly known) are sent in consid- erable quantities to the Baltimore markets. They are for the most part free to any person who will take the trouble to gather them, and afford a welcome addition to the table, or to the income, of many persons throughout the State. When the forests are cleared away for the purposes of agriculture, new conditions are created and new plants make their appearance. Not only are the trees destroyed, but the plants that found a congenial home in their shade, perish, and others spring up which had previously kept aloof because of their love of sunshine. If a dozen square yards be cleared in the midst of a forest the flora of this small surface will quickly change. Even the fall of a tree will change the vegetation of the space opened lo the sunlight. The plants that avail themselves first of the new condition differ according to soil and situation. In the western part of the State the great willow herb (Epilobium angustifolium, L.) is one of the first comers ; in the rich woodlands of the Piedmont Region fireweed (Erechthites hieracifolia, Ret.) and wild lettuce (Lactuca Canadensis, L.) are characteristic. In the sandy portion of the Coastal Plain the trees are often succeeded, if the clearing be not promptly cultivated, by chinquapin bushes or dwarf oak. After a few years of careful cultivation these first weeds retire to the borders of the forest, the fence corners and other uncultivated spots. These are for the most part native plants, and are not generally the most troublesome weeds. The farmer's greatest difficulty is with weeds of foreign extraction, which have been intentionally or unintentionally brought into the country by the white man. Many of these are dependent upon man both for their dispersion and for the conditions necessary to their growth. They infest the yard, the garden, the grainfield, the meadow and the pasture, but do not spread generally in uncultivated regions. Some are brought into the country mingled with the seed of useful plants, others among the ballast of vessels. Over fifty species of foreign plants may be found growing upon the ballast heaps at Canton, some of which will doubtless spread to the neighboring fields and become established. During the colonial period, when foreign vessels unloaded in every navigable river and creek, many more centres of dispersion existed than at present, and hence the numerous " advents from Europe " which have become naturalized. 15 226 MARYLAND. Among the most troublesome foreigners in fields are Viper's bugloss (Echium vulgare, L.), Canada thistle (Cnicus arvensis, Hoffm.), ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, L.), wild carrot (Daucus carota, L.), lamb's quarter (Chenopodium album, L.), and bitter dock (Rumex obtusifolium, L.), from Europe. Among yard and garden pests may be mentioned common mallow (Malva rotundifolia, L.), curled dock (Rumex crispus, L.), common plantain (Plantago major, L.), ribgrass (Plantago lanceolata, L.), common purslane (Portulaca oleracea, L.) and burdock (Arctium lappa, L.), from Europe, pigweed (Amarantus retroflexus, L.) and Sida spinosa, L., from the tropics, and velvet-leaf (Abutilon Avicennse Gaertn.), from India. Corn cockle (Lychnis Githago, Lam.), is a native of Europe, and is especially troublesome in wheat fields, because it ripens its seeds at harvest time. The seeds are too near the grain in weight to be separated by fanning, and are therefore likely to be replanted with wheat in the fall. Among troublesome native weeds are ragweed and great ragweed (Ambrosia artemisisefolia, L. and A. trifida, L.), the latter very rank in rich river bottoms, several species of Erigeron known as horseweed, daisy fleabane, etc., Aster ericoides, L., beggai"-ticks (Bidens frondosa, L.), and Spanish needles (Bidens bipinnata, L.), the last two especially in corn fields. THE LARGER ORDERS. The Composite family (Compositse), is more largely represented in genera and species than any other, and probably also in individuals. In autumn especially they predominate, and Asters, Solidagos, Eupatoriums of many species, with many other genera, everywhere abound. The grasses (Gramineae), are not far behind Compositse in species, but they do not occupy so conspicuous a place in the landscape except when in cultivation. The sedges (Cyperaceae) come next, owing to the numerous species of Carex. This genus has a far greater number of species than any other growing in Maryland. It alone comprises two-thirds of the species of Cyperacese. The Pulse (Leguminosae), the Rose (Rosaceae) and mint (Labiatae), families are far more numerous in species than any except the three orders already mentioned. The Heath (Ericaceae), the Figwort (Scrophulariaceae), the Mustard (Crucif erae), the Fern (Filices), the Parsley (Umbelliferae), the Oak (Cupuliferae), the Orchis (Orchidaceae), the Lily (Liliaceae), the Crowfoot (Ranunculaceae), the Pink (Caryophyllaceae) and the Buckwheat (Polygonaceae) families rank next in this respect. SPECIALLY ATTRACTIVE FLOWERS OF SPRING, SUMMER AND AUTUMN. In the early spring the most beautiful flowers are found quite near the ground, which, in favored spots, they fairly carpet. Trailing arbutus NATURAL HISTORY. 227 (Epigea repens, L.); hepatica (Hepatica triloba, Chaix); spring beauty (Claytonia Virginica, L.) ; bluets (Houstonia cserulea, L.) ; violets of a dozen species, blue, white and yellow, obolaria (Obolaria Virginica, L.); dog- toothed violets (Erythroniutn Americanuna, Ker.) ; wild ginger (Asarum Canadense, L.) ; dentarias (Dentaria heterophylla, Nutt. and D. laciniata, Muhl.); rue anemone (Anenionella thalictroides, Spach.); bishop's cap (Mitella diphylla, L.) ; Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra Cucullaria, DC), a name which one feels ashamed to apply to this most delicate and beautiful little flower ; wind flower (Anemone nemorosa, L.), and wild pink (Silene Pennsylvania, Michx.), are all low-growing plants flowering in early spring. Mertensia (Mertensia Virginica, D C.) ; wild columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis, L.j ; wild cranesbill (Geranium maculatum, L.) ; azalea, or wild honeysuckle (Rhododendron nudiflorum, Torr.), as it is sometimes called ; polemonium (P. reptans, L.) ; Indian cucumber root (Medeola Virginiana, L.), and spiderwort (Tradescantia Virginica, L.), bring us to the end of spring. Among summer flowers worthy of special mention, are the fringe- tree (Chionanthus Virginica, L.) ; swamp honeysuckle (Rhododendron viscosum, Torr.) ; staggerbush (Andromeda Mariana, L.) ; goat's rue (Tephrosia Virginiana, Pers.) ; wild roses, pyrolas and chimaphilas, part- ridge-berry (Mitchella repens, L.), growing in such profusion in some places as to cover the ground and to scent the air, for some distance ; nine-bark (Physocarpus opulif olius, Maxim.); goat's beard (Spirsea Aruncus, L.), numerous species of Desmodium and Lespedeza, the most plentiful wood flowers in midsummer ; the American laurel (Kalmia angustifolia, L.), forming thickets on hillsides and densely covered with blossoms ; meadow beauty (Rhexia Virginica and R. Mariana, L.); great laurel (Rhododendron maximum, L.), most beautiful of mountain flowers ; kosteletzkya (K. Virginica, Gray); sabbatias (S. angularis, S. stellaris and S. chloroides, Pursh) ; sweet-pepper bush (Clethra alnifolia, L.) ; magnolia (M. glauca, L.); monarda (ML didyma, L.), etc. The autumn flora is largely composed of Compositae, but the gerardias, gentians and lobelias will also attract attention. The fringed gentian (Gentiana crinita, Froel.), is probably the most beautiful of fall flowers. The golden-rods (Solidago), take the lead among the Compositae. The dogwood, the holly (Ilex opaca, Ait. and I. verticillata, Gray), and other trees or shrubs are covered with red berries, which are attractive to the eye of man and to the palate of many birds. PLANTS OP PECULIAR HABITS. Three genera are found within our own limits which have the most peculiar of habits, that of capturing insects. Two of these, sundew (Drosera) and bladderwort (Utricularia) feed upon the prey captured. 228 MARYLAND. This is probably the case with the pitcher-plant also, but the fact has not been so clearly demonstrated. Sarracenia (pitcher-plant) and Drosera grow upon the borders of marshes. Utricularia is a water or marsh plant. Sarracenia captures its prey in the so-called pitchers, which are constantly kept half full of water, into which insects fall and being unable to escape perish. The pitchers appear to be formed by a union of the outer maigins of the leaves, but upon closer examination they are found to be specially modified petioles. A rosette of such leaves surrounds each flower-stalk at its base. The flower-stalk of sundew is provided with a circle of leaves around the margins of which are rows of tentacles. At the extremity of each tentacle is a small drop of a mucilaginous substance, which has somewhat the appearance of a drop of honey and glistens in the sun like dew. Upon the approach of a small insect so as to touch one of these tentacles it is held by the sticky substance, and the remaining tentacles are one after the other bent over and fasten it more securely. Finally the leaf folds over it transversely and remains in this position until all the substance of the insect that is required by the plant is absorbed, when leaf and tentacles resume their normal position. Bladderworts, at least those that are insectivorous, float in the water and are provided with bladders on the dissected leaves. The bladders are constructed on the principles of an eel-pot, easy to enter and almost impossible of egress. In these bladders small aquatic creatures are captured in large numbers and afford nourishment to the plant. Eel grass or wild celery (Vallisneria spiralis) is a plant which grows in several feet of water in the tide regions. It is fastened by its roots at the bottom of the water, and the sterile flowers are borne on short stalks which remain submerged. The fertile flowers are borne on long stalks spirally coiled, so that they may be lengthened or shortened by loosening or tightening the coil. At the time of blooming the sterile flowers break from their stalks, float to the surface and shed their pollen upon the water, which brings it into contact with the pistils of the fertile flowers, whose stalks are lengthened so that they are always kept at the surface by the loosening or tightening of the coll as the tide rises or falls. When fertilization has been secured, the coil tightens permanently and the seeds are ripened under water. The root of this plant is the favorite food of the canvas-back and is said to give its flesh the delicate flavor for which this duck is so highly prized in this region. Utricularia inflata, one of the bladderworts above mentioned, has the further peculiarity of raising the flower stalk above the water on five or six inflated leaf petioles arranged like a tripod. On these stalks are borne several pretty yellow flowers, for which reason they have been given the not inappropriate name of water-candles. NATURAL HISTORY. 229 Among parasitic plants are sweet pine-sap (Schweinitzia odorata, Ell.) parasitic on the roots of herbs, found near Baltimore and Cumberland ; Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora, L.) on roots, pine-sap (Monotropa Hypopitys, Bart.) on the roots of beech trees, dodder (Cuscuta) on the bark of herbs and trees, and American misletoe (Phoradendron flavescens, Nutt.) with us principally on the sour gum (Nyssa). SHORE AND WATER PLANTS. In the waters of the bay and navigable rivers are found many species of water plants growing in some situations in such numbers as to impede the passage of boats. They are principally Potamogetons of different species and Anacharis. Water chinquapin (Nelumbo lutea, Pers.), the largest flowered of our native plants, is found in some of the rivers emptying into the Potomac. Water lily (Nymphgea odorata, Ait.), yellow pond-lily (Nuphar advena, Ait. f.), water-shield (Brasenia peltata, Pursh), ditch-grass (Ruppia maritima, L.), and horned pond-weed (Zannichellia palustris, L.) grow in shallow water or in ponds. The shores of the bay in many places are eaten into by the waves, causing masses of earth to fall, which are gradually removed by the water, leaving the bank again exposed to the encroachments of the waves. That this process is not everywhere more destructive is due to the protection afforded by plants which love a situation where their roots are daily covered by water. These are mainly certain grasses and sedges. Where a mass of sod has been formed by the densely matted roots of these plants, the waves beat upon them in vain, and the destruc- tion of land at such points ceases. If part of the sod be washed away by a more than commonly violent storm, the damage is repaired by the vigorous growth of the next season. By their aid not only is the shore protected in exposed places, but in sheltered places the land reclaims what has been taken from it at unprotected exposed points. At the point beyond which the highest tide seldom reaches, highwater shrub (Iva frutescens, L.) and groundsel-tree (Baccharis halimifolia, L.) are found. In some places the waters throw back what they have taken from the land elsewhere in sand heaps, which are seized by the roots of plants, held firmly against wind and water, and gradually converted into tillable land. Many instances of these contests between waves and plants (for the land itself is passive) may be found on the shores of the bay and its tributaries. In passing over such new-made land from the new to the old shore, the vegetation is found arrayed in ranks. The shore-protecting or land-reclaiming plants are in advance, the land in their rear being given up to other plants to which it has become by their action adapted, and these following the advance guard will surrender the soil behind them, or landward, in succession to others. 230 MARYLAND. Several orders deserve special treatment by reason of their more general utility or beauty. The Orchid, the Grass and the Fern families have been selected. Orchids are usually associated with the tropics, and ferns are also found in greater luxuriance and variety in warm climates. The grass family is probably the most generally useful of all orders of plants. Their usefulness is by no means limited to the food material they supply to man and beast. ORCHIDS (OECHIDACEjE). Thirty species of the Orchid family have been reported in Maryland. They are all terrestrial, and twelve of the seventeen genera described in Gray's Manual are represented. The most conspicuous are the lady's slippers, of which we have four species : Cypripedium acaule, Ait., C. pubescens, Willd., C. parvifioruin, Salisb., and C. spectabile, Swartz. The first, the purple lady's slipper, grows plentifully in pine woods, the second, large yellow lady's slipper, is less plentiful and much more attractive, the third, small yellow lady's slipper, is still more rare, and the fourth, showy white lady's slipper, is the most beautiful, and among the rarest of our plants. Calopogon pulchella, R. Br. and Pogonia ophio- glossoides, Muhl., rank next to the last mentioned in beauty. Pogonia verticillata, Nutt., has a rather large flower, which is rendered incon- spicuous by its want of bright color. The genus Habenaria is represented by ten species; H. ciliaris, R. Br., yellow-fringed orchis, H. blephariglottis, Torr., white-fringed orchid, and H. peramoena, Gray, of violet-purple color, have attractive flower clusters. The others are not striking, except H. orbiculata, Torr. whose leaves, (eight inches in diameter), spread flat upon the ground, with shining upper and silvery under surface, render the plant a conspicuous object in wooded regions among the mountains. Goodyera pubescens, R. Br., is everywhere plentiful, and G. repens, R. Br., is not scarce in the mountains. Of the species of Spiranthes, ladies' tresses, S. gracilis, Big., is found in dry situations, S. cernua, Richard, in wet places inland, and S. prsecox, Watson, in wet grassy places near the shore of tide-water. Liparis liliifolia, Richard, is not rare in rich woods. Orchis spectabilis, L., is quite plentiful. Microstylis ophioglossoides, Nutt., is small, deli- cate and graceful. The species of Corallorhiza, Tipularia discolor, Nutt. and Aplectrum hyemale, Nutt., are inconspicuous by reason of dull colors, and the last two are more easily found in fall or winter by the leaf, which is absent in the flowering season. GRASSES (GRAMINEiE). Of grasses growing spontaneously in Maryland, there are about fifty genera, and considerably upward of a hundred species. It is needless to speak of the importance to man of the cultivated species as food, both NATURAL HISTORY. 231 for himself and for his domestic animals. Agriculture very largely con- sists in the raising of grasses, wheat, rye, oats and Indian corn for the grain, and timothy, orchard grass, redtop, and others for hay. Many grasses growing without cultivation also afford excellent cattle food, in either a green or dried condition. There are found species peculiar to every situation, on sterile or rich soil, damp or dry, in meadows or forests. To discuss fully the agricultural aspects alone of the grasses would require a volume. A few only can he mentioned for the special points of interest that they possess. Reed (Phragmites communis, Trin.) is the tallest of our grasses, reaching a height of twelve feet. Its large terminal panicle renders it one of the most beautiful. Of no value as food for animals, it has been utilized elsewhere in many ways ; the reeds for thatching and as shafts for arrows, the panicle as a dye. It is described as "one of nature's most valuable colonists, and is largely concerned in the gradual conver- sion of swamps and fens, stagnant pools and other unwholesome spots where water accumulates, into dry land." This process may be seen in operation within a few miles of Baltimore. Indian rice (Zizania aquatica, L.) is another tall grass, growing on the swampy borders of streams and in shallow water. Of this plant Captain John Smith says : " Mattoume groweth as our bents do in meddows. The seede is not much unlike to rie, though much smaller. This they (the Indians) use for a dainty bread, buttered with deare suet." According to Vasey, it is still gathered by the Indians in Minnesota and the northwest for food. Reed-birds resort to it in great numbers when the seeds are ripe, and many are killed by gunners, who stand in boats which they push slowly through the grass. This sport is extensively practised on the Patapsco, near Baltimore. The bobolink as he migrates northward in spring, is little noticed by sportsmen, but when he returns in the fall, in sober plumage, and is fattened on Indian rice, he becomes under the name of reed-bird a much prized game. Sea sand-grass (Ammophila arundinacea, Host.) is one of the most remarkable of grasses. Its services to man on sandy seashores have been incalculably valuable. Many square miles of agricultural land have been preserved by it, in England, Scotland and Holland, from destruction by the drifting sand. "It is common on the sea coast," says the author of "British Grasses," " establishing itself among the loose drifting sand, its extensive creeping roots have an amazing power in binding together the loose material of its home, and thus forming out of useless drifting sand a firm bank against the encroachments of the sea. So well was its value appreciated in the olden times that acts of Parliament were issued, first in Scotland and then in England also, forbidding any person' to molest or injure the sea matweed on pain of 232 MARYLAND. heavy fines and penalties." "The town of Provincetown, once called Cape Cod, where the pilgrims first landed, and its harbor, still called the harbor of Cape Cod, one of the best and most important in the United States, sufficient in depths for ships of the largest size and in extent to anchor three thousand vessels at once," says Flint, " owe their preser- vation to this grass." Though its services, happily, are not needed on a large scale in Maryland, a knowledge of what it has done elsewhere cannot but give us an increased respect for this member of our flora. Bermuda grass (Cynodon Dactylon, Pers.), with its low or prostrate, diffusely branching stems, which root freely at the joints, is our most common binder of sand. The shores are protected against waves by salt reed-grass (Spartina juncea, Willd.), salt marsh-grass (S. stricta, Roth.), spike grass (Distichlis maritima, Raf.), Panicum proliferum, Lam., and by several sedges, principally of the genus Scirpus (bulrush). The small cane (Arundinaria macrosperma, Michx., var. suffruticosa, Munro) is found in great abundance in certain limited areas of sandy marsh land in inland situations. The canebrakes are not numerous, but where one occurs the plants grow close together in such numbers as to exclude other vegetation. The leaves remain through the milder winters, the plant being destroyed only by very severe weather. A succession of mild winters enables it to attain a much greater size than usual. Among grasses whose value as food for cattle is well recognized are sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum, L.), which gives to new- mown hay its delicious fragrance, Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis, L.), meadow fescue (Festuca elatior, L.) and rye-grass (Lolium perenne, L.). Many other grasses are eaten by cattle at some stage of their growth. Some of the grasses that are troublesome in cultivated grounds, and, therefore, known as weeds, are crab grass (Panicum sanguinale, L.), barnyard grass (Panicum crus-galli, L.), foxtail (Setaria glauca, Beauv.), in corn-fields, green fox-tail (S. viridis, Beauv.), bur grass (Cenchrus tribuloides, L.), dropseed (Muhlenbergia diffusa, Schreber), wire grass (Eleusine Indica, Gaertn.) and cheat (Bromus secalinus, L.), among wheat. Several species of Andropogon, the sedge of old sedge-fields, poverty- grass (Aristida dichotoma, Michx.\ Panicum depauperatum, Muhl., wild oat grass (Danthonia spicata, Beauv.) and Festuca tenella, Willd, are indicative of very sterile soil. In dry situations are found Aira caryophyllea, L., Deschampsia flexuosa, Trim, Danthonia sericea, Nutt., Triodia cuprea, Jacq. The principal grasses of sandy fields are : Paspalum setaceum, Michx.; Panicum filiforme, L. ; Aristida gracilis, Ell. ; Sporobolus asper, Kunth ; Eragrostis capillaris, Nees, and Uniola gracilis, Michx. ; Paspalum laeve, Michx.; P. Floridanum, Michx.; Panicum crusgalli, L., var. hispidum ; Leersia Virginica, Willd.'; L. oryzoides, Swartz ; Erianthus saccharoides, NATURAL HISTORY. 233 Michx. ; Phalaris arundinacea, L. ; Trisetum palustre, Torr. ; Glyceria Can- adensis, Trin. ; and G. obtusa, Trin, grow in wet or marshy places. The most common wood grasses are : Stipa avenacea, L. ; Mnhlenbergia sylvatica, T. and G. ; M. Willdenovii, Trin.; Brachyelytrum aristatum, Beauv. ; Elymus striatus, Willd. var. villosus, Gray; and Asprella Hystrix, Willd. FEENS (PILICES). In that part of the United States which lies east of the^Mississippi, and north of Tennessee and North Carolina, the region of Gray's Manual, there are found twenty-one genera and sixty-two species of ferns. Of these, seventeen genera and thirty species are known to occur in Mary- land. The greater number are found in shaded situations, many upon rocks, some in damp thickets, others in swamps, and but one, and that the rarest, cliff-brake (Pellasa atropurpurea, Link.) in dry exposed places upon the mortar of old walls or on calcareous rocks. On rocks principally in woods may be found the common polypody (Polypodium vulgare, L.) in great abundance. The fronds remain green during the winter, as do those of Aspidium marginale, Swartz, and A. acrostichoides, Swartz (the Christmas fern\ which grow abundantly in rocky woods, but are not confined to rocks. Cheilanthes vestita, Swartz, Asplenium montanum, Willd., A. Tri- chomanes, L., Woodsia obtusa, Torr. and Cystopteris fragilis, Bernh., grow on shaded cliffs, by preference from the clefts in the rock. The walking fern (Camptosorus rhizophyllus, Link.), grows on mossy rocks. Tn woods among rocks are also found Adianturn pedatum, L., (maiden- hair), and Asplenium ebeneum, Ait. In rich, damp situations in woods may be found Asplenium angustifolium, Michx., A. Filix-foemina, Bernh., Phegopteris hexagonoptera, Fee., Aspidium spinulosum, Swartz, var. in- termedium, D. C. Eaton, A. Goldianum, Hook., and Dicksonia pilosiuscula, Willd. Asplenium thelypteroides, Michx. is generally found in shaded spots. Pteris aquilina, L., and Osmunda Claytoniana, L., prefer damp places, but are able to exist in quite dry situations. Lygodium palmatum, Swartz, (climbing fern), the most beautiful of our ferns, grows in moist thickets and climbs by twining. Onoclea sensi- bilis, L., and Aspidium Noveboracense, Swartz, are found in most thickets or meadows. In swamps or on their borders, grow Woodwardia Virginica, Smith, W. angustifolia, Smith, Aspidium Thelypteris, Swartz, A. cristatum, Swartz, Osmunda regal.is, L., and O. cinnamomea, L. 234 MARYLAND. MEDICINAL PLANTS. The following is a list of medicinal plants growing in Maryland, classified according to parts used : Roots. Polygala senega, L. ; Saponaria officinalis, L. ; Taraxacum officinale, Weber; Chichorium Intybus, L. ; Inula Helenium, L. ; Arctium Lappa, L. ; Asclepias tuberosa, L. ; Apocynum cannabinum, L. ; Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, L. ; E. corollata, L. ; Angelica atropurpurea, L. ; Ipomoea pandurata, Meyer ; Phytolacca decandra, L. ; Heuchera Americana, L. ; Rumex crispus, L. ; Hydrangea arborescens, L. ; Apocynum androssemi- folium, L. ; Baptisia tinctoria, R. Br. ; Ceanothus Americanus, L. Rbizomes. Aspidium marginale, Willd. ; Acorus Calamus, L. ; Triticum repens, L. ; Veratrum viride, Ait. ; Symplocarpus f oetidus, Salis. ; Chamselirium luteum, Gray ; Iris versicolor, L. ; Aletris farinosa, L. ; Cypripedium pubescens, Willd. ; Polygonatum biflorum, Ell. ; P. gigan- teum, Dietrich ; Dioscorea villosa, L. ; Sanguinaria Canadensis, L. ; Geranium maculatum, L. ; Nymphsea odorata, Ait. ; Podophyllum peltatum, L.; Asclepias Cornuti, Decsne ; Aralia nudicaulis, L.; Aristolochia Serpen taria, L. ; Spigelia Marilandica, L. ; Asclepias incarnata, L. ; Caulo- phyllum thalictroides, Michx. ; Collinsonia Canadensis, L. ; Cimicifuga racemosa, Nutt. ; Gillenia trifoliata, Moench ; Triosteum perfoliatum, L. ; Aralia racemosa, L. ; Asarum Canadense, L. ; Menispermum Canadense, L. Tubers and bulbs. Arissema triphyllum, Torr. ; Dicentra Cana- densis, D C. Woods and twigs. Solanum Dulcamara, L.; Sassafras officinale, Nees. Barks. Cornus florida, L. ; Liriodendron Tulipif era, L. ; Magnolia glauca, L. ; Ilex verticillata, Gray; Primus serotina, Ehr. ; Salix alba, L. ; Hamamelis Virginiana, L. ; Viburnum prunifolium, L. ; Quercus alba, L. ; Quercus coccinea var. tinctoria, Gray ; Rubus villosus, Ait. ; Rubus Canadensis, L. ; Fraxinus Americana, L. ; Juglans cinerea, L. ; Xanthoxy- lum Americanum, Mill.; Myrica cerifera, L. ; Ulmus fulva, Michx.; Sassafras officinale, Nees. Leaves and leaflets. Epigsea repens, L. ; Kahnia latifolia, L. ; Cassia Marilandica, L. ; Datura Stramonium, L. ; Hamamelis Virginiana, L. ; Castanea sativa, Mill., var. Americana; Ilex opaca, Ait.; Chimaphila umbellata, JSTutt. ; Gaultheria procumbens, L. ; Myrica asplenifolia, Endl. ; Rhus Toxicodendron, L. Herbs. Adiantum pedatum, L. ; Ranunculus bulbosus, L. ; Chelido- nium majus, L. ; Capsella Bursa pastoris, Moench; Helianthemum Canadense, Michx. ; Hypericum perforatum, L. ; Agrimonia Eupatoria, L. ; Potentilla Canadensis, L. ; OEnothera biennis, L. ; Epilobium angusti- folium, L. ; Viola tricolor, L. ; Drosera rotundifolia, L. ; Eupatorium perfoliatum, L. ; Erigeron Philadelphicus, L. ; Erigeron annuus, Pers. ; Erigeron strigosus, Muhl; Erigeron Canadensis, L. ; Solidago odora, Ait.; NATURAL HISTORY. 235 Helenium autumnale, L. ; Anthemis cotula, L. ; Achillea Millefolium, L. ; Gnaplialium polycephaluin, Michx.; Lobelia inflata, L. ; Epiphegus Virginiana, Barton ; Scrophularia nodosa, L., var. Marilandica, Gray ; Chelone glabra, L.; Mentha piperita, L. ; M. viridis, L. ; Lycopus Virgini- cus, L.; Cunila Mariana, L. ; Hedeoma pulegioides, Pers. ; Melissa ofn- cinalis, L. ; Monarda punctata, L. ; Nepeta Cataria, L. ; N. Glechoma Benth., Scutellaria lateriflora, L. ; Leonorus Cardiaca, L. ; Plantago lan- ceolata, L. ; P. major, L. ; Mitohella repens, L. ; Galium Aparine, L.; Sabbatia angularis, Pursh. Leafy Tops. Juniperus Virginiana, L. Flowers and Petals. Tilia Americana, L. ; Malva sylvestris, L. ; Sambucus Canadensis, L. Fruits. Morus rubra, L. ; Humulus Lupulus, L. ; Rosa canina, L. j Rhus glabra, L. ; Cannabis sativa, L. ; Diospyros Virginiana, L.; Cheno- podium ambrosioides, L., var. anthelminticum, Gray ; Arctium Lappa, L. Seeds. Delphinium Consolida, L.; Datura Stramonium, L. THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS OP MARYLAND. As the natural formation of Maryland possesses such varied charac- teristics, presenting, as it does, a gradual transition from the mountains of the western part of the State to the low-lying and swampy shores of the Chesapeake, we naturally And a diversified and interesting fauna. The Chesapeake, which has so bountifully endowed the State with valuable industrial resources, and given the Maryland kitchen an unri- valled renown, furnishes in its water-fowl the most interesting and characteristic feature of the terrestrial fauna. Our ducks are the same birds that are seen on Hudson's Bay and the northern lakes. Following the edge of winter along the Atlantic coast, they appear in the Chesapeake in great numbers. The great beds of wild celery in the shallow waters of the bay and its tributaries are their favorite feeding grounds, and it is here that their flesh acquires its greatest delicacy and best flavor. The canvas-back, prized alike by the bon-vivant and the sportsman, is the most sought after and widely known of all our ducks. Among other ducks which make the waters of Maryland their winter home, may be mentioned red-heads, bald-pates, mallards, black-heads and teal. All these are found in great numbers, and are highly valued for the table. Swans, and geese of several species, also abound, and although they are wild and difficult to approach, yet they afford most excellent shoot- ing. There are various ways of shooting ducks on the Chesapeake and its adjacent waters. Sportsmen, as a rule, shoot from "blinds" and use decoys, while the market gunners prefer the "sink-boat," a sort of float- ing blind, or the nefarious and unlawful "night-reflector." A " blind" is 236 MARYLAND. any sort of artificial concealment placed somewhere within a hundred yards of the shore — further than this the law forbids. It is generally- stationed in comparatively shallow water, and the place selected is preferably one where wild celery is growing on the bottom, for then it is sure to be a feeding ground for the ducks. The wooden decoys are anchored in front of the "blind" at a distance of about thirty yards, and are well calculated to deceive any passing flock or "bunch" of ducks. Often the "blind" is "baited" by scattering in its vicinity a quantity of corn or some other kind of grain. The ducks are sure to find this, and will come to the spot to feed as long as the grain lasts. On the Chesa- peake ducks are often shot in great numbers from points, bars or bridges as they fly over. Another method of shooting ducks, which is occasionally practised, is called " toling." A spot is selected where the bottom slopes off somewhat abruptly, for the birds will not approach near to the shore except by swimming. The gunner, on observing ducks "bedded" some distance from the shore, conceals himself, and causes a well-trained dog, which should be of a red-dirt color, to gambol before him, by throwing the animal chips of wood or bits of bread, which he catches in his mouth. The ducks, attracted by the antics of the dog and overcome by curiosity, cautiously approach the spot, and frequently pay the penalty for their temerity. A bright red cloth waved on the end of a pole will often have the same effect. The practise of " toling " was undoubtedly derived from the Indians, who imitated a habit of the fox. This cunning animal has been observed to resort to a similar ruse to attract and capture young ducks. The ducking shores of the Chesapeake, which are often used as fishing shores in summer, are as a rule owned by wealthy citizens. Some are leased to clubs, but most are private property and very carefully guarded. The reed-bird, which is accounted such a delicacy throughout the country, is found in great abundance in Maryland. This familiar bird has various names, being known as the bobolink, meadow-wink or skunk blackbird in the Northern States, and the reed-bird in the Middle States, while in the South it is called the rice-bird, from its habit of feeding on wild rice. In the West Indies, where this bird spends its winters, it is known as the butter-bird. The name "ortolan," which is. of ten applied by restaurateurs to the reed-bird as well as to the rail, is a curious misnomer. The ortolan is a European bird, and belongs to an entirely different family, that of the finches and sparrows. In the spring the reed-bird passes north to breed, spreading over the Middle and Northern States. It is then that the males assume their gay dress of black, white and buff, and fill the meadows with their wild delirious song. Early in NATURAL HISTORY. 237 the fall they begin to moult, and finally assume the sombre plumage of the females. The birds now start on their southern journey, feeding and growing fat on wild oats and rice as they go, and thronging the marshes in immense flocks in company with the blackbirds. In the months of autumn the swamps along the Chesapeake and its estuaries are literally alive with these little birds, which are shot in great numbers for the market. The partridge, called quail in the North and West, but univer- sally known as "bobwhite," is met with all over Maryland. It is the characteristic game bird of this country, and in the eyes of the sportsman is a paragon of game qualities. The law of the State wisely allows the birds to be shot only from November 1 to February 1, but in the open season good partridge shooting can be had, especially in the lower counties. Among other game birds which are to be found in Maryland, are wood-cock, ruffed grouse, known here and further south as the " phea- sant," snipe, plover, and the sora or Carolina rail. The wild turkey is occasionally shot in the mountainous counties. Almost every family of North American birds is represented in the State by numerous species. In addition to the birds already referred to, may be mentioned thrushes, wrens, warblers, swallows, sparrows, black- birds, fly-catchers, the whip-poor-will and night hawk, the chimney- swift, the ruby-throated humming bird, the kingfisher, American cuckoos, woodpeckers, numerous varieties of owls and hawks, the wild dove, and the American vulture, or turkey buzzard. The common American crow is very abundant; the "roosts" of this bird are of enormous extent, frequently covering several acres. The " Baltimore oriole" is dear to the heart of every Marylander. Gayly attired in orange and black, it is familiarly associated in the minds of Marylanders with the gold and black colors of this State. It is not nearly so numerous as it used to be, and several years ago, when it was in danger of being exterminated at the hands of curiosity-hunters, stringent laws were passed for its protection. Shooting, catchiDg or killing of this beautiful little bird is absolutely prohibited, and even destruction or molestation of its nests is a punishable offense. Of mammals quite a large number are to be found in Maryland. The mountains contain deer, and the black bear is occasionally seen in the westernmost counties. Ground-hogs, commonly known as " wood- chucks," rabbits, weasels, skunk, several varieties of mice, minks, otters, musk-rats, moles, opossums and four species of squirrels abound. The wildcat, or " catamount," is still common in the least settled regions. Various kinds of harmless snakes are innumerable, especially the common black snake, which often grows to a length of five or six feet. Two venomous snakes occur, the copperhead, in the half cultivated 238 MAKYLAND. districts, and the rattlesnake in the mountainous. The latter, despite all efforts to exterminate it, breeds with remarkable rapidity. In the summer it comes down into the valleys, where it is much dreaded. But being sluggish and timid, and giving its warning rattle when approached, it is much less to be feared than the more active and malicious copper- head, which attacks without warning. The black snake is its worst enemy, and always comes off victorious. In this meagre account of the terrestrial fauna an attempt has been made to give prominence to the more characteristic and inter- esting animals of the State, as well as to convey some idea of the variety and numbers of the more important animals. CHAPTER VII. FISH AND FISHERIES. KeMk S^ a - THE FISHERIES OP MARYLAND. No other State in the Union has, in proportion to its area, a coast line so extensive as that of Maryland, and more persons are supported in Maryland by capturing and preparing the products of the water than in any other State. The fisheries are our most characteristic industry, and while it is said that there is one State in which the capital invested in the fisheries and the cash value of their product are greater, we are by far the fore- most State in our opportunities for improving and extending our fisheries. The most valuable and important marine productions of Maryland are of such a nature that they may be multiplied indefinitely by man, and in this our State stands pre-eminent and offers unrivalled opportunities for the investment of capital and for the wise application of a knowledge of nature. While Maryland may well be proud of the bounties which nature has lavished upon her, she has even greater reason to boast of the opportunities which nature has given her for increasing these bounties by human industry and intelligence. It is not our purpose to write a natural history of the State, and the space must be devoted to a few of the most important and characteristic inhabitants of our waters, and to a simple untechnical account of their life, showing their capacity for improvement by human influences. We shall deal little with statistics of the past, as our chief interest is in the possibilities of the future. THE SHAD. The first place must be. given to that most delicate and delicious food fish, the shad, as this will lead us at once into a field where man's dominion over nature is already established ; for we shall show that the shad is already, in a certain sense, a domestic animal and that our fisheries to-day owe their existence to the intelligence and knowledge of nature, which have enabled man to keep up the supply by artificial means. 240 MARYLAND. The fully grown shad is an inhabitant of the open ocean, but each spring these fishes visit our shores, enter our inlets and bays, and make their way up to the fresh water, where they deposit their eggs. The supply for the market is caught during the spring migration, when the fishes enter our inland waters heavy and fat after their winter feast upon the abundant food which they find in the ocean. As they spend most of the year gathering up and converting into the substance of their own bodies the minute marine organisms which would other- wise be of no value to man, and as their instincts compel them to bring back to our very doors this great addition to our food supply, and thus to put at our service avast fertile area of the ocean, which, without their aid, would be beyond our control and of no service to man, their economic importance is very great. In the year 1880 the fisheries census, and special investigations under the direction of the U. S. Fish Commission, showed that there had been a most rapid and alarming decline in the value of the shad fisheries in the rivers, bays and sounds of our Atlantic coast, and that there was reason to fear that in a few years the shad would cease to be of any value as a fish supply. The fishermen fully recognized the danger and were loud in their demands for laws to restrict other fishermen who, they held, were causing the decline by improper ways of fishing. The fishermen of the interior complained of the fishermen further down along the shores of the salt-water bays and sounds, where the fishes were captured in pounds and weirs, far away from their spawning grounds. They believed that legislation alone could save the fisheries, and that if these obstructions were prohibited by law, and all the shad were permitted to reach fresn water before they were captured, enough eggs would be deposited to keep up the supply, but that the destruction of such numbers in salt water must necessarily result in extermination. This seemed to fresh-water fishermen to be good logic, but the salt- water fishermen took a different view of* the matter. They wanted more legislation themselves, but of a different sort, and they claimed that what was needed was protection for the shad upon the spawning grounds. They said that they themselves furnished most of the shad for the market; that without them the cities could not be supplied, and that enough shad escaped their nets and reached fresh water to supply all the eggs that were needed, if they could be left to lay their eggs in peace. There seemed to be good sense in this view also, and as in the end- less controversies between the oyster dredgers and the oyster tongmen, it was difficult for a disinterested outsider to tell who was right. The only thing which seemed clear was that the shad were growing scarce, FISH AND FISHERIES. 241 and that if the Legislature did not do something to protect them, they would soon be exterminated. In 1888 more shad were caught in salt water than were caught altogether in 1880, and yet the shad fisheries are now increasing in value from year to year, and this change has been brought about, not by the enactment of laws to restrict the fishery, but by the production of more fishes. In 1880 the U. S. Fish Commission began, systematically and upon a large scale, the work of collecting the eggs from the bodies of the shad which were captured for the market in the nets of the fishermen. These eggs were artificially fertilized and the young were kept for a short time in hatching jars, and the waste of eggs was thus prevented. This work has been prosecuted steadily ever since, and the results, up to the end of the season of 1888, are given in the following table: In Salt and Percentage of in- Brackish Water. In Rivers. Total. crease over 1880. 1880 2,549,544 1,591,424 4,140,968 1885 3,267,497 1,906,434 5,172,931 25 per cent. 1886.. 3,098,768 2,485,000 5,584,368 34 1887 3,813,714 2,901,661 6,715,405 62 1888 5,010,101 2,650,373 7,660,474 85 The money value to the fishermen of the excess in 1888 over the total catch of 1880 was more than $700,000. We have no record for 1889 or 1890, but in the latter year the fisheries were more profitable than they have been for many years, and our markets were stocked with an abundance of fine shad, which were sold at prices which ten years before would not have been thought possible. The percentage of increase in 1889 and 1890 has been much greater than it was in any of the years given in the table, and this result is not due to any change in the method of fishing. It is exclusively due to the increase in the supply. The conditions are now more unfavorable than ever to natural reproduction, and it can be proved that if no shad had been produced by man, while the other factors had remained as they now are, the fisheries would be completely ruined and abandoned. The mature fishes are now excluded by dams and other obstructions from the most valuable spawning-grounds, and the area which is now available is restricted to the lower reaches of the rivers, where there is little proper food for the young, and where the bottoms are so continually and assiduously swept by drift nets and seines that each fish is surely captured soon after its arrival. The number of eggs which are naturally deposited is now very small, for while the spawning-grounds have increased from 1,600,000 to 2,600,000, the take in salt water has increased from 2,500,000 to 5,000,000, and the shores of our bays and sounds are now so lined by fyke nets and pounds that the number of shad which 16 242 MARYLAND. reacli the spawning-grounds at all is proportionately much less than it was in 1880, and more shad are now taken each year in salt water, where spawning is impossible, than were taken altogether in 1880. This fact, rightly considered, means that the shad is now an artificial product, like the crops of grain and fruit which are harvested on our farms and orchards. If more shad than the natural supply were taken in 1880 in all waters, and if still greater numbers are now taken each year in deep water, before they reach the spawning-ground, it follows that we are now entirely dependent upon the artificial supply. No animal on earth or in the ocean large enough to be valuable as human food can long survive the attacks of an enemy who brings against it the resources, the destructive weapons, and the intelligence of civil- ized man. Fortunately, the resources which render man the most irre- sistible of enemies, also enable him to become a producer as well as a destroyer; and while the fear of him and the dread of him is upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air, and upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; while they are all delivered into his hands, and are powerless to resist him ; he alone is able to make good his ravages by agriculture, and by domesti- cation, by the selection and improvement of animals and plants, and by artificial propagation. In some respects the shad is the most remarkable of domesticated animals, for it is the only one which man has as yet learned to rear and to send out into the ocean in great flocks and herds to pasture upon its abundance, and to come back again, fat and nutritious, to the place from which it was sent out. From this point of view the maintenance of the shad fishery by man, by the use of artificial means, is one of the most notable triumphs of human intelligence over nature. As the shad is a marine fish which does its eating at sea, and as its visits to fresh water are only for the purpose of reproductioD, the numbers which make their way up our rivers are out of all proportion to the capacity of the streams for furnishing them with food. When they visit our coast in the spring they enter the mouths of the rivers in great schools, and travel up them to a most surprising distance ; the total length of the journey from the sea to the spawning ground and back again, which is made almost or quite without food, often exceeding a thousand miles. Many of them, and among these the largest fishes, go on and on until they meet with some insurmountable obstacle, such as a waterfall or dam, or until they reach the sources of the river. Before dams were built in the Susquehanna river, many of the shad which entered the FISH AND FISHERIES. 243 Chesapeake Bay at the Capes continued their long fasting journey across Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania into the State of New York, and travelled through more than five hundred miles of inland waters before they reached their journey's end. Near the New York line fragments of Indian pottery, stamped with the impression of the shad's backbone, have been found, and the numbers of stone net-sinkers which have been picked up in the Wyoming valley show that the Indians had known and used these shad fisheries long before the first white settlers found them there at work with their rude seines. In the early part of this century, before the construction of canals and the dams which supply them with water, there were forty perma- nent fishing stations in the northern half of Pennsylvania, beyond the forks of the Susquehanna at Northumberland, and some of them were worth from $1,000.00 to $1,200.00 a year to their owners, at a time when a dollar represented very much more value then it does to-day. At one of these fisheries at Fish Island, near Wilkes-Barre, there is a record, which seems to be trustworthy, of the capture of ten thousand shad at a single haul. Most of these shad were salted and sold to the farmers, who came from fifty miles around to barter their farm products and the salt from central New York for their winter's supply of fish. Dams across the river have cut off this valuable fishery from more than two hundred miles of the course of the Susquehanna river, and the profitable fisheries now reach for only a few miles above the boundary of Maryland. The impulse which directs this wonderful journey and brings back from the ocean a marine fish like the shad and guides it on its long path through the rivers and far up into the interior of the country is most wonderful. To it the value of the shad to man is due ; but our interest in it as a phenomenon of nature is quite independent of its economic importance, and we now have, through the researches of the naturalists of the United States Fish Commission, and especially those of Marshal McDonald, the commissioner, an insight into its causes, and while much still remains to be explained, we can now give a satisfactory explana- tion of most of the facts. The subject has given rise to much speculation, but this has usually been based upon such scanty and erroneous information that it has little value. Each fish has generally been believed to go back to its own birth-place, and to enter our water on a definite journey to some specific little shoal or to the sandy shore of a particular stream. This may be true of some migratory fishes, but there is evidence that it is not true of the shad. When young shad from the Atlantic were first placed in the Sacramento river they were expected to find their way 244 MARYLAND. back into this river on their return as mature fish from the Pacific ocean. While many of them did return to this river, others made their appear- ance in considerable numbers in other rivers in which no young ones had ever been placed, and they have continued to spread further and further northward each year on the Pacific coast, until they are now found in every river between the Sacramento and Puget Sound, although there are no native shad in the Pacific. In our own waters a fishery which is very productive one year may yield very few shad another year, and a stream which they enter in great numbers one season may be almost completely passed by another season. When the harvest of shad is unusually abundant in the Potomac river it is below the average in the Susquehanna, and a season of exceptional abundance in the Susquehanna river is a season of comparative scarcity in the Potomac. These facts prove that the shad is not brought back to its birthplace by any unerring instinct of locality, but that the exact source of its migration is determined by external influences ; and there has been much speculation as to the character of these influences. It has been suggested that the fishes are urged by an instinct which causes them to swim against the current, and that when they feel the outflow from the mouth of a river they turn in and are thus led up and up the stream ; but the outward current is so slight in the wide mouths of the bays and sounds of our southern coast that it is completely lost in the ebb and flow of the tide. It has also been suggested that the shad are led by their fondness for fresh water; but the return to the sea of both the old shad and the young ones is part of the migration. The tendency to seek fresh water is undoubtedly connected in some way with the reproductive instinct, but we cannot believe that it is in itself enough to map out a definite path ; and while the shad do not usually seek fresh water until the season for reproduction, there is one instructive exception to this rule, for the shad enter the St. John's river, in Florida, in November, or several months before the spawning season, which is not very much earlier in that river than it is on the tributaries of the Chesapeake Bay. McDonald has made a careful study of the habits of migrating fishes in connection with the temperature of the water, and he has shown that when they enter the Chesapeake Bay its water is warmer than that of the ocean and that of the rivers, and that they remain in this deep, warm water until the rivers are gradually heated to a still higher tem- perature, when they enter these and swim upwards as the water grows warmer before them. He has also brought together many other facts to show that the temperature of the water is an important factor in determining the migration. FISH AND FISHERIES. 245 As a rule, the opening of the shad fishing in the spring becomes later and later as we pass northwards along our coast ; but there are many- exceptions to this rule, for the season is earlier in a small river which arises in the warm low land, than it is farther south in a larger river which has its source in the high and cool mountain springs of the interior. The shad usually make their appearance in the bay in February, although the height of the fishing season is in April and May, and in our northern tributaries even later. The male fish appear first, and they go up the river ahead of the females. When the temperature of a river rises gradually with the advance of the season, the period of migration is long, but if the whole course of the river is warmed by warm rains at its sources, they crowd into it tumultuously in great schools, and the season is very short. These facts, and many others, have led McDonald to believe that while the purpose of the migration is the perpetuation of the species, its directing influence is the temperature of the water ; and there can be no doubt that, so far as the first stages of the journey are concerned, this is the correct explanation, although the fish is no doubt urged to con- tinue its journey further and further up by an instinctive desire to reach the spawning grounds. The favorite spawning grounds, known to the fishermen as " shad- wallows," are the sandy flats near the shores of the streams, or the sand bars in their course. The fishes run up into them in pairs, in the early evening, after sunset, and the eggs are thrown out into the water while the fish are swimming about, but they soon sink to the bottom and develop very rapidly. The average number of eggs is about twenty -five thousand, but a hundred thousand have been obtained from a single large shad. The young fishes remain in the rivers until late in the fall, feeding upon small Crustacea, insect larvae, the young of other fishes, and prob- ably upon all the minute active animals of our fresh water, and they grow to a length of two or three inches by November, when they leave our waters for the ocean. As the mature shad usually takes no food in inland waters, it is not fished for with hook and line, but as it is unsuspicious and absorbed in the completion of its journey, it is easily captured by nets and traps of all sorts, and most of the devices known to fishermen are utilized to capture it. Before the shad enter our own bay our markets are supplied from our southern waters, and the fisheries of Albemarle Sound are remark- able for the gigantic size of the seines. These are sometimes more than a mile in length, and they gather in at one sweep all the fishes from a 246 MARYLAND. thousand to twelve hundred acres. They are spread by steam boats, and their contents are dragged up on to the shore by steam engines. One seine of this sort gives employment to some seventy-five people, and has taken in one season, near the head of Albemarle Sound, fifty-two thousand shad, nine hundred thousand herring, and more than twenty- five thousand pounds of other fish. Shad are caught in our waters by haul seines and in pounds, as well as by gill nets, or nets of fine twine, with meshes large enough to admit the head of the shad, and to entangle it by the gills. The gill nets used in shad fishing are usually small. They are sometimes stretched between stakes planted in the mud, when they are known as " stake nets," or they are stretched and allowed to drift with the tide, when they are known as " drift nets." In the Susquehanna river these drift nets are used at night, and are set with a lantern at each end, and mounted upon a float. While they are drifting the fishermen in the boats " run " the nets, or pass the net line through their fingers from end to end. The presence of a fish is easily discovered in this way, and the part of the net which holds it is raised, the fish is removed, and the net is dropped, again to drift as before. It is necessary to remove the shad as quickly as possible, for almost as soon as they are caught they are seized, and rapidly devoured, as they hang in the net, by the eels which swarm in this river. The shad fishing ends with the upward migration, for they are so worn and thin with their journey and with their long fast, that they are not fit for food asjhey descend the river. Two species of river herrings enter our inland waters in incredible numbers at about the same time with the shad, and their habits are so much like those of the shad, and the methods of capturing them so similar that it is not necessary to enter into details. They lay their eggs near the mouths of the rivers, and do not usually make long journeys into the interior like the shad. They are abundant all along our coast, but the Chesapeake Bay and the North Carolina sounds are the centre of their distribution. Much greater numbers of them than of the shad are taken in our own waters, but the value of the product in money is much less. Pennant, in his " Arctic Zoology," says that they run up the rivers and shallow streams of Carolina in such numbers that the inhabitants fling them ashore by shovelsfull, and the passengers trample them under foot fording the rivers. Even at the present day their numbers are very great, and eleven million have been gathered in the Potomac in a single season, and three hundred thousand were landed in 1879 in Albemarle Sound at a single haul of the seine. FISH AND FISHERIES. 247 THE MENHADEN. As this fish is not sold in our markets nor used directly by our people as food, landsmen are hardly aware of its existence, although it is by far the most abundant fish of the Atlantic coast of the United States and, in many ways, one of the most important. We all know that when we eat beef or mutton we are indirectly eating grass, and it is equally true that our bay mackerel and blue fish and all our best and most valued food fishes are only menhaden in another shape. As food for predaceous fishes the menhaden is a very important inhabitant of our waters, and its commercial value is by no means slight, for nearly $300,000 is invested in the menhaden fishery in our waters, and in a single year the Chesapeake Bay has supplied 92,000,000 pounds of menhaden, which yielded 214,000 gallons of oil, worth $85,000 ; 10,500 tons of guano, worth $210,000; 212,000 tons of compost, worth $19,000, or an annual product worth more than $300,000. As this fish is very abundant along our coast from Cape Cod to Florida, it has many local names. Its Latin name Brevoortia tyrannies was given to it in 1802 by B. H. Latrobe, who was the first to recognize it as a distinct species and to give a description of it. As it is a toothless, helpless fish, preyed upon unrelentingly by all the fierce inhabitants of the deep, and hunted and slaughtered by the blue fish and the bonito, in mere sport, until the ocean for miles is smoothed with the oil from the mangled bodies of menhaden, we ask what can have led Mr. Latrobe to give the name tyrannies, a name which suggests only aggressive violence, to an inoffen- sive fish which feeds only upon the microscopic animals and plants of the water, and is absolutely helpless before its innumerable enemies. The story is most interesting. In southern waters a parasitic crustacean is very frequently found inside the mouth of the menhaden, clinging to its tongue or gill arches, and this animal was also discovered and described by Latrobe and named by him Oniscus prcegitstitator, after the tasters or prcegustitatores, who were forced by the Roman emperors or tyranni to taste all the food prepared for them as a precaution against poisoning. Among the many local names for the menhaden we find "bug fish" and " bug head," names which obviously have the same derivation. In our waters it is usually known as the " alewife," in North Carolina the most familiar name is " fat back," on the coast of New York and New Jersey it is usually called the " moss-bunker," while in New England it is called the "pogy " (Maine) or the " poggie " (Mass.) The name menhaden is also in general use along our entire coast, and there is a long list of local names, among which are the following : " Bony fish," " hard head," 248 MARYLAND. "white fish," " bunker," " old wif e," " skipaugh," " pohague," "green tail," and "yellow-tailed shad." The menhaden is a small fish, seldom weighing a pound, and closely related to the herring and the shad. They are hatched and pass their winter in some unknown region of the ocean, and they visit our shores from Florida to Cape Cod in the warm months in innumerable multitudes, which enter the bays and sounds and make their way up to the tidal rivers until they meet the fresh water. They make their appearance in the Chesapeake Bay in the early spring and rapidly become more and more abundant, crowding into the sounds and inlets until the water is fairly alive with them. They herd together like sheep, sometimes swimming round in a circle and some- times advancing, but always crowding together so closely that a school of menhaden looks at a short distance like a solid body. The statement that the fishes in one of these great schools are packed as closely as sardines in a box is hardly an exaggeration. They remain in our waters or near our coast so long as the weather is warm, but as winter approaches they gradually work their way out into the ocean and disappear, so that few are found in the bay after the end of November. While of some value as food for man, it is not sold in the markets of Maryland, and its commercial importance is due to the fact that a valuable oil can be extracted from its flesh by pressure, while the solid remainder is an important constituent of manufactured fertilizers. Tt is said that more than a billion of these fishes has been taken in a single year on the eastern coast of the United States, and the total "annual product of menhaden oil is considerably greater than the total product of all the American whale fisheries. The oil is used to make paint, to tan leather, and, in fact, for most purposes which are served by linseed oil and whale oil, and it is asserted that much so-called whale oil is actually menhaden oil. The menhaden is also very valuable as bait for all sorts of marine fishes, and it is preferred to all other bait by the cod, mackerel and halibut fishermen. As some of the most valuable sea fisheries of the Atlantic are under the control of the British Provinces, and as the menhaden is not found north of our own coast, this fish has been made the subject of treaties between our country and Great Britain, and it has held a prominent place in the diplomatic correspondence between our Government and the Dominion of Canada. There are about sixty establishments for the manufacture of men- haden oil and fertilizers, or "fish factories," as they are called, on the Chesapeake Bay ; but as all our navigable waters are free to fishermen PISH AND FISHERIES. 249 from all parts of the United States, and as the Maryland factories are, in part, supplied frorn Virginia waters and from the open ocean, it is impossible to treat the subject with reference to State lines. In shallow water many menhaden are caught in small seines, which are dragged on to the shore ; but the chief supply for the factories is taken in the open water in very large seines, which are called purse seines, as they are so constructed that the lower edges may be drawn together like a bag or a purse, under the school of fishes, after this has been surrounded by the seine. As the menhaden usually sinks into deep water when alarmed, the whole school may be lost if the purse fails to close quickly and effectively as soon as it is set. Success in fishing depends upon the efficiency of the purse-string; and as the net is often more than a quarter of a mile long and very heavy, and as it incloses more than an acre of water, and may contain many tons of fish, great ingenuity and skill are required to devise, and to use in small boats at sea, some means which may always be relied upon to draw together the loose edges of this long net at the proper instant, when it is far down under the water and out of sight. There are many ways of doing this, but. the most effective one, when the water is deep enough, is to draw the purse line by means of a heavy weight, which is dropped into the water at the proper time, to pull the bag shut as it falls. An ordinary purse net for deep water is a quarter of a mile long and seventy or eighty feet wide, so that it may hang down below the school of fishes, or, if the water is shallow, may rest on the bottom. Its upper edge is buoyed up by large cork floats, while its lower edge is weighted down by the heavy metal rings through which the purse line is strung. No net which could be used is strong enough to hold the weight of a school of menhaden, for a quarter of a million fishes are occasionally taken at one haul. They are not lifted out of the water, but are simply surrounded, and kept in captivity until they can be dipped up and landed with smaller nets; but even while they are alive and swimming in the water, their resistance, added to the weight of the great net, is an enormous load, and purse net fishing for menhaden can be carried on only by large parties of fishermen. The net is set from large row boats, but larger vessels such as sloops, schooners and small steam vessels are used in the business, to carry the fishermen and their boats to the fishing grounds, and to receive the fish and transport them to the factory. The large vessel is the home of the fishermen, and as it cruises about sharp watch is kept from the masthead for the schools of fishes, which, on bright warm days, swim so close to the surface and so densely packed that the surface ripple they produce is visible at a great distance, 25 MARYLAND. and is easily distinguishable, by a practised eye, from the ripple caused by schools of other species. As soon as the fish are " sighted," one or two of the fishermen put off in small boats to keep watch of them, to study their movements, and to act as " drivers," and to keep them from escaping from the net, as this closes around them. In the mean time two of the large seine boats, with half of the long seine loaded into the stern of each, are pulled as rapidly as possible after the " driver," who guides them, by signals, to the proper place for casting the net. This is done quickly as the two seine boats are rowed away from each other, around the school, which is headed off by the " drivers." As soon as the boats meet, certain fishermen, to whom this duty has been assigned, close up the bottom of the net, by means of the purse line, while others begin to pull in the net, and to restrict the fishes to a smaller area. As soon as they begin this work the large vessel joins them, and, after the fishes are well herded in the centre of the net, this is made fast to the side of the large vessel, and the fishes are baled out with hand nets, or, on the steam vessels, by means of a great dipper of strong netting, which is worked from the yardarm, by means of a hoisting engine. This steam dipper scoops up several barrels of fishes each time it dips in among them, and it pours them into the hold of the vessel, which is thus rapidly filled with a great silvery mass of shining fishes. This work must be prosecuted as rapidly as possible, for while the fish do not exert much pressure on the net, so long as they are alive and swimming in the water, they sink as they are killed by the crowding, and as they accumulate at the bottom of the bag they are sometimes heavy enough to drag the whole net from its fastenings and to carry it with them to the bottom. As soon as the vessel is loaded it carries the fish to the factory, where they are unloaded by a steam hoisting apparatus, which pours them into a great reservoir in the upper story, from which they are drawn off into "cooking tanks," which are placed below the reservoir. A cooking tank holds some fifty barrels or more of fish, and in it they are exposed for half an hour or more to the influence of compressed steam, until they are sufficiently cooked to facilitate the extraction of the oil. Most of the oil is separated from the flesh by the action of the steam, and the rest is forced out by the action of the hydraulic presses. The commercial importance of the menhaden is great, but its chief value to our people is due to the fact that it is the food of some of our best food fishes. FISH AND FISHERIES. 251 In his " History of Useful Aquatic Animals," G. Brown Goode esti- mates the number of menhaden which are destroyed annually on our coast by predaceous animals at a million million of millions, and he says that "it is not hard to surmise the menhaden's place in nature; swarm- ing our waters in countless myriads, swimming in closely-packed, unwieldy masses, helpless as flocks of sheep, near to the surface and at the mercy of every enemy, destitute of means of offense and defense, their mission is unmistakably to be eaten." THE BAY MACKEREL OR SPANISH MACKEREL. This fish, which is often called the Spanish mackerel, is known to our own people as the bay mackerel; and as the Chesapeake Bay furnishes more than 80 per cent, of the two million pounds which are sent to the markets annually, our name for the fish is an eminently proper one. To the bay mackerel has been awarded, by general consent, the first place among the choice food fishes of the United States, and very extrav- agant pi'ices are often paid for it. A. wholesale rate of $1.00 a pound is not unusual for the first which reach the market in the spring. It is a summer fish, and it is most abundant during the hot months. The fishing season in the Chesapeake Bay is from about the end of May until the first of September, although a few specimens find their way to the market in every month in the year. It is a fierce predaceous fish, which, moving in great schools, follows the menhaden from the open ocean into our waters in the early summer and remains here until the first cool weather. In the hot months it is so abundant that its capture becomes the chief occupation of the fishermen. For many years naturalists supposed that it laid its eggs out in some unknown region of the open ocean in the winter ; and it was not until 1880 that Earle discovered that the Chesapeake Bay is its chief breeding ground and that it lays its eggs in the summer. Each female fish lays an enormous number of eggs, from half a million to a million or more. They are so small that a cubic inch contains twenty thousand of them, and they float at the surface of the water and are driven about by the wind and tide until they hatch, and even after hatching the little fish, which when born is less than a tenth of an inch long, floats for some hours, belly uppermost and almost]motion- less and helpless, buoyed up by the unconsumed yolk of the egg. As this is gradually assimilated, the little fish grows stronger, and in a few hours it becomes quite active and makes its way down from the surface to deeper water, although it remains throughout life a surface fish, seldom descending to any great depth. 252 MARYLAND. Nothing is known as to the history of these little fishes for their first winter, although mackerel five or six inches long, and probably in their second season, are sometimes found in the bay. While this fish has long been known and prized as a luxury, it is only within the last fifteen or twenty years that its great abundance in our waters in the summer months has been discovered. The pound nets, which now catch most of the mackerel, were not used in the bay until 1875, and previously to this date little fishing for commercial purposes was carried on in the summer. It is stated that many of our fishermen had never seen this fish before 1875, and that no purchasers for them could be found in the market of Wilmington, N. C, in 1879. It is said that several thousand pounds which were sent to the dealers in Wilmington in that year were thrown away, as they were thought to be unfit for food. The bay mackerel are very fierce and powerful fishes, and when they are feeding in summer among the menhaden, in the lower part of the bay, the energy of their movements as they rush here and there among the menhaden is so great that they throw themselves entirely out of the water, and describe long, graceful curves through the air. When leaping out of the water mackerel may be identified at a great distance as they turn in the air and enter the water head first, bending their bodies and describing graceful curves, while most of our other leaping fishes either drop backwards or fall into the water with a splash. They enter our waters in the early summer, and leave them again in the fall in enormous schools, but after they have entered the bay they scatter and pursue their prey more independently, although they confine themselves to the open water, and seldom enter or even approach the mouths of the rivers. They shun fresh water, and as most of the large rivers enter the bay on its western side they are much more abundant and make their way much further up on the eastern than on the western side. Their habits and their distribution in oiu' waters are, in these respects, exactly opposite to those of the shad, which come in from the ocean in search of fresh water, and follow the western shore of the bay. The bay mackerel is a "game" fish, and a fierce fighter for life and liberty, and trolling for mackerel is a most exciting sport. Its activity is so great that it will pursue and snap at a hook dragged at the end of a long line from a steamboat moving at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour. The small schooners which are employed in mid-summer carry- ing watermelons from the South to our northern cities, keep their troll- ing lines out as they coast along our low, sandy seashore, and they usually catch enough mackerel and blue-fish to keep their crews supplied with fresh fish. FISH AND FISHERIES. 253 As the mackerel is a voracious fish, any conspicuous object to attract its attention will serve as bait, and the fishermen usually use a perforated cylinder of white bone or ivory, about three inches long and two-thirds of an inch in diameter. This is strung on the line or on a wire just above the hooks, and when it is dragged through the crests of the waves, at the end of a long line, it resembles a living animal enough to deceive the mackerel. Another favorite bait for mackerel and blue-fish is a cylinder of lead, cast around a wire, and covered with the skin of an eel, turned wrong side out. These are called " squids," and the fish is supposed to mistake them for these animals; but as they will chase and snap at any small object which is drawn rapidly through the water near the surface, there is no reason to suppose that they mistake the lead for any specific animal. The chief supply of bay mackerel for our market is caught with gill nets, or is trapped in pounds. An ordinary gill net is a long loose-meshed net, with floats and sinkers, which is set for a few hours across the path of fishes which run against it, and becoming entangled in the meshes, are held captive until the net is drawn. Unsuspicious fish which follow regular paths, such as the shad, are caught in abundance in this simple way, but the mackerel has no path, and when in its hunting excursions after other fishes, it meets with an obstruction in its way, it is much more likely to jump over it, or to dart off in another direction than to run its nose into the meshes of a gill net, and in order to catch them it is necessary to use two or three nets and to arrange them in such a way that they shall form a trap so that the fish shall strike and become entangled in one of them as it darts away from the others. Two parties of fishermen with two boats and two nets usually fish together, and divide the fish equally. One net is set perpendicular to the line of the shore, to turn the fishes out into the deep water. Across the outer end of this a second net is placed, so that it forms the top bar of a capital letter T, with its ends very much turned down, to intercept the fishes which have been turned aside by the leading net. There are many ways of setting the second net. It may be placed in a circle open in the line of the first net, or it may form a triangle or three sides of a square, or it may be arranged irregularly, or two nets may be used to form the trap, but the purpose to be accomplished is the same in all cases. After the nets have been set upon a good fishing ground they are left for a few hours while the owners busy themselves in line fishing until it is time to take them up. 254 MARYLAND. A pound net is a fixed permanent net, set in essentially the same way, but constructed on a much larger scale, and so arranged that the fishes are not entangled as they are by the gill net, but are conducted into a large trap, or pound, in deep water, where they swim about in captivity until they are caught and removed by the fishermen. A gill net must be raised within a few hours after it is set, as the entangled fishes soon die. As the fishes in the pound are not entangled in the net they are not exposed to this danger, and they may be left in the pound for days without injury, although a restless, active fish, like the bay mackerel, which does not tamely submit to captivity, but is untiring in its efforts to escape, is apt to find the way out of the pound if left too long. The pound is a large enclosure of a very complicated pattern, shut in by a fence, which is formed of strong netting stretched upon piles, or posts, which are firmly planted on the bottom. The lower edge of the wall of netting rests on the bottom, while its upper edge is high enough above the surface of the water to keep the fish from escaping by jumping over it at high water. A straight wall of netting runs out from the shore and turns the fishes which run against it out into the deep water, where it ends just inside the opening into the first or big heart. This opening is about twenty-five feet wide, and it is so large that the fishes enter it fearlessly and swim about until they are stopped by the wall of the heart, when, in their efforts to escape into deep water, they are gradually guided by the walls into the inner heart, and from this, through a narrow opening only a yard wide, ijito the pound. This is a rectangular trap, about fifty feet wide, with its bottom, as well as its sides, covered with netting. The bottom is weighted around its edge by sinkers of lead, and it is kept stretched and flat by means of lines, which pass through metal rings at the bottoms of the posts, and are then made fast above water. The netting is so arranged that it may be detached from the posts by the fishermen in their boats, and gradu- ally raised to the surface until all the fishes are drawn together and penned in one corner, where they may be dipped out of the water with hand nets. The length and size of the pound net depends somewhat upon the depth of the water; and, if the bottom slopes very gradually, a second or even a third is built outside the first. In connection with the pound, a pocket or bag of netting, fifteen or twenty feet square, is constructed as a receptacle for fishes which are to be kept alive for a future market. Besides the bay mackerel, which are the most valuable product of the pound net fishing, great numbers of tailors or blue fish, and of trout, sheepshead, porgies and other food fishes are taken. FISH AND FISHERIES. 255 The average product for the season of a well constructed pound in a good locality, is said to consist of about 100,000 trout, 40,000 blue fish or tailors, 30,000 bay mackerel, 3,000 porgies, 1,000 sheepsheads, and 10,000 mixed fishes, and of these the bay mackerel represent about thirty per cent, of the money value, which is altogether about $4,000 to each pound for the season. While most of the fishes for our city markets are now caught in pounds, their use in our waters is quite modern, and when in 1875 a New Jersey fisherman erected a pound in the lower part of the bay, it was torn down by the fishermen, but not before they had learned how to arrange and construct a pound, and had seen enough to convince them of the great profit to be derived from them. THE CRAB. During the warm season, or between April and October, crabs are found, in indescribable abundance, in all the bays and sounds, from the Chesapeake Bay southwards, as well as upon the outer ocean beach, and as they are perfectly at home in water fresh enough to drink as well as in that of the sea, they make their way into all the inlets and rivers and creeks of tide-waters. In many places they are so numerous that there is no market for them, and even in the Chesapeake Bay it is not unusual to see thousands dragged on to the shore and left to die or to make their way back into the water, by fishermen who have shaken them out of their seines and abandoned them. Further south the fishermen in the channels find their work so much obstructed by the crabs that they trample upon them, or crush them with clubs, to keep them from returning to the water to clog their nets again. In hard storms they are sometimes cast up on to the outer beach in windrows which stretch along the sand for miles, and the abundance of crabs is, perhaps, the most notable characteristic of our coast. The simplest way to catch hard crabs is to dip them up from shallow water with a small circular net fastened to an iron ring at the end of a long handle; and when crabs abound on shores which are favorable for wading, in water which is not too muddy, a bushel of them may readily be gathered in this way between tides. For taking them in deeper water a coarse net, stretched on a barrel hoop, and weighted in the centre, is baited and sunk to the bottom with cords, which are sometimes tied to the end of a handle, for raising it again to the surface. These methods are used by fishermen to catch the crabs with which they bait their fish-hooks, and by summer visitors, who enjoy the novelty of "crabbing," but the men who make a business of catching hard crabs 256 MARYLAND. for the market or for the crab-catching establishments, usually make use of baited lines, as they are thus enabled to reach the crabs in the channels at a distance from the shore. The crabs are so abundant that competition for food is fierce among them, so that they are always hungry and ready to seize voraciously upon almost any sort of animal food, living or dead. Nothing comes amiss, and pieces of beef, pork and fish are used for bait, as are also pieces of the bodies of the crabs themselves. As soon as it seizes the bait with its claws the crab tries to carry it off out of the reach of other crabs, and a pull on the line only excites it to cling the closer to the bait, so no hooks are needed, and the crab line is simply a string with the bait tied to one end of it. Crab fishing requires no experience or skill, and the baited line is tossed into the water to settle to the bottom or to drift with the tide, until a tug at the line shows that a crab has seized it, or until there is reason to suppose that one has found it, for if unmolested by others, it does not try to carry it away, but begins at once to eat it and it may give no perceptible tug at the line until this is pulled in, when the big claws close firmly on the bait, and do not loose their hold until the crab reaches the surface of the water, and not always even then, for often it holds on until it is landed by the line, although it usually abandons the bait and sinks quickly out of sight as soon as it reaches the surface and finds itself in danger. A hand-net is therefore pushed under it to cut off its retreat, just before it reaches the surface, and as it has by this time usually awakened to a sense of its peril, and as it shows great agility in dodging or scramb- ling out of the net, it must be landed quickly and skillfully. As the bait is soon torn to pieces, tough substances are best, and tripe and tendinous pieces of beef or the tough lateral fins of rays and skates are favorites with the fishermen, although the crab itself is not fastidious, and finds the flesh, of other crabs very tempting. As crab flesh is very soft and is soon swept away by the tide, or pulled to pieces by the crabs, or sucked off by small fishes, it is not much used, although the crushed claw of a Qrab is an effective bait. The outfit of the men who make a business of catching crabs for the canning establishments and for the crab pens, is of the rudest description, and few fishermen are able to carry on their work with such a small capital, as all that is needed is a line and bait, a landing net, which may be made by stretching a piece of the ragged end of an old seine over a piece of barrel hoop bent like a lacrosse racquet, and a rude boat, sometimes made like a rough trough, of a few boards nailed together, but more usually dug out of a log. FISH AND FISHERIES. 257 A few fishermen have the beautiful canoes for which our waters are famous, shaped by skillful workmen into lines as graceful as those of a cruiser, but usually the "kinew" is like that of a savage, hacked and burned out of a single long narrow log, roughly sharpened at the ends. Besides the "kinew" and paddle, the outfit consists of a ragged homemade landing-net, and some five or six hundred feet of small rope, to serve as a bottom line, with small lines a foot or so long tied to it at about every two feet. Pieces of bait are tied to the short lines, and the long line is stretched along the bottom with a float to mark its position, and a stone or anchor of some sort at each end to keep it in place. The fisherman in his boat visits the line once or twice a day, and pulling up one end passes it over his boat, and drops it to the bottom again ; and then, working his way along to the other end, he catches the crabs with his hand-net as they come to the surface, and drops them into his boat, replacing the bait with a new one, if necessary. The number of crabs which are captured with this simple outfit is astonishing. A fair day's work is about a thousand, and a single fisherman sometimes catches as many as three thousand at one time from a single bottom line. The price which they get for their crabs is very small indeed, but in the vicinity of the canning establishments, where they find a market for all they catch, the fishermen earn good wages and find steady employment for a great part of the year. The abundance of the crabs in our waters is well illustrated by the fact that we were told, in 1884, by fishermen in the lower part of the Chesapeake Bay, that they were earning from $1.50 to $2.00 a day catching crabs to sell at one cent a dozen or ten cents a bushel; and these men seldom went to their work before sunrise or fished longer than till noon. In fact, most of them were home for the day at ten in the morning. Of the four million pounds of crabs which are annually sent to the market from our waters, considerably much more than half are captured in this simple, easy way. As each crab is soft for only a few hours, and as they take no food at this time, and hide themselves under the sand or among the grass of the marshes, when they are about to shed their old shells, the soft crabs are very much less abundant and much harder to find than the hard crabs, and as there is a steady demand for all which can be got to the city markets, the price for soft crabs is always high, although it varies greatly, according to the locality. The crab is very delicate and easily killed while soft, and it is difficult to transport alive and in good order to distant markets, especially in the hot weather, which is the time of abundance. 17 258 MARYLAND. Where there is no city market or summer resort within reach, the fishermen who supply the local demand receive from ten to fifteen cents a dozen, while in the vicinity of cities and seaside hotels, or at con- venient points for shipment/ the price sometimes rises to $1.00 a dozen or even more, although from forty-five to fifty cents is perhaps about the average. The habits of the crab at the time of shedding the old shell are such that they cannot be captured at this time by any of the wholesale methods which are so effective with the hard crabs. Soft crabs do not swim or leave the bottom, so they are not taken in the seines of the fishermen. As the hard crab itself fully appreciates the delicacy of a soft one, they hide from each other as well as from other enemies, and for this reason each one must be sought for separately by the fisherman, and as they do no eating while soft they cannot be tempted by bait. The local markets are almost entirely supplied by children, who wade through the shallow water of the marshes and flats at low tide, feeling with their bare toes for the crabs, which they pick up with their hands. When the water is clear enough for the faint outline on the sand which marks the place of the buried crab to be visible, soft crabs are taken in considerable numbers by fishermen who push themselves along by the handles of their nets in small boats over the shoals and sand banks, looking for the marks and dipping up the crabs with their nets. While enough soft crabs for local use may be obtained in these ways, the city markets demand a more constant and abundant supply, and this has led to the establishment of the business of keeping the hard crabs in captivity, in floating pens, until they shed their shells. Experienced fishermen can tell, even before the crab has been taken from the water, whether it will soon shed its shell, and if this is the case it is saved for sale to the owners of the crab pens, who are, of course, able to pay more for it than for an ordinary hard crab. The female crab sheds her shell within a few days after her eggs are hatched, and as the empty egg-shells are of a dirty brown color, while the unhatched eggs are clear and yellow, a female crab which is likely to shed soon can usually be recognized in this way at a glance. The fisher- men are able to judge also from the brilliancy of the colors, a crab that has just shed its shell being much more vividly colored than one which has a new shell growing under the old one. By these and other indica- tions, which are known only to the fishermen, the crabs which are to shed soon may be picked out with great accuracy, and if there is any doubt it can be set at rest by breaking off the tip of one of the small claws, to show whether or not there is a new shell under the old one. PISH AND FISHEEIES. 259 The crabs which are thus selected are placed in the " shedding pen," which is a floating bos of laths and loose boards constructed in such a way that the water passes freely through it while the crabs are securely caged. The pen is supported at the sides by two floats of heavy timber, so placed that the upper edge of the pen is raised above the surface of the water enough to keep the crabs from climbing out. The pens are anchored or fastened to stakes in the smooth water of sheltered coves or harbors, at points where they can be guarded and visited at short inter- vals to fish out the soft crabs. These are packed in large trays and are placed in such a position that the water which is contained in the gill chambers shall not run out of them, or, as the fishermen say, "out of the mouth," for while they will live for a long time out of water if the gills are kept wet, both soft crabs and hard crabs die quickly if they become dry. The fishermen receive about a cent a piece for the crabs which are put into the pens, and the average price received by the dealers is prob- ably about thirty or forty cents a dozen. Soft crabs do not become hard out of the water, but remain soft as long as they can be kept alive, although the shell hardens rapidly under natural conditions. It is so easy to transport hard crabs alive, and they bear the journey so well that there is no part of our State where they cannot be obtained; and as there is, therefore, little demand for canned crabs, few of our people, except those who are directly interested, know of the existence of the crab-canning industry, although it presents a field for the profitable employment of capital which is capable of great extension, and puts within the reach of distant and less fortunate people the superabundance of our waters. As soon as the living crabs are received at the canning establishment they are loaded into wooden cars of open slat-work, which, when filled, are pushed into a steaming apparatus, when the steam is turned on, and the crabs exposed to it until they are cooked enough to cause the meat to separate readily from the shell. The shells are then broken open and the flesh is picked out to be packed in cans, while the refuse and the pieces of shell, with the exception of the upper shell, are utilized as a fertilizer. After each can has been filled with the flesh and closed up it is again cooked for an hour or two in a bath of boiling water. It is then opened to permit the vapor to escape, and is then sealed up again and cooked once more in boiling water. If these operations are carried on with care and good judgment the contents of the cans may be kept for an indefinite time without any bad 260 MARYLAND. effect, and canned crabs from the Chesapeake Bay now find their way to the most distant quarter of the globe. When the crabs are opened after the first steaming the upper shells are carefully removed and thoroughly cleaned, and when the cans are packed for shipment a sufficient number of these shells is put into each package to permit its contents to be served in the shell after the manner which all Marylanders know to be the only true and legitimate way of placing "deviled" crabs upon the table. The supply of crabs in our waters does not as yet show any signs of exhaustion, but the history of the lobster fisheries proves that the extension of the canning industry and the increased demand for crabs which this will produce, must ultimately exhaust the supply. Measures for the preservation and protection of the crabs must some time be adopted, but fortunately it is not at all difficult to state what these means should be. The mother crab carries her eggs about with her until they are hatched, and they are well protected by the hard shell of the brood chamber, and are also guarded from danger by the mother crab, whose maternal instincts are well developed. A few crabs with eggs ready to hatch are found early in the spring and late in the fall, but most of the eggs are hatched in the hot months of July and August, and if, when protection becomes necessary, the taking of hard crabs for the market and for the canning establishments were prohibited in these months, enough eggs would be hatched each summer to prevent any great decrease in their numbers until the consumption of crabs become very much greater than it is now. As most of the female crabs migrate into the deep water at the lower end of the bay in mid-summer, their preser- vation by a closed season will require that Maryland and Virginia shall act for this purpose in concert. The proprietors of the canning establishments assert that this matter may safely be left to their own far-sighted interest in the permanent maintenance of the business, and that they do not make use of the female crabs with eggs. Observation shows, however, that hundreds of crabs with eggs are loaded into the cars and run into the steaming apparatus and cooked every day, and while it is possible that their flesh is not put into the cans, but is thrown away, the effect is, of course, the same. As the female crab does not shed her shell until the eggs are hatched, the capture of soft crabs and of those which are ready to become soft can have little effect upon their numbers ; and as the extension of the business of keeping them in " shedding pens " will increase the market supply of soft crabs, advantage alone will result to the community. FISH AND FISHERIES. 261 THE DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN. This small but expensive animal fills such, a prominent place among ' the luxuries for which our State is famous that a few words upon the way our market is supplied will not be out of place, although only a small part of our supply comes from our own waters. The diamond-backed terrapin, Malacoclemmys palustris, is found along our entire eastern coast from southern New England to Texas, wherever there are salt marshes, but it is most abundant in the low half- submerged country which fringes most of the sounds and tidal rivers from the Chesapeake Bay southward. At one time these animals were so abundant that they could be seen sunning themselves on the sand-bars and sand-flats upon every warm day. Holbrook says they are so prolific that their numbers appear undimin- ished, notwithstanding their great destruction, but at present they are by no means abundant, and no one who does not devote himself to their pursuit is at all likely to meet with a single specimen. The streams along the salt marshes of Maryland still furnish a few, but the supply for our market comes for the most part from southern waters — from the vicinity of Norfolk and from the eastern shore of Virginia and from still further south. The habits of the diamond-back are much like those of our familiar pond terrapins. They are at home both on land and in the water, and during the summer months they are active and alert, wandering in search of their food, which consists of fish, crabs, marsh plants and algae', and in fact of most of the animal and vegetable food which the marshes afford. Early in the summer the female comes up at night on to a sandy shore or bar above the water and scoops out a shallow nest for her eggs, and the newly hatched young live for a time on land. As soon as cold weather approaches, the terrapin buries itself in the mud beyond the reach of frosts and sleeps until spring. During its active life in summer it cannot stay under water very long without coming to the top for fresh air, and it drowns like any other breathing animal when it is kept under water, but in its winter sleep breathing almost ceases, and the animals often bury themselves in the mud under water. The methods of catching them vary according to the season. In summer a few are gathered by men and boys, who wade through the marshes and shallow waters, catching them in their hands or dipping them up with hand nets. At the present day the return is too scanty to support a child, and this method of catching terrapins is only the occupa- tion of idle hours, for we must not estimate the earnings of these summer fishermen by the price which the city dealers charge their customers. There is no demand for terrapins in the summer, and those which are 262 MARYLAND. caught in this way are sold at once to dealers who are able to wait until winter for a market, and the prices paid to the captors range from less than a dollar a dozen to as much, perhaps, in very favorable cases, as ten dollars a dozen. Notwithstanding its proverbial indolence, the terrapin when at home in or near the water is a most active animal, wary and skillful at hiding and escaping, and the demand has led to many improved methods of catching them. In North Carolina dogs are trained to hunt along the shores of the creeks for the tracks of terrapins which have come out of the water and to follow the trails into the marshes until they find the animals. The hunters also visit the sandy shores and bars at night with torches during the breeding season, and capture the terrapins as they come up to make their nests. Terrapins are often caught by fishermen in their seines, and traps also are used, made after the fashion of a lobster pot, of coarse netting- stretched over hoops, with a funnel-shaped opening at each end. These traps are baited with pieces of fish, and are set in favorable spots, but as a terrapin caught in a trap under water would, drown, they are placed in shallow water or are fastened to stakes in such a way that part of the trap is above water to furnish a breathing space. Those which are sent to market in the winter find a ready sale at high prices, and there are many ways of finding them in their burrows in the mud. At Beaufort, North Carolina, the dry grass of the marshes is lighted after the terrapins have hid themselves for the winter, and as the ground grows warm they are awakened and come out of their burrows, when they are captured without difficulty. Most of the supply is captured by means of terrapin " drags," con- structed somewhat like a naturalist's dredge. In summer the animals are much too active to permit themselves to be caught in this way, but as colder weather sets in they become more helpless, and the drag is then an effective collector. It consists of a coarse bag, with large meshes which permit the mud to flow through them and to be washed away, and of a frame which forms the mouth of the bag and keeps it open. The lower side of this frame is a heavy bar of iron three or four feet long, set with large strong iron teeth, which rake the mud and scoop up the buried terrapins. In the far south, where the winter's sleep is not perfect, they gather, in cold weather, in the mud at the bottoms of deep holes in the creeks, and they are captured in large seines, made for the purpose, four or five hundred feet long and eighteen or twenty wide, with coarse meshes. FISH AND FISHERIES. 263 One end of it is made fast to a stake, and it is then set, from a boat, in a circle, and the two ends are then brought together and rapidly drawn in to the boat. During the whole process the fishermen rap upon the sides or bottom of the boat with oars or sticks, as it is said that this noise causes the terrapins to rise from the bottom, and prevents them from diving under the net. The terrapins which are gathered in the summer are kept in pounds, or inclosed pens, until winter, and are fed with fish and crabs. The high price and the gradual disappearance of the terrapins have led to efforts to rear them in inclosed pens, from the eggs, but these pens must be so large, to afford all the conditions which are necessary, that the protec- tion of the eggs and young animals from their enemies is very difficult, and, as they grow so slowly that they are not ready for market for some six years, few persons have attempted to rear them. Our waters contain many species of terrapins which, while they are not esteemed by our people, are elsewhere used as food, and it is an open secret that some of them are sometimes served as the real diamond- backs. Small green turtles, or chicken turtles, as they are called, are quite frequently taken by fishermen in their nets, in the lower counties of Maryland, for while this animal is an inhabitant of the sea, it delights in the mouths of rivers, and often works its way inland to a great dis- tance. It is a delicious article of food, but its occurrence in our waters is too irregular and infrequent to give it an established place among our resources. CHAPTER VIII. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY IE OYSTER INDUSTRY., THE OYSTER. We must give to the oyster a prominent place in the list of our natural resources. The vast number of oysters which the Chesapeake. Bay has furnished in the past is ample proof of its fertility, but it is difficult to give any definite statement as to the value of the oyster beds in past years, although there is good reason for believing that since the business of packing oysters for shipment to the interior was established, in 1834, nearly four hundred million bushels of oysters have been taken from our waters. This inconceivably vast amount of delicate, nutritious food has been yielded by our waters without any aid from man. It is a harvest which no man has sown ; a free gift from bounteous nature. The fact that our waters have withstood this enormous draft upon them, and have continued for more than half a century to meet our constantly increasing demands, is most conclusive evidence of their fer- tility and value, and the citizens of Maryland and Virginia might well point with pride to the boundless resources of our magnificent bay. Four hundred million bushels of oysters is a vast quantity, and it testifies to the immeasurable value of our waters ; but every one who has studied the subject, either on its scientific side or in the light of the experience of other countries, knows that the harvest of oysters from our bay has never, even at its best, made any approach to what it might have been if we had aided the bounty of nature by human industry and intelligence. The four hundred million bushels is the wild crop which has been supplied by nature, without any aid from man, and it compares with what we might have obtained from our waters in about the same way that the nuts and berries which are gathered in our swamps and forests compare with the harvest from our cultivated fields and gardens and orchards. When we have learned to make wise use of our opportunities, and when the oyster-beds of the bay have been brought to perfection, a harvest" of four hundred million bushels in half a century will not be regarded as evidence of fertility. 1. Packing and Canning Oysters. 4. Processing Oysters. THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. !. Raw Shucking. i. Steamed Oyster Shuckers. 3. Converting Oyster Shells into Lime. 6. Weighing and Canning. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 265 It will take many years of labor to bring the whole bay under thorough cultivation, and it will require a great army of industrious and skillful farmers, and great sums of money ; but the expense and labor will be much less than an equal area of land above water requires; and while it may be far away, the time will surely come when the oyster harvest each year will be fully equal to the total harvest of the last fifty years, and it will be obtained without depleting or exhausting the beds, and without exposing the laborers to hardships or unusual risks. This is not the baseless speculation of an idle fancy. Our opportu- nities for rearing oysters are unparalleled in any other part of the world, and in other countries much less valuable grounds have by cultivation been made to yield oysters at a rate per acre which, in our own great beds, would carry our annual harvest very far beyond the sum of all the oysters which have ever been used by the packers of Maryland and Virginia. This is capable of proof by evidence from other countries, but it may be proved with equal conclusiveness, by the natural history of the oyster. The Chesapeake Bay is one of the rich agricultural regions of the earth, and its fertility can be compared only with that of the valleys of the Nile and the Ganges and other great rivers. It owes its fertility to the same causes which have enabled the Nile valley to support a dense human population for untold ages without any loss of fertility, but it is adapted for producing only one crop, the oyster. All human food is vegetable in its origin, and whether we eat plants and their products directly, or use beef, mutton, fish, fowls or eggs for food, we are carried back to the vegetable kingdom; for if there were no plants all animals would starve at once. Every one knows that this is absolutely true of all terrestrial animals, and all naturalists know that it is equally true of sea food. The blue-fish preys on smaller fishes ; many of these on still smaller ones; these, in their turn, on minute crea- tures; these upon still smaller animals, and these pasture on the micro- scopic plants which swarm at the surface of the ocean. However long the chain may be, all animals, those of the water as well as those of the land, depend upon plants for food, although most of the vegetable life of the ocean is of such a character that its existence is known to naturalists alone. If there were no plants all animals would starve, and no animal is a direct food producer, for it can furnish nothing except what it has got from plants. Now, for the purpose of animal life, a small plant is as effective as a large one, for however small it may be it still has the power, which is possessed by no animal, to gather up the inorganic matter of the earth, and to turn it into vegetable matter fit for the 266 MARYLAND. nourishment of animals. Microscopic plants can do this work as well as great forests of lofty trees, provided they are numerous enough; and size counts for nothing. Every one knows that the sea is rich in animal life; that it contains great banks covered with cod and haddock, miles and miles of water crowded full of mackerel and herring ; and great monsters of the deep, such as the whales and sharks. To the superficial observer the vegeta- tion of the sea appears to be very scanty, and, except for a fringe of sea- weeds along the shore, the great ocean seems, so far as plant life is concerned, to be a barren desert. If it be true that all animals depend on plants for their food, the vegetation of the ocean seems totally inade- quate for the support of its animal life. The microscope shows that its surface swarms with minute plants, most of them of strange forms, totally unlike any which are familiar, and having nothing in common with the well-known trees and herbs and grasses of the land, except the power to change inorganic matter into food which is fit for animals. Most of these plants are so small that they are absolutely invisible to the unaided eye, and even when they are gathered together in a mass, it looks like slimy, discolored water and presents no traces of structure. They seem too insignificant to play any important part in the economy of nature, but the great monsters of the deep, beside which the elephant and the ox and the elk are small animals, owe their existence to these microscopic plants. Their vegetative power is wonderful past all expression. Among land plants, corn, which yields seed about a hundredfold in a single season, is the emblem of fertility, but it can be shown that a single marine plant, very much smaller than a grain of mustard seed, would fill the whole ocean solid in less than a week, if all its descendants were to live. This stupendous fact is almost incredible, but it is capable of rigorous demonstration, and it must be clearly grasped before we can understand the life of the ocean. As countless minute animals are constantly pasturing upon them, the multiplication of these plants is kept in check, but in calm weather it is no rare thing to find great tracts of water many miles in extent packed so full of them that the whole surface is converted into a slimy mass, which breaks the waves and smooths the surface like oil. The so-called " black water " of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans, the home and feeding ground of the whale, has been shown by microscopic examination to consist of a mass of these plants crowded together until the whole ocean is discolored by them. Through these seas of " black water " roam the right whales, the largest animals on earth, gulping at each mouthful hundreds of gallons of the little mollusca and Crustacea which feed on the plants. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 267 In tropical seas ships sometimes sail for days through great floating islands of this surface vegetation, and the Red Sea owes its name to the coloration of its water by great swarms of microscopic plants which are of a reddish tinge. The plant life of the ocean is ample for the support of all its animal life, just as the vegetation of the land gives a maintenance to all terrestrial animals. The source of the food of animals is the vegetable world. What is the source of the food of plants ? Most of it consists of mineral matter, derived from the crust of the earth; but before this can be used by plants it must be dissolved in water. The solid rocks cannot maintain life until they have been ground down and dissolved, and, in the form of frost and rain, water is continually breaking down and wearing away the hard rocks and carrying the frag- ments down to lower levels to form the fertile land of the hillsides and valleys and meadows. As the roots of the plants penetrate this loose material they gather up the mineral food which is dissolved by the rain and convert it into their own substance, and as their leaves fall and their trunks decay, the decaying vegetable matter gradually builds up the leaf-mould and meadow-loam which are so well adapted for supporting vegetable life. Each year, however, the heavy rains wash great quantities of this light, rich soil into the rivers, which at times of flood cut into their banks and carry the arable laud, which has been built up so slowly, down to lower levels, until at last it finds its way to the ocean and is lost, so far as its use to man is concerned. In a long, flat river-valley it may be arrested for a time, so that man may make use of it, but its final destination is the ocean, and as this has already been enriched by the washings through untold ages, all that is most valuable for the support of life is now dissolved in its waters, or deposited upon its bottom, where man can make no use of it. We love to dream of the shipwrecked treasures which lie among the bones of the sailors on the sea-bottom ; of the galleons sunk and lost with their precious cargoes of bullion and jewels from the treasure- chambers of the Incas and the palaces of Asia ; but all these, and all the " gems of purest ray serene, the dark, unfathom'd caves of ocean bear " : all the thousands of tons of gold and silver which, as chemists tell us, the sea holds dissolved in its waters — all these are as nothing when com- pared with these precious washings from the land of all that fits it for supporting life. Man will some time assert his dominion over the fishes of the sea, and will learn to send out flocks and herds of domesticated marine animals to pasture and fatten upon the vegetable life of the ocean and to make its vast wealth of food available, but at present we are able to do little more than to snatch a slight tribute from the stream of nutritive 268 MARYLAND. material which is flowing down into the ocean, as it comes to temporary rest in the valleys of our great rivers. Every one knows the part which these great river-valleys have played in human civilization. In the valley of the Nile, of the Tigris, and of the Ganges we find the most dense populations ; here were the great cities of the past ; here agriculture and architecture were developed, and here art, literature and science had their birth. We owe to the great river-valleys, where the natural fertility of the soil has lightened the struggle for bread and has afforded leisure for higher matters, all that is most distinctive of civilized man. The Chesapeake Bay is a great river- valley ; not as large as that of the Nile or Ganges, but of enough consequence to play an important part in human affairs, and to support in comfort and prosperity a population as great as that of many famous states. It receives the drainage of a vast area of fertile land stretching over the meadows and hillsides of nearly one-third of New York, and nearly all of the great agricultural States of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. The most valuable part of the soil of this great tract of farming land, more than forty million acres in area, ultimately finds its way to the bay, in whose quiet waters it makes a long halt on its journey to the ocean, and it is deposited, all over the bay, in the form of fine, light, black sediment, known as oyster- mud. This is just as valuable to man, and just as fit to nourish plants, as the mud which settles every year on the wheat fields and rice fields of Egypt. It is a natural fertilizer of inestimable importance, and it is so rich in organic matter that it putrefies in a few hours when exposed to the sun. In the shallow waters of the bay, under the influence of the warm sunlight, it produces a most luxuriant vegetation ; but with few exceptions, the plants which grow upon it are microscopic and invisible, and their very existence is unknown to all except a few naturalists. They are not confined like land plants to the surface of the soil, and while they are found in great abundance on the surface of the mud, they are not restricted to it, for their food is diffused in solution through the whole body of water, and the mud itself is so light that it is in a state of semi-suspension, and the little plants have ample room among its particles. On land, the plant-producing area is a surface, but the total plant- producing acreage of the bay is many times greater than the superficial area of its bottom. As the little plants are bathed on all sides by food, they do not have to go through the slow process of sucking it up through roots and stems, and they grow and multiply at a rate which has no parallel in ordinary familiar plants, and would quickly choke up the whole bay if they THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 269 were not held in check; but their excessive increase is prevented by- countless minute animals which feast upon them and turn the plant sub- stance into animal matter, to become in their turn food for larger animals. As a matter of fact, they are not very abundant, but there is no difficulty in finding them in any part of the bay, by straining the water through a fine cloth. In this way we obtain a fine sediment, which is shown by the microscope to consist almost entirely of them. The variety of these microscopic plants and animals is very great, and a series of large volumes would be needed to describe the microscopic flora and fauna of the bay. Most of them occur in other waters as well, but many are peculiar to the bay, which is an exceptionally favored spot for their growth. The exploration of this invisible world with a microscope is an unfailing delight to the naturalist, but at first sight it seems to have no particular bearing on human life. The ability to turn inorganic mineral matter into food for animals and for man does not depend on size, and in this respect the microscopic flora of the bay is as efficient as corn or pota- toes, but infinitely more active and energetic. In the oyster we have an animal, most nutritious and palatable, especi- ally adapted for living in the soft mud of bays and estuaries, and for gathering up the microscopic inhabitants and turning them into food for man. The fitness of the oyster for this peculiar work — for bringing back to us the mineral wealth which the rivers steal from our hillsides and meadows — is so complete and admirable, so marvellous and instructive, that it camiot be comprehended in its complete significance, without a thorough knowledge of the anatomy and embryology of the oyster. The inestimable value of our inheritance in the black mud of the bay has been pointed out, and it now remains to show that the oyster is an animal which has been especially evolved for life in this mud, and that through its aid we may make our inheritance available. A thorough knowledge of the oyster will teach much more than this. It will show the capacity of the oyster for cultivation, and it will also show why its cultivation is necessary, and why our resources can never be fully developed by oysters in a state of nature. We have never enjoyed the hundredth part of our advantage, nor can we ever do so if we continue to rely upon nature alone ; and this fact, which has been proved again and again by statistics, is perfectly clear to any one who knows what an oyster is, and what are its relations to the world around it. As its world is chiefly microscopic, no one can penetrate into the secrets of its structure and history without training in the technical methods of the laboratory ; and business contact with the oyster cannot possibly, with any amount of experience, give any real insight into its habits and mode of life. 270 MARYLAND. THE ANATOMY OF THE OYSTER. The most prominent fact in the organization of the oyster is its shell. Its body is shut in between two long concave stony doors, which are made of limestone, and are fastened together at one end, somewhat in the same way that the covers of a long, narrow check-book are bound together at the back. One of these shells, the flat one, is on the right side of the body, and the other, which is much deeper, on the left. When oysters are fastened to each other or to rocks, the left shell is attached, and the oyster lies on its left side. When it is at home and undisturbed its shell is open, so that the water circulates within it, but when disturbed it shuts its shell with a snap, and is able to keep it firmly closed for a long time. The snapping drives out the water, together with any irritating substances which may find their way in, and on the natural beds the oysters snap their shells shut, from time to time, for this purpose. The snapping is popularly called feeding, but it is nothing of the kind. It serves to drive food out instead of taking it in, and so long as the shell is open a gentle current of water is drawn in by a delicate piece of microscopic machinery, which will be explained later on. The food of the oyster consists of invisible organisms which float in the water and are drawn in with it. The apparatus for opening and closing the shell is very interesting. If you were to open a check-book, and were to wedge a piece of rubber between the leaves, close to the back, it would form a spring, which would be squeezed by closing the book, and would open it again when released. A book with such a spring would be open at all times, except when forcibly closed. Wedged in between the two shells of the oyster, at their narrow ends, is an elastic pad, the hinge-ligament, which acts in exactly the same way. When the shell is forcibly closed the ligament is squeezed, and it expands when it is released and thus throws the free edges of the shells apart. The ligament is not alive. It is formed, like the shell itself, as an excretion from the living tissues of the oyster, and its action is not under the control of the animal. It keeps the shell open at all times, unless it is counteracted, and for this reason an oyster at rest and undisturbed, or a dead oyster, always has its shell open. The active work of squeezing the ..passive ligament and closing the shell is done by a large, powerful muscle, made up of a bundle of con- tractile fibres which run across the body between the shells, and are fastened to their inner surfaces over the dark-colored spots which are always to be seen on empty oyster shells. The muscle is known to oyster-openers as the heart, and they assure you that when this is cut, the vital point, the seat of the oyster's life, is reached and that a wound here causes instant death. This is of course an error, and cutting the muscle causes the shell to open simply because it destroys the animal's THE ANATOMY OF THE OYSTER. ■ ^HdejiXCq Lithocaushc BnlL. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 271 power to close it ; but a fresh oyster on the half-shell is no more dead than an ox which has been hamstrung. Any one who has struggled with an oyster-knife to force open an obstinate thick-shelled specimen, knows the great strength of this little muscle. It is said that when fishermen are caught by the feet or hands between the shells of the giant clam of the Pacific, they never escape alive, but are held, as if by a vise, until the tide rises and drowns them; but firmly as the muscle of the oyster holds the shell together, a little skill is all that is needed to overcome it. The work of closing the shell is done by the muscle, but we must go very much farther in the study of the oyster in order to find why it closes. It is opened by the mechanical properties of the ligament, but the cause of its closure cannot be the mechanical properties of the muscle, for these are just the same whether it is active or at rest. Careful investigation shows the existence of a wonderful apparatus, consisting of the muscle which does the work, of nerves which connect the muscle with the brain, of other nerves which run to the more exposed parts of the oyster's body, and of sense organs which are connected with the ends of these sensory nerves, and these serve to put the animal into commu- nication with the external world. Though very much simpler, the mechanism is essentially like that of our own bodies. The oyster's shell is lined by a fleshy mantle, which is fringed by a border of dark-colored sensory tentacles, which are partially exposed when the shell is opened. The approach of danger is perceived by these organs, which transmit a sensation of danger along the sensory nerves to the brain, and this in turn sends a nervous discharge along another set of nerves to the muscle and this shortens under the stimulus and pulls the shells together and holds them fast. The muscle is attached to the shell at some distance from the hinge, in order that it may have leverage and work to advantage; and it must therefore be able to move as the shell grows, for in an oyster three inches long its area of attachment is outside what was the extreme border of the shell when this was only an inch long. The muscle travels by the addition of new fibres on its outer surface, together with the absorption and removal of those on its inner border. As it moves, the old impres- sion on the shell is gradually covered up by new deposits of lime, and in an empty shell it may be traced for some distance up towards the hinge when it gradually becomes more faintly marked, as the layers of new shell grow thicker. A very good idea of the way the shell grows and keeps pace with the growth of the body, may be gained by the careful examination of the muscular impression on its inner surface. Every fool knows why a snail has a house, but the king could not tell how an oyster makes his shell. We can now give a satisfactory answer to what will not 272 MARYLAND. I hope, be thought a fool's question : " Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell?" The shell, on each side of the body, is lined by a thin, delicate, fleshy fold, the mantle ; which may be compared to the outer leaf on each side of the check-book, next the cover. It lies close against the inside of the shell, and forms a delicate living lining to protect the body and the gills, and it is also the gland which makes the shell. At all times, while the animal is alive, it is laying down new layers of pearl over its whole inner surface, and as each successive layer is a little larger in area than the one before, the shell increases in size as well as in thickness, and the hinge, where there are many layers, is very thick, while the edge, which is new, is quite thin and sharp. Each layer is very thin, hardly thicker than a sheet of tissue paper, but the deposi- tion of layer on layer gradually results in a solid box of stone. Shells which grow on rough, irregular surfaces conform to their shape as perfectly as if they had been moulded into the ridges and fur- rows, like soft clay. An oyster growing in the neck of a bottle takes the smooth, regular curve of the glass, and on the claw of a crab an oyster shell sometimes follows all the angles and ridges and spines, as if it were made of wax instead of inflexible stone. Its apparent plasticity and the mouldings of its surface are due to the flexibility of the soft edge of the mantle. When the oyster is at rest this protrudes a little beyond the edge of the shell, so that each new layer is a little larger in area than the last one. The soft mantle readily conforms to the shape of the body to which the oyster is fastened, and however irregular this may be, the new shell takes its shape and closely adheres to it, because the new deposits are laid down directly upon it. You will see from this account the error of the current belief that an old oyster cannot fasten itself. Since the adhesion takes place around the growing edge, an oyster may fasten itself at any time, and clusters of oysters are often found with their shells soldered together near their tips. This can of course only occur after they are well grown. Oysters are able to close up broken places in their shells, and most molluscs sometimes absorb and rebuild parts of the shell. If any foreign body gets in between the shell and the mantle, shelly matter is deposited upon it. The pearls of the pearl oyster are formed in this way. Some small particle, such as a grain of sand, works its way in, and forms a nucleus which is gradually covered by layer after layer of pearl. The brilliant lustre, as well as that of mother-of-pearl, which is nothing but polished shell, is due to the interference of light caused by the laminated structure. A series of microscopic specimens of stages in the growth of the shell may be obtained, and made to exhibit the whole history of the process, THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 273 if we put into the shells of a number of oysters thin glass circles, such as are used to cover microscopic specimens, and then return the oysters to the water and leave them undisturbed until new shell begins to be formed on the glasses. These may then be taken out and studied under the microscope. At the end of twenty-four hours the glass will be found to be covered by a transparent, faintly brown film of thin gummy deposit, which exhibits no evidences of structure, and contains no visible particles of lime, although it effervesces when treated with acids, thus showing that it contains particles too small to be visible with a microscope. The gummy film is poured out from the wall of the mantle, and in forty-eight hours it forms a tough leathery membrane fastening the glass cover to the inside of the shell. At about this time the invisible particles of lime begin to aggregate and to form little flat crystals, hexagonal in out- line, and about j^ of an inch long. The crystals grow and unite into little bundles of groups, and new ones appear between the old ones, until, at the end of six days, the film has completely lost its leathery character and has become stony, from the great amount of lime present in it. In three or four weeks tlje glass cover is completely built into the shell and can no longer be seen, and its place is only to be traced by its form, which is perfectly preserved upon the inner surface of the shell. When broken out it is found to be coated with a thick plate of white shell, which is beautifully smooth and pearly upon the side nearest the Microscopic examination of this plate shows that it is made up of an immense number of minute crystals, packed and crowded together into a solid mass, without any regular arrangement. These observations show that the new layers are thrown off in the form of a gummy excretion from the mantle, with the lime in solution, and that the particles unite with each other and form crystals while the gum is hardening. The oyster obtains the lime for its shell from the water, and while the amount dissolved in each gallon is very small, it extracts enough to provide for the slow growth of the shell. It is very important that the shell be built up as rapidly as possible, for the oyster has many enemies continually on the watch for thin-shelled specimens. In the lower part of the bay we may lean over a wharf and watch the sheepshead mov- ing up and down with their noses close to the piles, crushing the shells of the young oysters between their strong jaws and sucking out the soft bodies ; the juices from the bodies of the little oysters stream down from the corners of their mouths, to be swept away by the tide. The sooner a young oyster can make a shell thick enough to resist such attacks the better, not only for the oyster but for us also ; for once past this dangerous stage of development, there is a prospect that it may 18 274 MARYLAND. live to complete its growth; although it is true that the fully grown oyster has many enemies which either crush the shell or pull it apart, or bore holes through it in order to reach the delicate flesh within. At all times in its life its chance of survival is greatest when the supply of lime is so abundant that it is able to construct rapidly a thick, massive shell. The rate of growth of any animal must be regulated by the supply of that necessary ingredient of its food which is least abundant, as may be illustrated in many ways. To run a locomotive the engineer must have fuel and water and oil. He needs very little oil, but that little he must have. After this is gone, an unlimited supply of fuel and water will not help him. He must have oil or stop. So, too, if he have plenty of oil and fuel, but only a little water, he must stop as soon as the water fails. In general, the amount of work he can do is determined by his supply of that of which he has least. If food in general is abundant while there is a scarcity of one necessary article, growth can take place only so fast as the scarce article can be procured. A superfluity of other things is of no value, for it cannot be utilized. There are many reasons for believing that the growth of oysters is limited by the supply of lime ; and that all the other necessary ingre- dients of their food are so abundant that an increase in the supply of lime would cause more rapid growth, greater safety from enemies, and an increase in the number of oysters. All kinds of shelled molluscs grow more rapidly, and reach a greater size, and have stronger and thicker shells in coral seas, where the supply of lime is unlimited, than in other waters. In some parts of the Bahamas the large pink-lipped conch, the shell which we often see for sale in the fruit stores of Baltimore, is so abundant that whole islands, large enough to be inhabited, are entirely made up of the broken fragments of these beautiful shells, which have been pounded to pieces and heaped up by the waves. The fresh-water mussels of our western rivers are very large in lime- stone regions, and so abundant that the bottom is almost paved with them, while in another river, perhaps only a few miles away, but flowing through a country where there is little lime, they are few and very small, with thin, fragile shells. If you turn over the old bones which are sometimes found in the woods and fields, you will nearly always find a number of snails which have been drawn to them for the sake of the lime. In order that the oyster may grow rapidly, and may be securely protected from its enemies, it must have lime. The lime in the water of the bay is derived in great part from the springs of the interior, which, flowing through limestone regions, carry some of it away in solution, and this is finally carried down the rivers and into the bay. Some of it is no doubt derived from deposits of rock in the bed of the ocean, and THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 275 some from the soil along the shores. Now, the geologist will tell you that all the limestone rock has at one time been part of the bodies of living animals. Limestone is either old reefs of fossil coral, or beds of extinct shells, or the skeletons of other animals and plants which lived in remote ages and stored up the lime from the ocean at a time when it was more abundant than it is now. The oyster gets the greater part of its lime from these sources in this roundabout way, but a very considerable portion is obtained in a much more direct way, by the decomposition of old oyster shells. We save up egg shells to feed laying hens, but we waste our oyster shells in every possible way, and treat them as if they were of no value. Some are burned for lime, some are used for making roads and wharves, some are used for filling in low land, some are dumped in great piles at convenient spots in the bay, where they sink far down into the mud and are lost. There is another far more important reason why they should be returned to the beds, but their value as food for the oyster is very great, and this alone should lead us to return them to the beds. On the oyster- beds an old shell is soon honeycombed by boring sponges and other animals, and as soon as the sea-water is thus admitted to its interior, it is rapidly dissolved and diffused. In a few years nothing is left. It has all gone back into a form which makes it available as oyster food, and it soon begins its transformation into new oyster shells. In this way the oysters obtain some of their lime directly without being compelled to draw on the inland beds of ancient fossils, and if all the shells could be returned to the beds, this source of supply would be greatly increased. The difference between the right and the left shells of the oyster has a very profound significance, for in science nothing is trivial or unim- portant. Most of the near relations of the oyster, like the clam and the fresh-water mussel, have the two sides of the body, and the two shells, alike. These animals are not fastened nor stationary like the oyster. They move from place to place in search of food, and their line of locomotion lies in the plane which divides the body into halves. They are erect and bilaterally symmetrical like other locomotor animals, such as the horse, the fish, the butterfly and the crab. The full-grown oyster has no locomotor power and it lies on its left side, but in the early part of its life it is very active, and is then bilaterally symmetrical like the clam. When it ceases its wanderings and settles down for life, it topples over, falls on its left side, and fastens itself by its left shell, which soon grows deep and spoon-shaped, while the right becomes a flat, movable lid. The body, which was originally symmetrical, becomes distorted or twisted to fit the difference in the shells ; and naturalists see in the fact that the locomotor relations of the oyster are symmetrical through life, 276 MARYLAND. while the oyster loses its symmetry as soon as it settles down, one of the proofs that it is descended from locomotor ancestors. There are many other proofs that this has been its history, and that it has, in compara- tively modern times, learned to fasten itself to rocks above the soft mud of our bays and estuaries, in order to avail itself of the rich vegetation; that it has lost its symmetry in order to fit it for this mode of life. The oyster is a very ancient animal, and its sedentary habits belong to the modern part of its history; although this change took place very long ago, so far as human chronology goes, and fossil oysters are found in many parts of the world. In order to understand the anatomy of the oyster, a clear conception of the structure and significance of its gill is most important. In all the bivalve molluscs the gills are very complicated, and they dominate over the whole structure of the body in such a way that an anatomical sketch of the animal is of necessity little more than an account of the gills. A thorough knowledge of the oyster-gill will not only throw light on the purpose and use of all its other organs ; it will at the same time help us to understand the great value of the animal as a means for making the microscopic inhabitants of our waters useful, and it will also show how well it is adapted for cultivation, and why it is impossible for natural oysters to stock the whole bay without aid from man. The labor which is necessary before we can have a clear, accurate picture of them, of their complicated structure, their relations to other parts of the body, their use and their origin, is considerable, but it is well worth while, for the gills give us the key to the whole significance of the oyster; but this requires close attention to all the details of a long, complicated and minute description, which from the nature of the case cannot be stated briefly, although it may^ all be put in simple language. A gill is, of course, a breathing organ, for aerating the blood by exposing it to the oxygen in the water; and the oyster has a heart for driving to the various organs of the body the blood which has been purified in the gills. It is easy to see and study the oyster's heart, but in order to do so the animal must be opened with great care, by cutting the muscle with a thin sharp blade, as near the shell as possible. If this is done, a small semi-transparent space will be seen close to the inner edge of the muscle. The thin membrane which covers the space is the peri- cardium, or the chamber which holds the heart, and through its trans- parent wall this may be seen slowly pulsating, for an oyster is not killed by opening its shell, and its heart continues to beat for hours, or, under favorable conditions, for days. If the pericardium be gently lifted and cut with sharp scissors, the heart, with its blood-vessels, will be exposed. It consists of two chambers, the auricle, which receives the pure blood THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 277 from the gills, and a ventricle, which drives it through arteries to the various organs of the body. While the gill of an oyster is a breathing organ, like the gill of a fish or crab or conch, this is only one of its many uses. The fish and the crab and the conch have other organs for supplying the gills with a stream of fresh water, but the gills of the oyster, besides purifying the blood, keep up a circulation of water for themselves. They are also organs for gathering up food from the water, and after it has been gathered they become organs for carrying it to the mouth. They are also reproductive organs, adapted for securing the fertilization of the eggs, and thus providing for the propagation of the species. In the European oyster and in the mussel they are also brood-chambers, in which the young are held and protected and nourished during their early stages of growth, until they are large enough to care for themselves. An organ which is at once a gill, a pump for supplying the gills with water, a food-collector, an organ for carrying the foocl into the mouth, a reproductive organ, and a nursing-chamber, must, of course, be compli- cated. The oyster's gill does all these things, and does them all well. It is not a jack-of -all-trades, but a machine which is beautifully adapted for carrying them all on at the same time, in such a way that each use helps the other uses instead of hindering them. This is the more remarkable since an ordinary mollusc, such as the conch, has distinct organs for all these pui*poses, although the oyster's gill does everything just as well and just as readily as the various organs of the conch. There are four gills in the oyster, two on each side of the body. They are long, flat, thin, leaf-like organs, placed side by side, and nearly filling the mantle chamber in which they hang. Each gill is made up of two leaves, so that there are in all eight gill-leaves. If you gum together the ends of a folded sheet of foolscap paper, so as to make a flat pocket, this, when held vertically, with the opening above, will form a pretty good model of a single gill. The closed portions of the four gills hang down into the mantle- chamber, side by side, but their upper edges are fastened to each other and to the inside of the mantle in such a way that they form a folded partition, something like a double W, which divides the mantle-chamber into two parts : a lower chamber, in which the gills hang, known as the gill-chamber, and an open chamber, into which the pockets open. This chamber is known as the cloaca, the Latin word for a sewer, or channel for waste water, and the fitness of the name will soon be seen. The partition between the two chambers is formed somewhat in this way. The upper edge of the outer leaf of the outer gill is united, along its whole length, to the inner surface of the mantle. The upper edge of 278 MARYLAND. the inner leaf of the outer gill is united to the same edge of the outer leaf of the inner gill. The upper edges of the inner leaves of the two inner gills are united to each other on the middle line of the body. If you were to make four pockets out of four sheets of paper, and were then to gum two of them together along their free edges, you would make a double pocket, which might be opened out so that a section through it would be like a W. This would serve as a model of the two gills on one side of the body, and two more sheets, treated in the same way, would make a model of the other two gills. Now gum two Ws together, side by side, and the double W will be a model of the four gills. Now open a very large book-cover, just far enough to gum the upper outer edge of one "W to the inside of the cover, and the opposite' edge of the other W to the other, and you will have a rough model of the coarse anatomy of the oyster's gills. The space between the covers is the mantle-chamber, divided by the gills into a lower portion or gill-cham- ber, in which the gills hang, and an upper cloacal chamber, into which the pockets open. So far we have spoken "of the gills as if the pockets reached, without interruption, from end to end, but this is not the case. Each pocket is divided up, by a series of vertical partitions, into a number of small cavities — the water tubes, each of which ends blindly below and opens above into the cloaca. To represent them in our model we must gum the two leaves of each pocket together from top to bottom along a series of vertical lines about an inch apart. Our model is very much larger than the actual gill, of course. The spaces between the partitions which are thus formed will represent the water tubes, closed below and opening above into the cloaca, and our model will now illustrate the anatomy of the gill, so far as it can be made out without a microscope. We must now consider the minute anatomy. If a small piece of one of the gills be cut out and spread flat upon a glass slide, so that its sur- face may be examined under a microscope, it will be found to be thickly covered with parallel ridges running from top to bottom, like the lines on the sheet of paper, each ridge being separated from the next one by a deep furrow. In the bottoms of the furrows there are many minute openings — the water pores, which pass through the wall of the gill into the water tubes, and thus form the channels of communication between the two divisions of the mantle-chamber. The ridges themselves are hollow, or, rather, each one contains a minute blood-vessel, which runs throughout its entire length, so that each wall of each gill is practically a grating of parallel, vertical blood- vessels, in which the blood is purified by contact with the water which THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 279 fills the gills and the chamber in which they hang. The purified blood is then forced into larger vessels, which carry it to the heart, by which it is pumped to all parts of the body, to be again returned to the gills after it has become impure. The gills are therefore easily intelligible, so far as they are 9imply organs of respiration; they hang in the water which fills the mantle- chamber, and their walls are filled with blood-vessels in which the blood comes into close contact with the water. The way in which the current of fresh water is kept up to bathe the gills continually with a new supply is more complicated. When one of the ridges on the surface of the gill is examined with a high power of the microscope, it is found to be fringed on each side by a row of fine hairs, each one less than A inch long, and so fine that they are invisible under a low magnifying power. They project from the sides of the ridges, over the furrows between them, and therefore over- hang the water pores in the bottoms of the furrows. In a fragment cut from a fresh gill, each one of these hairs is con- stantly swaying back and forth, with a motion like that of an oar in rowing, quick and strong one way, and slower the other way. They all move in time, but they do not keep stroke, for each one comes to rest an instant before the one on the other side; so that waves of motion are continually running from one end of each ridge to the other, like the waves which you have seen running over a field of ripe grain, as each stalk bends before the wind and then recovers. What would happen if a boat's crew were to row with all their strength, with the boat tied to a wharf? As they could not pull the boat through the water, they would push the water past the boat. This is exactly what these microscopic hairs do. They set up a current in the water. Each one is so small that its individual effect is inconceivably minute, but the innumerable multitude causes a vigorous circulation, and each one is set in such a position that it drives the water before it from the gill-chamber into one of the water pores, and so into one of the water tubes inside the gill; and as these are filled they overflow into the cloaca and fill that. If the mantle were closed, all the water would soon be pumped out of the gill-chamber into the cloaca, but you remem- ber that an oyster at rest always has the mantle open. As fast as the gill-chamber is emptied by the hairs, fresh water streams in from outside to be, in its turn, driven through the water pores into the water tubes, and through them into the cloaca, where it is driven out between the open shells and away from the oyster. So much for the gills as organs for maintaining a current of water. We come now to the way in which they procure food. 280 MARYLAND. The food of the oyster consists of microscopic organisms, minute animals and plants, which swim in the water. They are pretty abundant in all water, hut those who do not work with the microscope have very erroneous ideas on the subject. When a professional exhibitor shows you, under the microscope, what he calls a drop of pure water, it is nothing of the sort. It is either a collection made by filtering several barrels of water, or else it is a drop squeezed from a piece of decayed moss, or from some other substance in which they have lived and multi- plied. Sea water is like fresh water in this respect, and an oyster must strain many gallons of water to get its daily bread ; but the gills, with their hundreds of thousands of microscopic water pores, are most efficient strainers. The surface of the gills is covered by an adhesive excretion for entangling the microscopic organisms contained in the water, and as this circulates over and through the gills, they stick fast like flies on fly- paper. The hairs which drive the water through the gills, push the slime, with the food which has become entangled in it, towards the mouth, which is well up towards the hinge ; for it is hardly necessary to say that what the oystermen call the mouth is only the opening between the halves of the mantle. On each side of the mouth there is a pair of fleshy organs called the lips, although they are more like mustaches than lips, for they hang down on each side of the mouth. One on the right is joined to one on the left, above the mouth, while the other two are joined below it, so that the mouth itself lies in a deep groove or slit between the lips. The ends of the gills fit into this groove, and as the hairs slide the food forward, it slips at last between the lips and slides into the mouth, which is always open. As this process is going on whenever the oyster is breathing, the supply of food is continuous, and while it consists, for the most part, of invisible organisms, the oyster's stomach is usually well filled. It is not necessary to describe the oyster's stomach and intestine, and dark-colored liver, as these will be understood from the figure. The chief purpose of this anatomical sketch is to show the won- derful way in which the gills of the oyster fit it for gathering up the microscopic life of our bay, and for turning it into valuable human food. Looked at from this point of view, the minute anatomy of the animal becomes eminently practical, as it enables us to understand its true rela- tion to man. In view of the very exceptional fertility of the bay, and its bound- less capacity for producing microscopic vegetation, the immense import- ance of an animated strainer perfectly adapted for filtering very great quantities of water, for gathering up the microscopic life which it con- THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 281 tains, for digesting and assimilating it, and for converting it into food of the most attractive and nutritious character, cannot be overestimated ; but after we have studied the embryology of the oyster, we shall under- stand why the natural oysters alone can never utilize all the resources of our waters. We shall see why it is that the oyster is so well fitted for domestication and cultivation, and why the cultivation of oysters will render the Chesapeake Bay incomparably more valuable than it has ever been, even before our natural beds began to deteriorate. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OYSTER. The body of an oyster is not a simple, unorganized lump of flesh, but a complicated organism, made up of many parts, each one so related to the other parts that we must study the whole animal before we can understand the admirable adjustment of each organ to its use. The oyster is unintelligible until we have studied the organs which compose it, and the organs themselves are unintelligible unless they are studied as constituent parts of the whole. The oyster is a unit, a complete individual whole, made up of units of a lower order, the organs, in somewhat the same way that a regiment of soldiers is a unit, made up of units of a lower order, the companies. A description of the organs of the oyster does not, however, by any means complete the analysis of its body, for when any part is studied under a microscope, after it has been properly prepared, it is found to be made up of units of a still lower order, just as each company is made up of individual soldiers, or as the ten dimes which make a dollar are themselves made up of cents. Every part consists of cells, which are united into organs, in nearly the same way that these are united to form the oyster; and in order that its development from the egg may be intelligible, this fact must be held clearly in mind. Each cell is a minute portion of living matter, with an individuality of its own, like the individualities of the soldiers which form the regiment. The properties of each organ are due, in part, to the way in which the cells are arranged, and in part to the properties of the cells them- selves, for the cells which enter into one organ may be quite different from those which enter into another. Each of the cells which form the glandular surface of the mantle is itself a gland, and is quite different from a muscle cell, so that, in a certain sense, the activity of the mantle in forming the shell is the sum of the activities of its cells, just as the evolutions of a regiment are the sum of the actions of the soldiers, but a regiment can do many things 282 MARYLAND. which would be beyond the power of an unorganized mob, and the formation of the shell is due to the activity of the mantle as a whole. In an adult oyster we have gland cells in the mantle, muscle cells in the muscles, nerve cells in the nervous system, ciliated cells in the gills, and so on ; but if we study the animal at earlier and earlier stages, we find that these distinctions disappear, until, in ultimate analysis, all the cells are alike so far as the microscope can tell us. They are simply minute, definitely limited masses of living matter, with the power to grow when furnished with food; and after their size has thus increased, they have the power to multiply by splitting up into smaller and more numerous cells, which in their turn grow and multiply in the same way. They at first exhibit no traces whatever of the uses to which they are to be put, but as they grow older they gradually become specialized in various directions and are built up into the tissues and organs of the body, losing at the same time their sharp distinctness and fusing with each other. Just as certain cells become gland cells, others muscle cells, and so on, certain cells of the adult body become set apart as reproductive cells, eggs in the female and male cells in the male. The egg cells grow until they become^very much larger than any of the ordinary cells of the body; at the same time their outlines become sharply defined, and they become dark-colored and granular. The gran- ular appearance is due to the fact that as they approach maturity they become filled with food, which is stored away in them as a provision for the time when they are to be cast off from the body of the oyster, to lead an independent existence. The male cells are very much smaller than the eggs, they contain little food, and when they are mature each of them is furnished with a long cilium or vibrating hair, by means of which the cell is able to swim in the water, while the egg is motionless and sinks to the bottom as soon as it is set free. When the reproductive elements are fully ripe they are discharged from the body into the cloacal chamber of the mantle. The male cells are swept out into the ocean by the current produced by the gill cilia. As they contain no food supply, their power to live independently is very limited, and all soon die except those which come into contact with eggs. In the American oyster the eggs are swept out into the water in the same way. The eggs of the European oyster are much larger and heavier, and they fall into the water tubes of the gills and lodge there. Here they are exposed to the current of water which circulates through the gills, and this current brings with it some of the male cells which swim in the water around the oyster-bed. As soon as one of them comes THE OYSTER PLATE II. Fig.3. K THE ANATOMY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE OYSTER. KOEK & CO. Lith. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 283 into contact with an egg it fuses with it and loses its individuality and is lost in the substance of the egg, which is thus fertilized and at once begins its development into a new oyster. There is no such provision for securing the fertilization of the eggs of the American oyster. They are thrown out into the water, like the male cells, to be fertilized by accident, and while many of them meet with male cells, innumerable multitudes sink to the bottom and are lost. It is fortunate for other animals that this is the case, for our oyster is so prolific that if all the eggs were to be fertilized and were to live and to grow to maturity, they would fill up the entire bay in a single season. Far from being an exaggeration, this statement is much short of the truth. An average Maryland oyster of good size lays about sixteen million eggs, and if half of these were to develop into female oysters, we should have, from a single female, eight million female descendants in the first generation, and in the second, eight million times eight million or 64,000,000,000,000. In the third generation we should have eight million times this or 512,000,000,000,000,000,000. In the fourth, 4,096,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. In the fifth, 33,000,000,000,000,000,- 000,000,000,000,000,000 female oysters, and as many males, or, in all, 66,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. Now, if each oyster fill eight cubic inches of space, it would take 8,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 to make a mass as large as the earth, and the fifth generation of descendants from a single female oyster would make more than eight worlds, even if each female laid only one brood of eggs. As the oyster lives for many years, and lays eggs each year, the possible rate of increase is very much greater than that shown by the figures. The waste of oyster eggs through lack of fertilization is simply inconceivable; but it is possible to fertilize them artificially by mixing the eggs and the male cells in a small quantity of water, where they are certain to come into contact with each other. In this way about 98 per cent, of the eggs may be saved and made to produce young oysters, and the writer has had at one time in a small tumbler of water a number of active and healthy oysters, greater, many times, than the whole human popula- tion of Maryland If several oysters are opened during the breeding season, which varies according to locality and climate, as will hereafter be shown, a few will be found with the reproductive organ greatly distended and of a uniform opaque-white color. These are oysters which are spawning or ready to spawn, that is, to discharge their eggs. Sometimes the ovaries are so gorged that the ripe eggs ooze from the openings of the 284 MARYLAND. oviducts before the mass is quite at the point of being discharged. If the point of a knife be pushed into the swollen ovary, a milk-white fluid will flow out of the cut. Mixing a little of this with sea water, and placing it on a slide underneath a cover, a lens of 100 diameters will show, if the specimen is a female, that the white fluid is almost entirely- made up of irregular, pear-shaped, ovarian eggs, each of which contains a large, circular, transparent, germinative vesicle, surrounded by a layer of a granular, slightly opaque yolk. Perfectly ripe eggs will be seen to be clean, sharply defined, and separate from each other. If the specimen be male, a glance through the microscope shows something quite different from the fluid of a female. There are no large bodies like the eggs, but the fluid is filled with innumerable numbers of minute granules, which are so small that they are barely visible when magnified 100 diameters. They are not uniformly distributed, but are much more numerous at some points than at others, and for this reason the fluid has a cloudy or curdled appearance. By selecting a place where the granules are few and pretty well scattered, very careful watching will show that each of them has a lively, dancing motion ; and examination with a power of 500 diameters will show that each of them is tadpole-shaped, and con- sists of a small, oval, sharply-defined " head," and a long, delicate "tail," by the lashing of which the dancing is produced. These are the male cells, whose union with the eggs of the female is necessary to the fertilization of the latter and the consequent hatching of living oysters. The number of male cells which a single male will yield is great beyond all power of expression, but the number of eggs which an average female will furnish may be estimated with sufficient exactness. An unusually large American oyster will yield nearly a cubic inch of eggs, and if these were all in absolute contact with each other, and there were no portions of the ovaries or other organs mixed with them, the cubic inch would contain 500 s , or 125,000,000. Dividing this by two, to allow for foreign matter, inter-spaces and errors of measurement, we have about 60,000,000 as the possible number of eggs from a single very large oyster. It has been shown that by mixing eggs extracted from a female with male cells it is an easy matter to secure their union in a watch-crystal or in a glass beaker. The body of the oyster, like that of all animals, except the very simplest, is made up of organs ; such as the heart, digestive organs, gills and reproductive organs, and these organs are at some period in the life of the oyster made up of microscopic cells. Each of these consists of a layer of protoplasm around a central nucleus, which, in the egg, is a large, circular, transparent body, known as the germinative vesicle. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. . 285 Each, cell of the body is able to absorb food, to grow, and to multiply by division, and thus to contribute to the growth of the organ of which it forms a part. The ovarian eggs are simply the cells of an organ of the body, the ovary, and, so far as the microscope shows, they differ from the ordinary cells only in being much larger and more distinct from each other; and they have the power, when detached from the body, of growing and dividing up into cells, which shall shape themselves into a new organism like that from whose body the eggs came. Most of the steps in this wonderful process may be watched under the microscope, and, owing to the ease with which the eggs of the oyster may be obtained, this is a very good egg to study. About fifteen minutes after the eggs are fertilized they will be found to be covered with male cells. In about an hour the egg will be found to have changed its shape and appearance. It is now nearly spherical, and the germinative vesicle is no longer visible. The male cells may or may not still be visible upon the outer surface. In a short time a little transparent point makes its appearance on the surface of the egg, increases in size, and soon forms a little, projecting, transparent knob — the pole-cell. Recent investigations tend to show that while these changes are taking place, one of tbe male cells penetrates the protoplasm of the egg and unites with the germinative vesicle, which does not disappear, but divides into two parts, one of which is pushed out of the egg and becomes the pole-cell, while the other remains behind and becomes the nucleus of the developing egg, but changes its appearance so that it is no longer conspicuous. The egg now becomes pear-shaped, with the pole-cell at the broad end of the pear, and this end soon divides into two parts, so that the egg is now made of one large mass and two slightly smaller ones, with the pole-cell between them. The later history of the egg shows that at this early stage it is not perfectly homogeneous, but that the protoplasm which is to give rise to certain organs of the body has separated from that which is to give rise to others. If the egg were split vertically we should have what is to become one-half of the body in one part and the other half in the other. The single spherule at the small end of the pear is to give rise to the cells of the digestive tract of the adult, and to those organs which are derived from it, while the two spheres at the large end are to form the cells of the outer wall of the body and the organs which are derived from it, such as the gills, the lips and the mantle, and they are also to give rise to the shell. The upper portion of the egg soon divides up into smaller and smaller spherules, until we have a layer of small cells wrapped around the greater part of the surface of a single large spherule. This 286 MARYLAND. spherule now divides into a layer of cells, and at the same time the egg, or rather the embryo, becomes flattened from above downward and assumes the shape of a flat, oval disk. In a sectional view it is seen to be made up of two layers of cells ; an upper layer of small transparent cells, which are to form the outer wall of the body, and which have been formed by the division of the spherules which occupy the upper end of the egg; and a lower layer of much larger, more opaque cells, which are to become the walls of the stomach, and which have been formed by the division of the large spherule. This layer is seen, in a section, to be pushed in a little toward the upper layer, so that the lower surface of the disk-shaped embryo is not flat, but very slightly concave. This concavity is destined to grow deeper until its edges almost meet, and it is the rudimentary digestive cavity. A very short time after this stage has been reached, and usually within from two to four hours after the eggs were fertilized, the embryo under- goes a great change of shape. A circular tuft of long hairs, or cilia, now makes its appearance at what is thus marked as the interior end of the body, and as soon as these hairs are formed they begin to swing backward and forward in such a way as to constitute a swimming organ, which rows the little animal up from the bottom to the surface of the water, where it swims around very actively by the aid of its cilia. This stage of development, which is of short duration, is of great importance in rearing the young oysters, for it is the time when they can best be siphoned off into a separate vessel and freed from the danger of being killed by the decay of any eggs which may fail to develop. On one surface of the body at this stage there is a well-marked groove, and when a specimen is found in a proper position for examination, the opening into the digestive tract is found at the bottom of this groove. The embryo now consists of a central cavity, the digestive cavity, which opens externally by a small orifice, the primitive mouth, and which is surrounded at all points, except at the mouth, by a wall which is distinct from the outer wall of the body. Around the primitive mouth these two layers are continuous with each other. Soon a small irregular plate makes its appearance on each side of the body. These little plates are the two valves of the shell, and in the oyster they are separated from each other from the first, and make their appearance independently. Soon after they make their appearance the embryos cease to crowd to the surface of the water, and sink to various depths, although they continue to swim actively in all directions, and may still be found, occa- sionally, close to the surface. The region of the body which carries the cilia now becomes sharply defined, as a circular, projecting pad, the THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 287 velum, and this is present and is the organ of locomotion, at a much later stage of development. The two shells grow rapidly and soon become quite regular in out- line, hut for some time they are much smaller than the body, which projects from between their edges, around their whole circumference, except along a short area, the area of the hinge, upon the dorsal surface, where the two valves are in contact. The two shells continue to grow at their edges, and soon become large enough to cover up and project a little beyond the surface of the body, and at the same time muscular fibres make their appearance. They are so arranged that they can draw the edge of the body and the velum in between the edges of the shell. In this way that surface of the body which lines the shell becomes converted into the two lobes of the mantle, and between them a mantle cavity is formed, into which the velum can be drawn when the animal is at rest. While these changes have been going on over the outer surface of the body, other important internal modifications have taken place. Soon the outer wall of the body becomes pushed inward, to form the mouth. The digestive cavity now becomes greatly enlarged, and cilia make their appearance upon its walls; the mouth becomes connected with the chamber which is thus formed, and which becomes the stomach, and minute particles of food are drawn in by the cilia, and can now be seen inside the stomach, where the vibration of the cilia keep them in constant motion. Up to this time the animal has developed without growing, and is scarcely larger than the unfertilized egg, but it now begins to increase in size. Soon after the mouth has become connected with the stomach this becomes united to the body wall at another point a little behind the mouth, and a second opening, the anus, is formed. The tract which connects the anus with the stomach lengthens and forms the intestine, and soon after, the sides of the stomach become folded off to form the two halves of the liver, and various muscular fibres now make their appearance within the body. Such is the scientific history of the oyster-embryo. The pra.ctical utility of the knowledge, however, to the most of us, is that the Ameri- can oyster lays a vast number of eggs, but that they are exposed to dangers so constant and innumerable, that under ordinary conditions few ever come to life, or at any rate succeed in living long enough to anchor themselves and take on the protection of shells. This is only another example of a fact well known to naturalists. The number of eggs laid, or even of individuals born, has very little to do with the abundance of a species, which is determined mainly by the external conditions to which it is exposed. 288 MARYLAND. The young American oyster leads a peculiarly precarious life, since it is first thrown out an unfertilized egg, and the chance that it will immediately meet with a male cell must he very slight ; yet if it does not it will perish, for the sea-water soon destroys unimpregnated eggs. Having by good chance become fertilized by meeting a male cell, the next period of great danger is the short time during which the embryos swarm to the surface of the water. They are so perfectly defenseless, and so crowded together close to the surface, that a small fish, swimming along with open mouth, might easily swallow, in a few mouthfuls, a number equal to a year's catch. They are also exposed to the weather, and a sudden cold wind or fall in temperature, such as occurred several times during our experiments, killed every embryo. The number which are destroyed by cold rains and winds must be very great indeed. As soon as they are safely past this stage, and scatter and swim at various depths, their risks from accidents and enemies are greatly diminished. Up to this point, which is reached in from twenty-four hours to six days, there is no difficulty in rearing them in an aquarium, provided uniform warm temperature be preserved. Although we failed to keep the young oysters alive until they were large enough to handle and plant, our experiments showed the possibility of rearing them in unlimited numbers, so soon as some practical method of preserving them alive during their infancy should be discovered. The mature oyster is a sedentary animal with no power of locomo- tion. It lies on its side, soldered to the bottom by the outside of the deep spoon-shaped left shell, for which the flat right shell forms a movable lid. Its gills are very complicated organs, adapted for drawing into the fixed shell a steady current of water, and they pour into the open mouth of the animal a constant stream of food, so that eating goes on as uninterruptedly as breathing, and is just as much beyond the control of the animal. The adult oyster makes no efforts to obtain its food, it has no way to escape from danger, and after its shell is entered it is perfectly helpless and at the mercy of the smallest enemy. So far as active aggressive life goes it is almost as inert and inanimate as a plant, and its life is purely vegetative. This is the adult oyster. The young oyster is very different. It is an active animal, swimming from place to place. Its gills are not leaf-like, and they do not divide the mantle- chamber into two parts. They are nothing but breathing organs, and are simple, finger-like tentacles which hang down into the water. There is no gill-current as there is in the adult, and the young oyster must find its own food by swimming through the water. Its two shells are also exactly alike, and therefore quite different from those of the adult. The egg therefore tends, at first, to build up an animal which differs greatly from the adult, in structure as well as in habits, and naturalists THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 289 believe that our modern, oysters are the descendants of an ancient form which was not sedentary, and the egg at first exhibits a decided tendency to build up this ancestor rather than an oyster. Some may ask how we know that the remote ancestors of the oyster were different from modern oysters. This is a fair question, and we shall try to give an outline of the reasons for this opinion, and perhaps an illustration may help us. When a Baltimorean visits New York or Savannah or Boston or Chicago, he finds that while the people of these cities talk the same language, it is with a difference. They all talk what they call English, but when an Englishman comes among us he tells us that it is not English; and it is quite clear to an American who visits England that the people there do not know how to talk United States, although the differ- ences are trivial ones, of accent and idiom, and do not in the least hinder conversation. If, however, we cross the narrow strip of water which separates England from the German empire, we find a strange language, which at first seems totally unfamiliar and unintelligible, but as our ears become more accustomed to the strange sounds we find many which are not as unintelligible as they seemed at first. When a German talks of his vater, his mutter, his bruder, his sc/i wester, when he asks us to share his brod und butter, or offers us a glas wasser or a glas bier, we need no dictionary to tell us what he means. We know that the Americans and the English of to-day are descended from common ancestors, only a few generations back, from whom we have inherited their common language; and we know from literature that this was not exactly the same as modern English or modern Amer- ican, and history also tells us that still further back, Anglo-Saxon and modern German had a common starting point. Philologists therefore make use of the resemblances between languages to trace out their origin; and whenever they find that two or three languages have a common plan, a fundamental similarity of grammatical structure, they believe that they are divergent modifications from a common starting- point. In some cases printed language has preserved an actual history of the process, but in other cases, where there is no such history, the student of comparative grammar forms his conclusions by comparison ; and, even where the primitive language is lost, he is able to reconstruct it in part, for he knows that it must have been characterized by all the features which its derivatives have in common. Now, animals exhibit resemblances of very much the same character as those between languages; and when we find that several representatives of a great group are constructed upon the same fundamental plan, we infer, just as the philologist does, that they are the divergent descendants 19 290 MARYLAND. of a common ancestor, from whom they have inherited the features which they have in common. The philologist is sometimes able to verify his conclusion by the proofs which have been preserved in books and inscriptions, and he regards this as evidence that, in other cases where no such record is preserved, his results are equally trustworthy. Occasionally the student of comparative anatomy, like the student of comparative grammar, finds a fossil form which unites in itself the characteristics of several widely separated descendants, and he is thus enabled to test and to verify the conclusions which he has reached by comparative study. In this way, through the study of details too numerous and minute to be described here, it can be shown that the oyster is descended from a mollusc which was furnished with locomotor organs and sense organs, and which wandered about in search of food, and had altogether a much wider and more varied life than that of the oyster. Its gills were very simple and were nothing but breathing organs, and the many uses which they serve were provided for by distinct organs. Very long ago, as we measure time, but quite late in the history of the mollusca, as the continental areas were elevated and became covered with terrestrial vegetation, and fringed by bays and sounds of brackish water, the oyster gradually became modified in such a way as to fit it for life in these estuaries. Its locomotor organs and its organs for discover- ing and capturing food were gradually lost, as it learned to feed upon the microscopic life of the mud-flats. The gills then gradually became modi- fied and fitted for maintaining the circulation of water, and for filtering out the minute food particles it contains. Food is most abundant on the muddy bottom ; but in estuaries this is so deep and soft that a locomotor animal would sink and smother in it, so the oyster has gradually become converted into a fixture, and has learned to fasten itself when young to something firm enough to keep it out of the soft mud, but near enough to it to be within easy reach of the vast supply of food which it affords. As a fixed animal does not need to have the two sides of its body balanced, the fixed oyster has become one-sided, and has thus been still better fitted for its peculiar mode of life. These changes, while they are on the whole advantageous, since they enable the oysters to avail themselves of inexhaustible supplies of food, are not without disadvantage. Ihe oyster has become so perfectly adapted for a life on those hard bodies which occur in the soft mud of estuaries, that it cannot live anywhere else, and the young oysters which do not find a proper home soon die. In shallow bays and sounds hard substances are rare and far apart, and many young oysters must perish THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 291 from inability to find a proper resting place. To meet this danger the oyster's birth-rate has been enormously increased, so that among its innumerable descendants some few may be able to find proper homes, and may grow up to maturity in their turn. THE ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF OYSTERS. If the Chesapeake Bay is as rich in food for oysters as we have asserted, and if the oyster multiplies at such a very high rate of increase, how can our oyster supply be in any danger, or how can there be any need for aid from man in order to maintain and develop the oyster-beds? At first sight it does not seem possible that an animal which is protected from enemies by a strong stony shell, and which is capable of giving rise to several million eggs each season, can be in any danger of extermination ; and it seems as if the oyster ought to be able to hold its own in the struggle for existence, and to increase and multiply in spite of adverse circumstances. We should rather expect to find the whole bottom of the bay paved with oysters ; and for many years, the statement that there is any need for measures to prevent the destruction of our natural beds and the total extermination of our oysters has been met with ridicule, and it has been flatly contradicted by persons whose qualifications for expressing an opinion would seem to be very great. The history of the oyster-beds of Europe, and of those in many of the Northern States, should have been enough to warn us, years ago, of the need for the protection and development of our own beds, but our people have been too confident of the inexhaustible vitality of our own beds to heed the warning. So long as the consumption of oysters was restricted to regions in the immediate vicinity of the bay, the number of oysters which could be taken from each bed and put upon the market each season was so small that it could be furnished without taxing the beds; but more than ten years ago, November, 1879, the writer called attention to the fact that the perfection of our facilities for packing and transporting oysters had produced such a great demand, that the danger of destroying our best beds was growing greater every day, and was keep- ing pace with the growth of our population and the improvements in transportation. For the instruction of those who believe that the supply is sufficient for all demands, facts were cited from the history of other countries. No one who is familiar with the history of the oyster-beds of other parts of the world can be surprised at the deterioration of our own beds. Everywhere, in France, in Germany, in England, and in all northern coast states, history tells the same story. In all waters where oysters are found at all they are usually found in abundance, and in all these places 292 MARYLAND. the residents supposed that their natural beds were inexhaustible until they suddenly found that they were exhausted. The immense area covered by our own beds has enabled them to withstand the attacks of the oystermen for a much longer time, but all who are familiar with the subject have long been aware that our present system can have only one resul t — extermi nation. In view of these facts, no one who appreciates the magnitude of the oyster industry of the Chesapeake Bay can doubt that the protection of our beds is a matter of vital importance, for it is quite clear that we cannot trust to the natural fecundity of the oyster. It is well known to naturalists that the number of individuals which reach maturity in any species of animal or plant does not depend on the number which are born. The common tapeworm lays hundreds of millions of eggs in a very short time, yet it is comparatively rare. The number of children born to each pair of human beings during their lifetime of sixty of seventy years can be counted on the fingers, yet man is the most abundant of the large mammals. The abundance of a species is mainly determined by the external conditions of life, and the number of individuals which are born has very little to do with it. In the case of the oyster, the adult is well protected against the attacks of most of the enemies which are found in our waters, by its shell ; and as its food is very abundant and is brought to it in an unfail- ing supply by the water, it is pretty sure of a long life after it has reached its adult form ; but the life of the young oyster is very preca- rious : that of the young American oyster peculiarly so, since it is exposed to many enemies and accidents at the time when it is most helpless. The oyster of Northern Europe lays from one to two million eggs, while our oyster lays about ten times as many ; but the protection which is afforded to the young European oyster by the shell of the parent more than balances the greater birth-rate of our oyster. The most critical time in the life of the American oyster is undoubt- edly the time when the egg is discharged into the water to be fertilized, for the chance that each egg which floats out into the bay to shift for itself will immediately meet with a male cell is very slight, and infinite numbers of eggs are lost from this cause. The next period of great danger comes as the little embryos begin to swim and crowd to the surface of the water. They are so totally defenceless and are so close together that a little fish swimming along with open mouth may swal- low thousands in a few mouthf uls, and we have found that at this time a sudden fall of temperature is fatal to them, and a cold rain may destroy millions. As soon as they are safely past this stage and have scattered and begin to swim at various depths, their danger from accidents and enemies is greatly diminished, and their chance of reaching maturity THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 293 increases rapidly. Experiments which, we carried on many years ago show that there is no difficulty in rearing them up to this point in captivity, and that in a very small aquarium millions of them may be safely car- ried past the most precarious part of their lives and freed from their greatest dangers. Although the mortality at their early stages is so excessive, the number of young oysters which pass through them in safety without artificial help is very great, and if there were no other dangers or uncer- tainties there would be no need of measures for their protection. As they swim to and fro in the water they are carried to great distances by the tides and currents, and they reach all parts of the region of water within several miles of the parent bed. In a favorable season, any plant, or bush, or piece of driftwood which floats near an oyster-bed becomes covered with small oysters, although the nearest bed maybe miles away; and the fact that young oysters may be thus collected in any part of our bay shows that they are distributed everywhere, and we might expect the adults to have an equally general distribution. This is by no means the case, and nothing can be farther from the truth than the idea that the bottom of the oyster area is uniformly covered with oysters or ever has been, although it is quite true that oysters may be reared artificially over nearly the whole of it. The idea that it is ouly necessary to throw a dredge overboard anywhere in the oyster area, and to drag it along the bottom for a short distance in order to bring it up full, is totally erroneous. Such a condition of things is quite within the reach of the cultivator, but it never exists under natural influences alone. In this country, as well as in Europe, the oysters are restricted to particular spots called "banks," or "beds," or "rocks," which are as well defined and almost as sharply limited as the tracts of woodland in a farming country — they are so well marked that they may be laid down on a chart, or they may be staked out with buoys; and even in the best dredging grounds they occupy such an inconsiderable part of the bottom that no one would have much chance of finding oysters by promiscuous dredging, in igno- rance of their location. Although the young are distributed every year by the tides and currents over all parts of the bottom, the dredge seldom brings up even a single oyster outside the limits of the beds, under natural conditions. The restriction of the oysters to certain points does not depend on the supply of food, for this is everywhere abundant, nor to any great degree upon the character of the water. It is almost entirely due to the nature of the bottom. The full-grown oyster is able to live and flourish in soft mud so long as it is not buried too deeply for the open edge of the shell to reach above the mud and draw a constant supply of water to its gills ; but the oyster 294 MARYLAND. embryo would be ingulfed and smothered at once if it were to fall on such a bottom, and in order to have the least chance of survival it must find some solid substance upon which to fasten itself, to preserve it from sinking in the soft mud, or from being buried under it as it shifts with wind and tide. In the deposits which form the soft bottom of sounds and estuaries solid bodies of any sort rarely occur; and the so-called " rocks " of the Chesapeake are not ledges or reefs, but accumulations of oyster shells. Examination of a Coast Survey chart of any part of the Chesapeake Bay or of any of its tributaries will show that there is usually a mid- channel, or line of deep water, where the bottom is generally soft and where no oysters are met with, and on each side of this an area where the bottom is hard, running from the edge of the channel to the shore. This hard strip is the oyster area. It varies in width from a few yards to several miles, and the depth of the water varies upon it from a few feet to five or six fathoms, or even more. But there is usually a sudden fall at the edge of the channel, where the oysters stop, and we pass to soft bottom. The oyster bottom is pretty continuous, except opposite the mouth of a tributary, where it is cut across by a deep, muddy channel. The solid oyster rocks are usually situated along the outer edge of this plateau, although in many cases they are found over its whole width nearly up to low-tide mark, or beyond. As we pass south along the bays and sounds of Virginia and North Carolina, we find that the hard borders of the channel come nearer and nearer to the surface, until in the lower part of North Carolina there is on each side of the Channel a wide strip of hard bottom, which is bare at low tide and covered with oysters up to high-water mark, although the oysters are most abundant and largest at edge of the deep water, where they form a well-defined reef. In our own waters there is usually a strip along the shore where no oysters are found, as the depth of water is not great enough to protect them in winter. The whole of the hard belt is not uniformly covered with oysters, but it is divided up into separate oyster rocks, between which comparatively few can be found. The boundaries of a natural rock which has not been changed by dredging are usually well defined, and few oysters are to be found beyond its limits. The oysters are crowded together so closely that they cannot Jie flat, but grow vertically upwards, side by side. They are long and narrow, are fastened together in clusters, and^are known as " coon" oysters. When such a bed is carefully examined it will be found that most of the rock is made up of empty shells ; and a little examination will show that the crowding is so great that the growth of one oyster prevents adjacent ones from opening their shells, and thus crowds them out and exterminates them. Examination shows, too, that nearly every one of THE OYSTER PLATE III. Tig.l. A.HnEnSCn LithnctLusticBaltrainri YOUNG OYSTERS ATTACHED TO A SHOE AND A BOULDER. THE OYSTER AND -THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 295 the living oysters is fastened to the open or free end of a dead shell which has thus been crowded to death ; and it is not at all unusual to find a pile of five or six shells thus united, showing' that number two had fastened, when small, to the open end of number one, thus raising itself a little above the crowd. After number one was killed number two continued to grow, and number three fastened itself to its shell, and so on. Usually the oysters upon such a bed are small, but in some places shells twelve or fourteen inches long are met with. The most significant characteristic of a bed of this kind is the sharpness of its boundaries. In regions where the oysters are never disturbed by man it is not unusual to find a hard bottom, which extends along the edge of the shore for miles, and is divided up into a number of oyster rocks, where the oysters are so thick that most of them are crowded out and die long before they are full-grown, and between these beds are areas where not a single oyster can be found. The intervening area is perfectly adapted for the oyster, and when a few bushels of shells are scattered upon it they are soon covered with young, and in a year or two a, new oyster rock is estab- lished upon them, but when they are left to themselves the rocks remain sharply defined. What is the reason for this sharp limitation of a natural bed? Those who know the oyster only in its adult condition may believe that it is due to the absence of power of locomotion, and may hold that the young oysters grew up among the old ones, just as young oak trees grow up where the acorns fall from the branches. This cannot be the true explanation, for the young oysters are swimming animals, and they are discharged into the water in countless numbers, to be swept away to great distances by the currents. As they are too small to be seen at this time without a microscope, it is impossible to trace their wanderings directly, but is possible to show indirectly that they are carried to great distances, and that the water for miles around the natural bed is full of them. They serve as food for other marine animals, and when the contents of the stomachs of these animals are carefully examined with a microscope, the shells of the little oysters are often found in abund- ance. While examining the contents of the stomach of lingula in this way we have found hundreds of the shells of the young oysters in the swimming stage of growth, although the specimens of lingula were captured several miles from the nearest oyster-bed. As lingula is a fixed animal the oysters must have been brought to the spot where the speci- mens were found ; and as lingula has no means of capturing its food, and subsists upon what is swept within its reach by the water, the presence of so many inside its stomach shows that the water must have contained great numbers of them. It is clear, then, that the sharp limitation of the area of a natural oyster-bed is not due to the absence in the young of the power to reach 296 MARYLAND. distant points. There is another proof of this, which is familiar to all oystermen — the possibility of establishing new beds without trans- planting any oysters. "We once observed an illustration of this. On part of a large mud-flat which was bare at low tide there were no oysters, although there was a natural bed upon the same flats, about half a mile away. A wharf was built from high-tide mark across the flat out to the edge of the channel, and the shells of all the oysters used in the house were thrown on to the mud alongside the wharf. In the third summer the flat in the vicinity of the wharf had become converted into an oyster- bed, with a few medium-sized oysters and very great numbers of young, and the bottom, which had been rather soft, had become quite hard ; in fact, the spot presented all the characteristics of a natural bed. Changes of this sort are a matter of familiar experience, and it is plain that something else besides the absence in the oyster of locomotor power determines the size and position of a bed. Now what is this something else ? If the planting of dead shells will build up a new bed, may we not conclude that a natural bed tends to retain its position and size because the shells are there ? This conclusion may not seem to be very important, but we hope to show that it is really of fundamental importance, and is essential to a correct conception of the oyster problem. "Why should the presence of shells, M^hich are dead and have no power to multiply, have anything to do with the perpetuation of a bed ? "We have already called attention to the fact that oysters are found on the. hard bottom on each side of the channel, while they are not found in the soft mud of the channel itself, and it may at first seem as if there were some direct connection between a hard bottom and the presence of oysters, but the fact that no oysters are found upon the hard, firm sand of the ocean beach shows that this is not the case. As a matter of fact, they thrive best upon a soft bottom. They feed upon the floating organic matter which is brought to them by the water, and this food is most abundant where the water flows in a strong current over soft organic mud. When the bottom is hard there is little food, and this little is not favorably placed for diffusion by the water, while the water which flows over soft mud is rich in food. The young oysters which settle upon or near a soft bottom are therefore most favorably placed for procuring food, but the young oyster is very small — so small that a layer of mud as deep as the thickness of a sheet of paper would smother and destroy it. Hence the young oysters have the habit of fastening themselves to solid bodies, such as shells, THE OYSTER PLATE IV YOUNG OYSTERS FASTENED TO SOLID BODIES. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 297 rocks or piles, or floating bushes, and they are thus enabled to profit by the soft bottoms without danger. Owing to the peculiar shape of an oyster shell, some portions usually project above the mud long after most of it is buried, and its rough surface furnishes an excellent basis for attachment. It forms one of the very best supports for the young, and a little swimming oyster is especially fortunate if it finds a clean shell to adhere to when it is ready to settle down for life. Then, too, the decaying and crumbling shells are gradually dissolved in the sea water, and thus furnish the lime which the growing oyster needs to build up its own shell. As long as the shell is soft and thin, the danger from enemies is very great, and this danger is greatly diminished as soon as the shell becomes thick enough to resist attack. It is, therefore, very necessary that the shell should be built up as rapidly as possible; and an abundant supply of food in general will be of no advantage unless the supply of lime is great enough for the growth of the shell to keep pace with the growth of the body. All sea water contains lime in solution, but the percentage is, of course, greatest near the sources of supply. It is well known that on coral reefs, which are entirely made of lime, all kinds of shelled molluscs flourish in unusual abundance, and have very strong and massive shells ; and our common land and fresh- water snails are much larger and more abundant in a limestone region than in one where the supply of lime is scanty. In such regions it is not unusual to find the snails gathered around old decaying bones, to which they have resorted to obtain a supply of lime for their shells. From all these causes combined it results that a young oyster which settles upon a natural oyster-bed has a much better chance of survival than one which settles anywhere else ; and a natural bed thus tends to perpetuate itself and to persist as a definite, well-defined area; but there is still another reason. As the flood-tide rushes up the channels it stirs up the fine mud which has been deposited in the deep water. The mud is swept up on to the shallows along the shore, and if these are level, much of the sediment settles there. If, however, the flat is covered by groups of oysters, the ebbing tide does not flow off in an even sheet, but is broken up into thousands of small channels, through which the sediment flows down, to be swept out to sea. The oyster-bed thus tends to keep itself clean ; and for these various reasons it follows that the more firmly established an oyster-bed is, the better is its chance of perpetuation, since the young spat finds more favorable conditions where there are oysters, or at least shells, already, than it finds anywhere else. Now, what is the practical importance of this description of a natural bed? 298 MARYLAND. It is this : Since a natural bed tends to remain permanent, because of the presence of oyster shells, the shelling of bottoms where there are no oysters furnishes us with a means for establishing new beds or for increasing the area of the old ones. The oyster dredgers state, with perfect truth, that by breaking up the crowded clusters of oysters and by scattering the shells, the use of the dredge tends to enlarge the oyster-beds. The sketch which we have just given shows the truth of this assertion; but this is a very rough and crude way of accomplishing this end, and we shall now give a description of the means which have been employed in different places to accom- plish the same result more efficiently and methodically. Within recent years, much attention has been given to the possi- bility of increasing the supply of oysters by artificial means. The oyster is well known to be enormously prolific, a single one giving birth in one season to many million young, and it is obvious that the annual supply would be enormously increased if all the young which are born could be reared to maturity. Unfortunately, this is not the case, and under a state of nature mil- lions of oysters are born for each one which grows to maturity. Mobius has shown that in Europe each oyster which is born has only one chance in one million one hundred and forty-five thousand of reaching maturity ; we have shown that the chances of each American oyster are very much less. One of the most important discoveries of the last fifty years is, that it is quite possible to save many of these oysters by artificial means; and experiments which have been carried on in France, as well as in many parts of our own country, prove that this can be done, successfully and economically, on a very large scale. Soon after it is born the young oyster fastens itself to some solid body. It is at first so small that it is smothered and killed at once if it falls upon a muddy or slimy bottom, and its only chance for life is in the discovery of some perfectly clean, hard body upon which to fasten. Many young oysters are killed by accidents or enemies after they have fastened themselves, but by far the greater number perish through failure to find proper places for attachment ; and the whole secret of oyster culture is to furnish proper bodies for the attachment of the young. Many methods of doing this have been devised and employed, and the possibility of in this way increasing the area and value of the natural beds, and of building up new beds or restoring old ones, has been proved. At present no spat-collector seems to be better adapted for use in our waters upon hard bottoms than oyster shells, and they are now the cheapest collectors that can be used. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 299 In order to serve this purpose the shells must be perfectly clean; and as the old dead shells, which have lain for a long time upon the oyster-beds are torn to pieces by the boring sponge, and covered with mud and slime, hydrioids, sea-weed and sponges, they are much less effective than those which are placed in the water just before the spawn- ing season. In regions where there is no danger from frost, or where the young growth is to be planted in deeper water before winter, the shells may be deposited at or even above low-water mark, and in the sounds of North Carolina, oysters thrive even at high-tide mark. The shells should be deposited in the early summer — in June, July and August — in localities where there is enough current to sweep the swimming young past them. A hard bottom is to be preferred, but this method may be employed with great advantage upon any soft bottoms which are near the surface. In this case the shells should not be uniformly distributed, but placed in piles or ridges. If these ridges are properly arranged with reference to the direction of the current, they will produce secondary currents, and will thus cause the soft mud to flow off between them. In this way any bottom which is bare or nearly bare at low tide, and which is exposed to the winds and waves, may in time be swept nearly clear of mud. Each time the tide comes in the mud is stirred up and suspended in the water, and as the tide ebbs this suspended matter is swept into the channels between the obstructions and is carried away. Shells are very effective as spat collectors. Shell wharves built Out into deep water, so as to catch and turn the passing current, are often found to be covered with young oysters at all stages of growth and in good condition for planting. The month of June is usually the best time for shelling the bottom. The early part of the month for warm seasons and shallow water, and the end of the month for cold springs, or for deep water. The quantity of shells varies according to circumstances, but in most cases 1,000 bushels to the acre are not too many. In shallow waters, where the shells are uncovered at low tide, they maybe examined, to pick out for distribution upon the planting grounds, those which have young oysters upon them ; but in deeper waters the shells must be picked up with tongs or dredges, or they may be strung upon wires and sunk in deep water on suitable frames. The chief objection to the use of shells is that the method is a wasteful one. It is not unusual for fifty or a hundred young oysters to fasten upon one shell, and as the shells are too strong to be broken without injuring the young oysters, these cannot be detached, and most of them are soon crowded out and killed by the growth of the others. The use of tiles, has therefore, been introduced in France to avoid this loss. 300 MABYLAND. As tiles can be employed without difficulty in deep water, they are well adapted for use in our bay. Those whicb are used in France are much like a common drain-pipe sawed in two longitudinally. They cannot be obtained in our markets at present, although they could be made very cheaply if there were any demand for them. Each tile is about eighteen inches or two feet long, six or eight inches wide, concave on one side and convex on the other. The shape of the tile is impor- tant, as nearly all the oysters fasten themselves upon the concave surface. They adhere so firmly that it is difficult to detach them without injury, and to avoid this the French oyster-breeders coat the tiles with a thin whitewash, which can be scaled off with the young oysters when these are large enough to be distributed upon the planting grounds. The aim of all methods of oyster culture is to increase the number of oysters, by furnishing proper substances for collecting the swimming embryos at the time when they are ready to attach themselves. In our waters, clean oyster shells are, in nearly all cases, the best substance to use for the purpose, and there is hardly a spot anywhere in the bay which might not be converted into an oyster-bed by this simple method of cultivation, which has been shown, in all parts of the world where it has been tried, to yield a very great return for the capital and labor employed. There are few parts of the world which offer advantages for the prosecution of this industry equal to those afforded by the bay, and there is no other place where these advantages are presented on such a great area of bottom. Our oyster grounds, of course, vary in value, according to local conditions, and oyster culture is much more easy and profitable in some places than in others; but, in course of time, even the soft, muddy bottoms of the deepest channels may be brought under cultivation, and there is scarcely a foot of the bottom where oysters cannot be reared. The number of oysters which the bay might be made to furnish annually is almost too great for computation, but we may very safely assert that it is greater than the total number which have been taken from our waters in the past. ( All that is needed to make this great source of wealth available to our people, is permission to engage in oyster culture. When the citizens of Maryland demand the right to enter into this industry, and to reclaim their property, which is now going to waste, a new era of prosperity will be introduced, and the oyster area will be developed with great rapidity.}) We have shown that, upon undredged natural beds, solid substances become so thickly covered with young oysters that they have no room to grow, so that most of them are soon crowded out and killed. All localities are not equally favorable for the collection of spat, and in the best places the amount which can be collected each season is very much greater than the amount which is needed for stocking the bottom. THE OYSTER PLATE V" Ha Sfe;«-^^ ri^.i. TILES COVERED WITH YOUNG OYSTERS. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 301 This excess can be profitably used as " seed " for stocking bottoms in shallow, landlocked bays, rivers, and other places which are less fitted for the collection of spat. While oyster-planting, as the sowing of these " seed " oysters is called, does not result in the production of new oysters, it is a very profitable industry, and it admits of great development. The profits are smaller and the labor greater than those of oyster culture in deep water, but oyster-planting requires little capital, and the shores of the bay abound in proper spots for the prosecution of this industry, the importance of which has long been recognized by our people. There are many bottoms where there are no natural oysters, simply because there is nothing upon the ground for the spat to catch upon, or because they are not places to which the spat is carried ; and there are other bottoms which are so soft that a very young and small oyster would be buried in the mud and killed, although larger ones are able to live and thrive in the mud. In all these places oyster-planting may be carried on with profit, for while it is true that the total number of oysters which are born is not increased by planting, the number which reach maturity is greatly increased; for the young oysters fasten themselves so close together and in such great numbers that the growth of one involves, under natural conditions, the crowding out and destruction of hundreds of others, which might have been saved by scattering them over unoccupied ground. Planting also adds very greatly to the value of oysters, as they grow more rapidly and are of better quality when thus scattered than they are upon the natural beds. The culture of oysters in the deeper waters of the bay, and the establishment of new oyster-beds by collecting the floating spat upon clean shells and other proper substances, is very much more important than the encouragement of oyster-planting ; but it is easy to see the very great advantages which we should derive from a thorough system of planting. Deep-water cultivation cannot be undertaken to advantage on a small scale, and it requires both capital and expensive appliances; but oyster-planting can be carried on without any great expense, and as success in it depends to a great degree upon constant, intelligent supervision, small cultivators will always have the advantage of those who attempt more extensive operations. The most serious obstacle to the development of a great planting industry in Maryland is the absence of all respect for private property in oysters. In enclosed or artificial ponds oysters would be much more safe from theft than in open water. Under our present system oysters are often sacrificed or sold at unremunerative prices, because there is no way to keep them in good condition until they can be sold to advantage. A system of ponds after the French pattern, for the temporary storage of oysters, would be a very profitable piece of property in the vicinity 302 MARYLAND. of any large centre of the packing business; and the experience of the French planters shows that the construction of storage ponds where the oysters may be kept in good order, and where they will continue to grow and to increase in value, is a very simple matter. This industry has also the great advantage that it does not need legislative protection. It can be put into practice at once by any one who owns land which is suitable for the purpose ; and our State contains hundreds of acres of low, marshy land which is now private property, although it is of little or no value to its owners. Small streams and inlets which are not navigable, and which lie within the limits of private land, may be converted into ponds like the French claires at very slight expense; and with no more labor than what is required for ordinary agriculture they could be made much more profitable than the best farming land. THE OYSTER. INDUSTRY. One-fifth of the State of Maryland is covered by the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. This bay is the largest in the United States ; and, running from north to south, it divides Maryland into an eastern and a western portion. On the one side the waters of the bay encroach on the land, breaking the " Eastern Shore " up into many bays, creeks and inlets ; while the " Western Shore " makes a compara- tively straight line on the map. The Mary lander, however, does not regret the great tract of land thus stolen from him by the waters, but recognizes in it his most valuable inheritance. The waters covering this extensive area of 2,300 square miles bear on their surface, and contain hidden in their depths a great store of good food, which forms a very important addition to the list of land products. Ducks, geese and other birds are shot along the shores; while the many varieties of fish, the crabs, the terrapins and the oysters offer conclusive proof as to the richness of life in the bay itself. Of all the inhabitants of the Chesapeake, the oyster is undoubtedly the most valuable to the State. On either side of the deep channel run- ning the length of the bay, and at certain points in this channel there are to be found, with areas varying much in size, what are known as oyster " banks," " beds," or " rocks." These beds, as a rule, lie below low water mark, in water less than forty feet deep. Further out in the channel the bottom is usually too soft and muddy for oysters, hence they appropriate the firmer ground of the shallows. In the bays, creeks and river mouths, where the water varies in depth from two or three to thirty feet, large beds have become established ; while in the bay proper still larger beds have arisen. The bed extending along the shore of Anne Arundel county has been estimated to cover over twenty-eight square THE OYSTER .-PLATE VI. THE OYSTER AND THE OTSTER INDUSTRY. 303 miles. Besides this great bed there are at least half a dozen, each of half the size ; while many others cover areas varying from two hundred to ten or twelve acres. The total area occupied by oyster beds has been estimated to be about one hundred and ninety-three square miles. Long before white men came to America the Indians knew of oysters and valued them highly. Tribes living along shore near the beds depended largely on the oyster for their food supply. At certain times during the year large parties were accustomed to collect, and after gathering enough oysters to hold high carnival. The same practice was common to tribes living on clams and other shell-fish, and our more modern clam-bake is simply a survival of this old Indian custom. All along the coast there are at certain points huge piles of shells now over- grown with grass, which were heaped up at these annual feasts. The Indians got their oysters by wading out and picking up those near the shore, or by diving in deep water for them. When the white man came he soon introduced more efficient methods. Tongs, and later, dredges, were invented, and with the aid of these devices large numbers of oysters could be obtained in a short time. At first, and for a long time, the oyster trade was of very little importance. People living near natural beds easily obtained all they needed for home use ; but of course in towns there early grew up a distinct class of oystermen, who made a business of supplying consumers with oysters in the shell. As towns sprang up along the Chesapeake, and as Baltimore became larger, the demand for oysters increased, and the class of men who depended on the oyster trade for a living grew larger and larger. During the early part of the present century the natural beds of the more northern States became exhausted by overworking, and a new phase of the industry arose. Men came from Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Delaware to the Chesapeake and bought young oysters to transplant to beds prepared for them. These transplanted oysters throve in their new homes and found a ready market, and in this way the Chesapeake became a source of supply for the markets of the States just mentioned. About 1834 a Connecticut man established in Baltimore the first packing-house. Oysters were brought up from down the bay and packed raw, to be sent as far as Pittsburg in wagons. This branch of the business received a great impetus as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad extended further and further west. It has steadily increased up to the present time. Alongside of the packing trade there arose an important industry in the canning and exportation of steamed oysters, which to-day furnishes hundreds of inland places with a supply of this most delicious of all mollusks. The development of these various phases of the oyster industry, the increased facilities for transportation, and the steady demand have made the immense natural beds of the 304 MARYLAND. Chesapeake the very centre of the oyster world. While beds in other waters have given way before the inroads of man, those of the Chesa- peake, principally on account of their size and comparative immunity from natural enemies, still hold out, and even support foreign beds with seed oysters. There are in Maryland waters two principal methods of obtaining oysters from the beds. The first method, known as tonging, is confined to beds in shallow water; while the second, that of dredging — called by the oystermen "drudging" — is used principally in deep water. Most of the boats used in tonging are small, only one, two, or three men being needed to man a boat. The Chesapeake canoe is the most characteristic tonging boat. This is a peculiar model, formed from three dug-out logs joined together. It is pointed at both ends, has a round bottom, no deck, and sails with one or two "leg-of-mutton" sails and generally a jib. It is quite a sea- worthy boat, from eighteen to twenty-five feet long, and will stand a good deal of rough handling. Another very common tonging boat is the batteau, which is flat-bottomed, built of boards, and usually sails with one sail and a jib. The batteau is of about the same size as the canoe, and these two, with one other kind, the "bug-eye"— sometimes called "buck-eye" — make up a tonging fleet. There are various interpretations of the name of this latter craft, of which, perhaps, that given by one of the officers of the oyster navy may be interesting. He maintains that the term arose from the ease with which the boat is handled; some such phase as " turned in a bug's eye," being gradually abbreviated to the term " bug-eye." The bug-eye is a larger boat than the canoe, being from twenty-five to sixty feet long, and is built of planks instead of being dug out of logs. It is sharp at both ends, but, unlike a canoe, is decked over. While a canoe carries two or at most three men, the bug-eye being so much larger may carry five or six, and thus accomplish more work. Across a tonging boat is placed a platform to be used in culling. Most canoes and batteaux carry two pairs of tongs, while the bug-eyes carry twice as many. A pair of oyster tongs is essentially a pair of very heavily toothed rakes, attached to long wooden handles so pivoted that when they are brought together the teeth bite into each other. Above the teeth — ■ of which there are eight or ten — there is an iron basket-work arrange- ment to hold what the teeth tear off. The handles of tongs vary in length from seven to twenty-two feet, according to the depth of water in which they are used. No oysters under two and a half inches long are lawfully marketable ; hence the necesssity of " culling," which consists in sepa- rating the larger oysters from undersized ones and empty shells which come up in the tongs. The small oysters are returned to the water. THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 305 Watcliing a couple of men tonging in a canoe, you will see that they divide the labor between them, one tonging while the other culls. The tonger, seizing the handles of his tongs, allows the heavy irons to slip down into the water until the handles stand up vertically before him. Now by spreading the handles apart he opens the teeth, and after closing and opening them again several times, until he feels that he has a good hold on a bunch of oysters, he slowly raises the tongs and dumps the catch on the culling-board. As soon as the board is full, the culler picks up his hammer and begins rapidly to break up the clusters of oysters, throwing the small ones overboard and the large ones into the boat. After a time tonger and culler change places. When there are three men in the boat, two tong while the third culls until the others give him more oysters than he can handle, when one of the tongers helps him. A fleet of tongers at work is a very pretty and quite a lively sight. Almost any clear day during the winter, if it be not too windy, tongers may be seen busy from nine o'clock in the morning until five in the evening. The little boats are anchored over the bed for acres around, bobbing up and down on the waves, their sails down and their crews busily engaged with the tongs. The splash of the tongs, the chipping of the culler's hammer, an occasional call from boat to boat, or a snatch of a song, with the active motions of the men, combine to form a cheerful and lively scene. But there is a dark side to the picture. The freezing water splashed up by the tongs, the handling of cold, wet oysters, the severe muscular exertion of tonging and culling, all tend to make this occupation one of great hardship. Only the hardiest can stand such a rough life, and it has been said that "the death rate among oystermen as compared with other trades is very high;" "the injury to health from exposure is such that few reach old age." The risks and hardships involved in this occupation have a very bad influence on the men as a whole. Most of them have no higher aim than to get through the winter months, during which tonging is allowed, with as little work as possible. Being forced to stay in when the weather is bad, they take holiday at all other times they can. The necessity of earning money enough to live on is the only thing that keeps these people at work. Reckless of the future, they only live for the moment, and most tongers spend their earnings as soon as they get them. Hence they are proverb- ially poor. Some of the men, however, work with great regularity, and make a good living. During the summer months the law forbids oyster- ing, and then many of the tongers become fishermen, others catch crabs, while some work on farms. Many own their own little houses, and 20 306 MARYLAND. during the off months do no work except the little required to keep their gardens cultivated. Before considering dredging, a method of tonging occasionally used should be mentioned — the taking of oysters with the "nippers." " Nippers " are very much simplified tongs. They are merely two small rakes with four or five long teeth each, fitted to handles which work like those of the tongs. This instrument is used in calm water, where the man in the boat can see the largest oysters on the bottom, and pick them up one by one. The method is slow and difficult, and is not much used. The dredgers may be divided into two main classes; "dredgers" proper, and "scrapers;" the only difference between the two being in the size of the boats and dredges used. There is no special dredging -vessel, just as there is no special form of tonging boat. Any sloop or schooner from five to seventy-five tons may be rigged up as a dredger. The "oyster pungy," however, is perhaps peculiar, and best adapted to the needs of the dredger. This is a schooner of about ten tons, with a deep keel, steep sides, and a flush deck. The last point is an advantage to the dredger, for when a boat with a bulwark is used, this must be cut away on either side, at the place where the dredge comes up. Fixed firmly to the deck in this position there is an iron windlass, working by a crank, attached to which is a long rope with the dredge fastened to the end. The dredge is a heavy iron framework, to which is hung a bag made of iron rings. Across the frame, at the mouth of the bag, there is a strong blade. In the larger dredges this blade bears heavy teeth, while in smaller ones, known as " scrapers," the teeth are absent, a sharp edge taking their place. Scraping is done with the smaller boats of this class; generally under ten tons, carrying about five men, and confining their operations to comparatively shallow water. These boats seldom make any extended trips, usually returning to port after a day's work. The larger schooners on the other hand carry twice as many men, and when starting off for a trip take enough provisions for several days. Dredging, like tonging, is anything but a pleasant, easy occupation ; and the crew, white and colored, crowded in a small cabin reeking with smoke, living on the coarsest fare, and exposed to rain and snow, cold and ice, have a very hard time of it. When they reach the beds in deep water they drop the dredge overboard, and at the same time let the rope run out behind by which the big iron bag is dragged along over the bed. As the teeth of the blade across the mouth of the dredge catch the oyster-shells, they tear off whole bunches and the bag is soon full. After a time the vessel comes up somewhat into the wind, and the men THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 307 wind up the rope on the windlass, bringing the dredge alongside, and gradually the heavy load is pulled up on deck and dumped. Since the dredge, besides its own weight, holds one and a-half to two and a-half bushels of oysters, this, as may well be imagined, is no light task, but a most back-breaking operation. As soon as the load is dumped all hands " cull off," the catch being thrown into the hold. Soon the dredges are overboard again, and the schooner is off on another tack. The vessel continues in this way tacking back and forth for the rest of the day, always returning to the bed if carried beyond. The present laws require the catch to be culled over the bed where caught, as the undergrown oysters would soon be smothered if they should fall into the mud sur- rounding the bed. Dredgers work in fleets of from two or three sail to as many as sixty or more, and have their favorite beds; so that, in sailing down the bay in the season, one sees fleets of such boats at intervals along the shore from Baltimore to Crisfield. As with the tongers, only the toughest and hardiest of men dare risk the hardships of this life, which is even more laborious and trying than that of the tongers. The past winter has furnished us with many examples of this. Just after Christmas all the coves, bays, rivers and creeks were frozen over with a covering of from three to four inches of ice, and hundreds of tongers were held fast in port; most of the scrapers were also shut off from work, the dredgers being the only class able to do much work, because their ground lay in deep water. There was much suffering among the tongers and scrapers from lack of employment at their busiest season. The dredgers, though not prevented from work, did not fare much better. Ropes, decks, ironwork, and the clothes of the men were covered with frozen spray, and the usually hard work was rendered many times harder and more dangerous. In good weather, when the boats are loaded, they can often take advantage of a fair breeze and make port, which is Baltimore for most of them, in two or three days. During January of this winter, however, in addition to all the usual hindrances and hardships, the loaded boats were compelled to pay high prices — as much as one hundred dollars a day — for a tow through the fields of ice, which blocked the channel, and there was great risk that the cargo would freeze in the hold. Between the tongers and dredgers there is a long-standing feud, causing the State no little trouble. The tongers claim the beds in shallow water for themselves, to the exclusion of the dredgers, who object to any such restriction, and accordingly whenever they can outwit the State police force they run over into the tongers' territory. Within a comparatively recent period it was no unusual tiling to see two or three hundred dredgers at once violating the State's laws. Every captain had one or more repeating rifles, and was a veritable pirate, with 308 MARYLAND. a crew completely under control and ready to face the officers of the law. Several severe engagements took place, in which the police were treated very roughly. At present there is little disturbance among the oyster- men, hut occasional outbreaks show clearly the need of more efficient control of a class of men who do not hesitate to defy the law and consider themselves the judges of their own rights. It is only by constant vigilance that the oyster navy, commissioned by the State in 1868, manages to keep things comparatively quiet. The oyster navy consists of fifteen boats — two steamers, each carrying a small cannon and twelve repeating rifles, and thirteen sail, likewise well armed. The sailboats are stationed all along the shores of the bay, each having its particular beat, while the two steamers, besides keeping these local boats to their duty, have important general work of their own. They must enforce the culling laws, examine licenses — for each Maryland dredger or scraper is numbered, and wi thout the proper license none may work — keep all foreign vessels off Maryland grounds, prevent dredgers from encroaching on tongers, and see to it that the crews of dredging boats are not abused by their captains. This last duty is one made neces- sary by the brutal character of many of the captains, and by the great ignorance and consequent servility of the crews. Besides these unpleasant duties, however, the navy does much in a more direct way to ameliorate the condition of the oystermen. During the cold weather, when dredgers are often kept out of port by the ice, or prevented by the same reason from going to work, the steamers of the navy break a way for them and tow them through the ice. Destitute oystermen are also sure to find a friend in the navy, and thus in many ways this force, primarily intended to enforce the laws, exerts a kindly, fostering influence. Such an influence, as it gains in strength, will make the navy more efficient and more influential in promoting a better spirit in the oystermen. When an oyster boat is loaded, she makes all haste to port, and there sells out to some packing establishment, canning house or commission merchant. Most of the oysters taken are brought directly to Baltimore, but a large number are sold further down the bay at the various towns along the shores. Approaching an oyster town from the water, one is immediately struck with the immense size of the shell heaps near the wharves, and the peculiar long, low, wooden buildings, running out over the water, with a fleet of sailboats near by. The number of oyster shells in such a town is prodigious ; they are seen everywhere, and there are two or three places, like Crisfield, built on a foundation of shells. In the winter months, during the oyster season, a visit to such a place is very interesting; especially if , as was the case this last winter, the ice has imprisoned three or four hundred tongers, dredgers and scrapers along THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 309 the wharves. Unless the freeze is a long one, though the fleet is laid up, the packing houses can work without interruption, for they always keep a supply of oysters on hand. The packing establishment is a collection of low, wooden houses, built at the water's edge, so that the boats may unload easily. On one side is placed a large wooden shed for receiving the oysters as the boats bring them in. This shed opens into a long, low room, where the oysters are removed from their shells by the process known as " shucking," and passed on into the packing-house. The oysters are raised from the boat's hold by horse-power, and wheeled in barrows to the storage shed, where great piles of oysters — 1,200 to 4,000 bushels — are heaped up to serve as a supply for the next room. The shucking room is the most interesting part of the whole establishment. From end to end run two, three or four rows of tables, with broad aisles between. At one side of the room is a stove, and at one end is a window, opening into the packing-house. Usually the rooms are well lighted by numerous large windows, and are quite comfortable places on a cold day. The wooden tables are long, heavy affairs, and the shuckers stand in lines in front of them, each in a separate stall, with a pile of oysters on the table to the left, while a bucket is placed on the right, and on the floor a pile of oyster shells. Men and women, boys and girls work side by side, standing in their stalls all day long, and, as a rule, working pretty steadily, often under the eye of an overseer. The process of "shucking" is extremely inter- esting to watch, but very difficult to imitate without much practice. There are two methods used in shucking; one with the hammer and knife, while with the other only the knife is used. In this latter process, known as "stabbing," the shucker picks up an oyster with his left hand* deftly inserts a thin-bladed knife between the shells, then with a turn of the wrist and a twist of his knife he lands the oyster in the bucket on his right, and throws the shells down on the floor beside him. The whole operation is so quickly yet so accurately done that the observer is confused and mystified. It is only after close watching that one sees in these apparently careless motions a series of distinct separate acts, so nicely co-ordinated, that a good shucker works with the precision of a machine. In the right hand is held the knife with a thin, pliant blade, while on the other hand there is usually worn a padded glove with the fingers cut off. An oyster is seized and held down on the table by the left hand, with the broad end, popularly known as the mouth, directed to the right. Next the knife-blade is skillfully slipped between the shells, and with one quick motion the oyster is cut off from the lower shell. The left hand now picks up the upper shell with the oyster attached, at the same time turning it over. This motion is almost simultaneous with the last, which separates the oyster from the lower valve, a turn of the 310 MARYLAND. left wrist helping the knife and bringing the oyster uppermost at the same time. The knife is now caught so as to leave the right forefinger free, and as the blade slips, in the last motion, under the oyster, the forefinger is laid upon it to hold it to the blade. Finally, by almost a single motion, the oyster is tossed into the bucket from the knife, while the left hand throws the shell to the floor. In this way most workers open about twenty oysters a minute, and soon wear a groove in the table, where they hold the rough shell in the first motion. The other method of shucking — with the hammer — is quite different, and not so rapid. The hammer breaks the mouth of the shell, which is held in the left hand, and then it is an easy matter to insert the knife, which is taken up on laying down the hammer. Now the oyster is picked up by the left hand and held, while the knife cuts it from the upper shell, and at the same time flings this off. By the next motion the lower shell is removed and cast aside, the oyster landing in the bucket. Formerly, instead of hammers, knives, with heavy handles, were made, by which the shell was broken along the edge; the knife was then reversed and used in cutting, as just described. In some establishments each shucker has two buckets, one for large, choice oysters, and the other for average sizes. As the piles of shells grow around the shuckers, they are wheeled outside and dumped, thus giving rise to the huge shell heaps seen all along the water-front of an oyster town. The workers are kept supplied with oysters wheeled in from the storage bins. The work is not apparently as hard as that of the oystermen, but is still fatiguing and laborious, and the shuckers are frequently compelled to stop work to warm their hands, which would otherwise soon become numbed from handling cold oysters. The shuckers are perhaps a better class than either the dredgers or tongers. Many shuckers work pretty regularly, earning from $2.50 to $3.50 a day, own their own little houses, and get along fairly well. The majority, however, are poorly clothed, dirty, shiftless, and ignorant, simply work- ing because compelled to do so ; never aiming to better their condition. On the Eastern Shore almost all the employes are negroes, and it would be hard to find a more picturesquely shabby crowd. In spite of their poverty and generally miserable condition, it is a real pleasure to see these people at work. There seems to be a sort of fascination for them in the act of shucking. As the work goes on, some one with a powerful voice starts a negro hymn, and soon the whole room-full is singing with the energy and fire of a camp-meeting. Singing seems to be a sort of com- pensation to the poor shuckers, for their hard work and impoverished - state. As soon as a shucker fills his bucket, he takes it to the window which opens into the packing house. In the packing room, just under ■'-.-• ■:• '%, THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 311 this window, stands a large strainer, or colander of tin, as big around as a tub. A man, whose special business it is, takes the bucket of oysters from the shucker, and empties the contents on the strainer. Fresh water is then run on to wash off small pieces of shell and dirt, together with the natural liquor of the oysters. The oysters are scooped up into a quart measure, and poured into large tubs of fresh water. A gallon of such oysters is known as a "gallon dry measure"; and, as the shuckers are paid by " dry measure," it is to their interest to lose all the liquor they can in shucking, A record is kept of every gallon handed through the window; in some places the shuckers receiving a check for each gallon as it is brought in. At the end of the day twenty cents is paid for every gallon shucked, some of the workers making as much as $3.75. After a good washing in the tubs, in which, in warm weather, large cakes of ice are floating, the oysters are packed. In towns down the bay the fresh oysters are simply fastened up in barrels, half -barrels or kegs, and shipped by rail, the barrels having ice in them. In Baltimore wooden buckets and tin cans, packed in large cases surrounded with ice, are chiefly used. When emptied by consumers, the buckets and cans are usually returned to the packer. Another method of shipment for distant points is found in the steamed-oyster trade. Oysters are unloaded from the boats into little cars of iron wicker-work, holding two or three bushels each, which run out on the wharf near the steaming-house. When loaded, three of these cars at a time are run into a long steam-box, in which they are shut up and subjected to a high temperature for three or four minutes. When sufficiently steamed the oysters are shucked, it being an easy matter to remove them from the shells when dead and gaping open. They are then put up in cans of various sizes, heated again, soldered up, and finally heated a third time for a few minutes. After cooling, the cans are labeled, packed and shipped all over the country. The large canning and packing establishments in Baltimore often have kilns connected with them, in which the shells are burnt to lime. Fertilizing companies also burn great quantities of shells for the lime. Besides this, shells are of use as ballast in boats, to fill in low land, etc., etc. The very important use of shells in forming new oyster beds is not practiced in Maryland, since there is no such thing as artificial cultiva- tion here. The following extracts from the report of the United States Commis- sioner of Fish and Fisheries, Colonel Marshall McDonald, will give an idea of the magnitude of Maryland's greatest industry : "The returns indicate that in 1891, 32,104 persons were directly engaged in the industry; that the capital invested was $6,697,302, and 312 MARYLAND. that the value to the fishermen of the oysters taken was $5,295,866. Comparing these figures with the aggregate for the entire fishing interests of the Coastal States of the United States, it is seen that the oyster industry of Maryland gave employment to nearly one-fourth of the persons engaged; represented nearly one-sixth of the capital invested, and yielded more than one-seventh of the money returned." "Of the 32,104 persons directly engaged in the industry, 11,293 were factory hands," employed in the canning and packing houses. The 28,811 remaining were chiefly tongers and dredgers. There were, roughly speaking, about 7,000 boats, tongers, dredgers and scrapers; 5,000 of which were tongers. The total catch for 1891 is stated to have been 9,945,058 bushels, of which the dredgers took 5,475,725 bushels, while the tongers are represented by 4,469,333 bushels. From this short sketch of the most valuable interest of the State, it is readily seen that if Nature unaided is so bountiful, when once modern methods of artificial cultivation shall have been adopted, there will be a vast increase in the production and a rich source of revenue to the State. The ignorance and indifference of the oystermen to all but their own immediate interests have hitherto had influence enough to thwart all attempts at the introduction of improved methods, and a system of regulations to prevent the depletion of the beds, such as other States have adopted with the best results; but the eyes of the public are being opened to the real state of affairs, and the magnitude of the interests at stake, and there is good reason to hope that this great field of industry and source of wealth will not much longer be mismanaged and destroyed. CHAPTER IX. COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. The history of Maryland commerce is as old as Maryland itself. It begins two hundred and fifty years back, with a condition of absolute dependence upon English shipping, and this dependence it was the avowed policy of the mother country to establish and maintain. During the early years of the Province, an English Order in Council provided that " no tobacco or other production of the colonies should thenceforth be carried into any foreign parts until they were first landed in England and the duties paid." The Navigation Act of 1651 further restricted trade to English built ships, and for the next hundred years an uninter- rupted series of restrictive measures combined to confirm the commercial vassalage of Maryland. Agents were established by English merchants at many of the old river towns of the Province, whither tobacco, securely packed in hogsheads, was rolled from adjacent plantations — -weighed, paid for, and stowed aboard English bottoms waiting at the landing. In 1761 Maryland trade engaged one hundred and twenty vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 8,000 tons, of which only some thirty vessels, of a total burthen of 1,300 tons, were owned 'in the Province. "With the events and consequences of the Revolutionary War, the situation under- went radical changes. Commercial restrictions were thrown off, and trade in the great staples of the State stimulated. Natural advantages of location began to assert themselves ; local accumulations of capital led to independent purchase and direct shipment, and Maryland ports rapidly assumed commercial prominence. Between the close of the Revolutionary War and the outbreak of the War of 1812, there was an extraordinary expansion of Baltimore trade. Continental wars not only increased the demand for Maryland staples, but largely diverted the West India trade to this safer port. The rise and perfection of the "Baltimore Clipper" aided the opportunity, and during the whole period of which we are speaking, Baltimore enjoyed the chief part of European and West Indian commerce, together with no inconsiderable share of the world's carrying trade. The volume of Maryland exports increased from $2,239,691 in 1791, to $5,811,380 in 1795, to $9,151,939 in 1804, and to $14,298,984 in 1807. During the war of 1812, 314 MARYLAND. the commerce of the State was largely suspended, but thereafter it developed with renewed vigor. Baltimore was the natural market for the agricultural products of the interior and western countiy. Active communication had long been maintained with this vast region; in early days by pack-horses, later by long wagon trains that traversed the great northern turnpikes as far as the Ohio River. The introduction of steamboats upon the navigable waters of the West displaced this means of transportation. Improved systems of communication had been established by New York and Pennsylvania, and a deflection of trade to these centres was threatened. Public-spirited citizens immediately began an agitation to supply the need, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company was incorporated in 1824 for the purpose of constructing a canal from tidewater on the Potomac to the 01 do River. Several years later, when estimates of the enormous cost of the canal rendered its immediate completion improb- able, a supplementary project was proposed — a railroad from Baltimore across the mountains to the Ohio. In February, 1827, the first railroad charter granted in the United States was given by the General Assembly of Maryland to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The work of actual construction was begun in the following year. In 1853 the road was completed to the Ohio River, and in 1857 direct connection was secured with St. Louis. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was opened in 1850 for through navigation from Georgetown to Cumberland. These great arteries form an organic part of the commercial history of Maryland. They opened up a vast undeveloped region, and secured for the metropolis of the State a large measure of the advantages .suggested by its natural location as a seaboard market and distributing depot for the West. Both trade and commerce suffered severely from the Civil War. Communication with the South was completely cut off, and Western trade temporarily diverted to other channels. But the causes of pros- perity were suspended, not destroyed, and as the prostrate industrial life of the country revived, the trade centres of the State emerged into enhanced importance. The vigor and activity of those early days has never waned. The commercial prosperity of Maryland is historical in its growth, the product of unexampled natural advantages, and perma- nent in its stability and strength. BALTIMORE. Baltimore is located at the head of navigation, on the Patapsco River, thirteen miles above its entrance into the Chesapeake Bay, and one hundred and seventy miles from the Atlantic Ocean, at Cape Henry. The Patapsco River, from the city to the bay, is really an arm of that magnifl- COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 315 cent estuary, as the fluvial waters under this name terminate near the southwestern boundaries of the city, from whence to its junction with the bay, it forms a spacious tidal basin, averaging two miles in width, with from 18 to 22 feet natural depth at mean low water. This location, one hundred and seventy miles inland, connected with the Atlantic by the wide and deep waters of the Chesapeake Bay, marked Baltimore in the early days of the State as a natural point of transfer for the commerce between the interior of the continent and foreign countries. From the long-ago days, when swift privateers roamed the seas, and the " Baltimore Clipper" was the admiration of the nautical world, until now, Baltimore has held a foremost place among Atlantic sea-ports. More, perhaps, to natural location, than to any other single cause, is this due. The Patapsco River offers bold water on both sides for many miles of frontage, as does the Chesapeake Bay to its mouth. Elevated rolling lands slope down on either hand to sandy beaches. The fluctuations of the water level, due to the tidal movement (only about eighteen inches), are so slight that in either bay or river, navigation is unhindered by the impeding currents so often found at other ports. For the same reason no swinging or floating stagings are necessary for the lading or discharge of cargoes or passengers, nor expensive closed docks to keep vessels afloat at varying stages of the tide. For seven miles on one side, and for over three miles on the other, railways are in operation, by which every foot of water front can be connected, at small cost, with any or all of the railway systems of the country. In a word, no city on the Atlantic coast offers, by reason of natural situation, facilities for the extension of commercial business superior to those presented by Baltimore. Ship Channel. In the days when the commerce of the world was borne by sailing vessels, and a ship of eight hundred tons was considered a large one, the natural depth of water in the Patapsco was ample for all the requirements of a commerce which spanned the Atlantic, embraced both shores of the western hemisphere, and covered the waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans with the sails of Maryland ships. As, how- ever, in answer to the demands of commerce and the requirements of the most economic methods of ocean transport, the size and tonnage of vessels steadily increased, until the coasting schooner exceeded in tonnage the old Liverpool liners and Indiamen, and steamships of 4,000 tons burthen were classed among the smaller transports, it became evident that if Baltimore was to maintain her commercial importance the depth of water in the channels of the river must be increased by dredging. The first efforts in this direction were began forty years ago, the city, State and federal governments acting in conjunction, and looked to the opening of a channel twenty-one feet deep at the mouth of the river, 316 MARYLAND. where the natural depth was not over eighteen feet at low water. With large contributions from the city, added to the appropriations by the government, this work of improvement has been steadily pushed forward with ever increasing demands for increase of width and depth of waterway, to meet increasing size and tonnage of vessels. The ship channel leading to this port has now a least width of six hundred feet and a depth of twenty-seven feet at mean low water, sufficient, at least for the present, for the largest ocean steamers. It may safely be asserted that should the necessity arise, additional width and depth will promptly be provided, if necessary, by the city alone, whose contributions, heretofore, have materially hastened the completion of the work. Harbors. At the entrance to Baltimore harbor, the Patapsco River divides into the northwest, southwest and middle branches. The north- west branch pierces two and a half miles into the very heart of the business portion of the city, affording miles of water front, within easy reach of the main thoroughfares of the eastern and central sections. The southwest and middle branches envelope the southern and south- western sections, giving a long expanse of water front, in close proximity to the lines of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The main harbor, or that on the northwest branch, is surrounded by the older portions of the city, and contains grain elevators, steamship piers, railroad terminals, dry dock, floating docks and marine railways. This harbor has a water front measured on the pier head line of six and a half miles, an area of six hundred and thirty acres, and while leaving ample fairways for the movement of vessels, furnishes ninety-six acres of anchorage grounds, on which the least depth of water is nineteen feet. The whole of the lower portion of the harbor, covering the elevators and steamship piers, has a depth of twenty-seven feet at mean low water. The harbor along the southwest and middle branches has, within the city limits, and measured on the pier head line, a water front of five and a half miles, and nearly as much more on the opposite banks, in the county. It covers an area of thirteen hundred acres, and has channels of seventeen feet depth at mean low water. The total water front within the city limits, if fully improved, would furnish at least fifty miles of wharf room, allowing docks of one hundred and fifty feet in width. In addition to these commercial facilities within the city, there are nearly ten miles of water front on the Patapsco, below the city, with railroads in operation near it, on both sides of the river. As the harbor of Baltimore is the receptacle for most of the drainage of the city and an extensive area of back country, a large amount of dredging is annually required to maintain the specified depths of water in the various sections of the harbor. This work is done entirely by the city, under the immediate direction of an unpaid Commission, known as COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 317 the Harbor Board, who also are conservators of tlie laws regulating the construction and repair of wharves, and of all laws touching the general preservation and maintenance of the harbor and the navigation of the river and harbor. Port Charges. There are, strictly speaking, no port charges at Baltimore, except clearance, register and license fees, paid to the Federal Government through the Collector of the Port. These are the same at all ports of entry in the United States. What are ordinarily classed as port charges — that is, cost of wharfage, stevedoring, tonnage, etc., — fluctuate from time to time, but always within reasonable limits. There is, however, no charge for wharfage at elevators when grain is taken on, and it is generally conceded that all incidental expenses of this kind are lower in Baltimore than at any other Atlantic port. Baltimore has not, however, become a great exporting centre and distributing point by means of natural advantages alone. Local enterprise and ready capital have provided ample means of communication and unsurpassed facilities for the receipt and distribution of commodities to the world's markets. It is to the consideration of these that we now naturally turn. STEAMSHIP LINES. Some twenty regular lines of steamers are engaged in trade between Baltimore and important European and South American ports, in addition to a large number of " tramp steamers " and several lines of sailing vessels. Of the regular steamship lines, the North German Lloyd has a service of fine vessels between Baltimore, and Bremen and Southampton. Sailings are weekly, and the passage is ordinarily made in twelve days. Passenger travel has assumed large proportions on this line. The Allan Line, between Baltimore and Liverpool, calling at Halifax, makes sailings fortnightly, and in the summer season with more frequency. The fleet consists of five vessels, fitted with all conveniences for passenger traffic. The Johnston Line trades between this port and Liverpool and London, and is particularly active in cattle, grain, cotton and lumber transportation. The Lord Line has a bi-monthly service from Baltimore to Belfast and Dublin. The Donaldson Line offers facilities to shippers to Glasgow; thence to Scotland, Ireland and the northern parts of England. The Atlantic Transport Line runs a large fleet of steamships between Baltimore, and London and Swansea. The Neptune Line plies between Baltimore and Rotterdam, as does also the Royal Netherlands Line, with fortnightly sailings. The Bristol Channel Line sails monthly to Bristol, and the Empire Line at similar intervals to Leith, Scotland. The Blue 318 MARYLAND. Cross Line plies weekly between Baltimore and Havre. The Puritan Line despatches steamers every ten days to Antwerp. The Pinkney-Furness Line carries freight to various European ports ; the Hooper Line, to Liverpool, and the Hamburg-American Packet Company, to Hamburg. The Earn Line has a series of vessels between Baltimore and Santiago-de- Cuba, Cuba, with occasional voyages to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Hammonia Line carries freight from Baltimore to various Brazilian ports. The coast trade of Baltimore with northern and southern ports has assumed large proportions and engages several important lines of steamers equipped for passenger as well as freight traffic. The Merchants' and Miners' Transportation Company maintain nine large steamships with regular sailings to Norfolk, Boston, Savannah, and Providence. The Bay Line has a series of fine steamers running nightly to Norfolk, where important connections are made with the South. The New York and Baltimore Transportation Company operate between Baltimore and New York, and the Ericsson Line between Baltimore and Philadelphia, by way of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. The Richmond and York River Line has a fleet which runs to West Point and Richmond, where connections are made with the Richmond and Danville Railroad. Trade with the bay and river ports of Maryland employs a whole fleet of vessels. The principal companies engaged in this traffic are the Eastern Shore Steamboat Company, Veems Transportation Line, Mary- land Steamboat Company, Chester River Steamboat Company, Sassafras River Steamboat Company, Choptank Steamboat Company, Wheeler Transportation Line, Maryland and Virginia Steamboat Company, Tol- chester Steamboat Company and others. There are in all about fifty bay steamers, ranging in tonnage from 250 to 800 tons, many with excellent passenger facilities in addition to freight accommodations. During the busy summer season they make daily trips, while in the winter months, when the business is lighter, four trips per week suffice. In addition, innumerable schooners, pungies, and bugeyes run throughout the year, bringing a vast assortment of produce to Baltimore markets. RAILROADS. The advantages of inland location have been emphasized and developed for Baltimore by the construction of direct lines of railroads, placing the city in proximity, nearer by many miles than Northern and Eastern rivals, to the great productive sections of the country. By the shortest rail line, Baltimore is thus ninety-six miles nearer points in the South than Philadelphia, one hundred and eighty nearer than New York and four hundred and thirteen nearer than Boston. With COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 319 respect to Cincinnati, its advantages over these cities are respectively seventy-four, one hundred and sixty-four and three hundred and thirty- two miles, and in regard to other Western points they are even more decided. The railroad facilities of Baltimore include five distinct standard-gauge railroads and one narrow-gauge road, now being changed to standard-gauge. The vantage ground upon which they place the commercial interests of the city have been vividly desci'ibed as follows : " Baltimore stands with her face to the south, and with one hand prepared to gather the products of nearly half of the United States and to send them forward to other nations, and in return with the left hand to bestow the peculiar products of the soil of Maryland and her sister States upon those States whose climate will not allow the growth of such luxuries. One iron finger runs almost due north, through the rich farming lands of central Pennsylvania and southwestern New York, until it touches the great lakes, with their ships loaded with grain. Another stretches out into manufacturing Pittsburg, 328 miles distant, the coal, coke, lumber, iron and other mineral lands of southwestern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio, and away to Chicago, 830 miles, the central point for the grain, hay, cattle and other farm products of the great northwest, and the flour of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 1,296 miles from the seaboard. The third finger beckons to the stock-raisers of Kentucky and Tennessee, the active men of St. Louis, 931 miles to the west, and of Kansas City, 1,213 miles away, and bids them to turn towards Baltimore the rapidly-increasing shipments of cattle and cereals from the empire of the southwest. The index finger very appropriately follows the lines of the Appalachian system of mountains, which, ranging from the southwest to the northeast, give an outlet to Baltimore by the natural rift at Harper's Ferry, whose immense water-power, gradually being utilized, must bear tribute to this city. Down through the beautiful, fertile and well-watered Shenandoah Valley of Virginia the finger points, gathering in the profits from the farm lands of the valley proper, the wood and minerals of the mountain slopes, the coal and iron of the southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia hills with the cattle of their plains, piercing the pine and hard- wood regions of western North Carolina and South Carolina, east Kentucky and Tennessee, and finally touching the flourishing manufacturing and industrial centres of the new south, Birmingham, Anniston, Ensley and other towns and cities of Alabama, which have grown with the develop- ment of its natural resources. The broad thumb covers a fertile section embracing Richmond, Norfolk, Atlanta, Savannah and Charleston, and some of the finest traveling country on the Atlantic slope, extending from Norfolk to Florida." 320 MARYLAND. A few words of detail may be added to this summary : The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is so intimately connected with the commercial development of Baltimore as naturally to attract the first consideration. Historically, the first railroad in the United States, it has become, by extension and incorporation, one of the great trunk lines of the country, forming an organic system of more than 3,000 miles. In one direction, it extends to Philadelphia, thence by direct connection to New York; in another, it penetrates the vast regions of the West, Southwest and Northwest, through the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, to the waters of the Mississippi. Connections at such important centres as Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburg, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis give direct access to all sections of the country. The local tide-water terminals of the system are situated in the main at Locust Point, and are planned on an extensive scale. Several acres of ground are occupied by tracks and freight houses, while a large water frontage and immense piers render possible the transfer of freight from ocean steamers to cars, or vice versa, with the utmost facility and economy. Two enormous grain elevators for export delivery, located here, have a capacity of 1,500,000 and 1,800,000 bushels respectively. A third, for local traffic, situated near Camden Station, has a capacity of 200,000 bushels. Massive piers are fitted for immigrant traffic, and make it almost possible for the new arrival to step from steamer to train. On the east side of the harbor are found additional piers and large shifting yards. The central station of the road is conveniently located on Camden near Howard street. Exit from the city to eastern points has, up to the present time, involved ferriage across the Patapsco River from Locust Point. This will be obviated by the Belt Line tunnel, which pierces the heart of the city to its outskirts. Plans have also been completed for the erection of a handsome central passenger depot at Lombard and Liberty streets. The Northern Central Railway serves to connect Baltimore with the great Pennsylvania system, and, at the same time, affords a direct outlet to the North. It penetrates the rich agricultural section of central Pennsylvania and southwestern New York up to the great lakes, thus pouring into Baltimore an enormous volume of corn and wheat for export. Direct connection with the coal region of Pennsylvania brings to the city a heavy tonnage of anthracite and bituminous coal. The tide-water terminals of the road are located at Canton, and occupy several acres of ground, with an extensive water front. Grain elevators of large capacity, merchandise piers, immense docks and warehouses are also situated here and provide admirable facilities for handling and transferring ocean freight. The city terminals of the city are the Calvert Street, President Street and Union stations. The general offices of the COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 321 road are located within a block of the main passenger station on Calvert street. Close by are the chief inland freight stations, covering several blocks. Two associated branches of the Pennsylvania system, the Baltimore and Potomac, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Balti- more, connect Baltimore respectively with Washington, and with Philadelphia, New York and the East. The Western Maryland Railroad is essentially a Baltimore road. Its construction was made possible by municipal aid, and at the present time it renders a large area of Western Maryland and the rich counties of Southern Pennsylvania almost exclusively tributary to Baltimore. The main line of the road extends west from Baltimore, through West- minster to Hagerstown, then on to Williamsport on the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, to Cherry Run, West Virginia. Branches extend to Gettysburg, Waynesboro', Shippensburg,York and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Direct connection with the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad gives access on the one hand to Philadelphia and the coal regions of Pennsylvania, and with the Norfolk and Western on the other, to the industrial centres of the South. The terminals of the road are conveniently located in the eastern section of the city, with passenger stations at Hillen, Union, Pennsylvania avenue and Fulton avenue stations. The road holds a franchise from the city of Baltimore for an extension through the city along Jones' Falls to Locust Point, and the erection of tidewater terminals. The Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad, originally a narrow-gauge road, extends from Baltimore, through Baltimore and Harford counties and Southern Pennsylvania, to York, Pennsylvania, a distance of seventy-five miles. The region it penetrates is rich in agricultural and mineral wealth, and capable of marked industrial development. A change to standard gauge and the extension of the road to tidewater, to Colgate's Creek, with the erection of necessary terminals, are measures now in course of completion. The passenger station of the road is on North avenue. The Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line Railroad, designated more familiarly as "The Short Line," is a local road, thirty-three miles in length, extending from Baltimore to the capital of the State, and passing through a rich trucking section. The road employs the local terminals of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. FOREIGN TRADE. Baltimore has been active in foreign trade from its very foundation. Before 1786 vessels entered and cleared at Annapolis and Joppa, but an independent custom house was established in that year, and duties upon local imports were thereafter collected here. In the century which has 21 322 MARYLAND. since elapsed Baltimore has become the third largest exporting centre in the country, being surpassed only by New York and New Orleans, the latter holding second rank by virtue of its immense cotton trade. The exports of the five leading cities in 1892 were as follows: New York $377,722,983 New Orleans 107,684,127 Baltimore. . . '. 93,126,389 Boston 88,806,672 Philadelphia . 60,315,880 The remarkable development of Baltimore's foreign trade is even more clearly indicated by a statement of its import and export values during the last ten calendar years : Year. Imports. Exports. Year. Imports. Exports. 1881 $16,278,946 14,658,006 12,308,392 12,090,261 11,193,695 11,785,113 $55,779,461 43,500,798 50,085,814 43,488,457 34,748,264 46,810,870 1887 1888 .... $13,055,880 12,098,629 15,409,234 15,339,312 18,270,000 14,258,575 $49,545,970 45,099,334 62,077,610 72,120,083 79,475,175 93,126,389 1882 1883 1889 1884 1890 1885 1886 1891 1892 The chief articles of export are corn, wheat, flour, cattle, tobacco, provisions and copper. Importing activity centres about coffee, pine- apples, cocoanuts, bananas, chemicals, tin plate and iron ore. The amounts, values and direction of imports and exports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892, as compared with those of the preceding year, are given in the following tables : COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 323 Cattle Breadstuffs — Wheat Flour Corn Oats Rye Oatmeal , Cornmeal Provisions — Tallow Beef, canned Beef, fresh Beef, salted Bacon Hams Butter Pork Cheese Lard Fruit, canned Apples, dried Vegetables, canned. Oysters, canned .... Glucose Oils- Olio Fish Illuminating Lubricating Cottonseed Lard Cottons — s 8ea Island tOther cotton Cloth, uncolored.. . Cloth, colored Tobacco — Leaf Stems Cigars Seeds — Timothy Clover Sundries — Starch Oil cake Rosin Leather Copper matte Paraffine wax Bark extract Coal, bituminous . . Copper ingots Whiskey — Rye Bourbon Lumber — Boards Staves Logs Unit of Quantity. Bushels , Barrels.. Bushels , Bushels . Bushels . Pounds. . Barrels . . Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds.. Pounds. . Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. . . Gallons . . Gallons . . Gallons . . Gallons . . Gallons . . Pounds Pounds Sq. Yards. Sq. Yards. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Barrels. Pounds. Tons . . . Pounds. Tons . . . Pounds. Gallons . Gallons Sq. Feet. July 1, '90, to June 30, '91. Quantity. 77,718 1,753,967 1,360,708 :,389,183 430 16,834 729,701 279,638 012,300 145,225 653,270 578,126 95,205 350,301 74s,925 904,789 C.02,297 6,624,247 4,863,748 145,790 14,708,753 821,274 196,600 262,419 413,094 87,193,597 203,468 20,500 48,861,557 7,269,630 312 2,318,756 9,507,872 630,860 531. 380 182,275 37,769 17,618 198,959 mo,300 367,628 17,691 23,132 28,117 6,450,270 3,824,476 12,310,787 2,547,850 1,123,941 3,044,404 637,470 469,391 1,197,266 540,202 11,966 568,803 91,714 4,702,446 13,069 2S,415 61,023 42,890 157,930 633,819 30,144 739,369 107,194 82,935 129,427 119,878 8,649,075 36,421 114,672 5,721 108,488 688,280 207,213 840,838 542,185 13,468 3,467,587 143,787 155,798 282,753 436,849 22,767 22,372 881,793 109,715 414,029 July 1, '91, to June 30, '92. Quantity. 63,436 27,858,840 3,251,612 18,625,755 123,237 1,161,901 3,092,819 47,265 27,843,389 28,100,260 5,795,750 6,539,512 8,524,530 3,623,052 68,728 9,203,630 193,004 67,528,540 3,878,365 2,967,639 7,627,921 10,599,399 1,091,105 1,610,495 145,231 % 138,593,509 475,498 66,415 55,905,439 8,233,421 2,022,392 7,873,963 7,236,460 69,304,801 111,342 9,758 19,989 2,781,509 92,385 11,806,294 101,319 523,016 30,413 5,272,203 22,262,308 16,997,379 9,664,747 45,087 1,182,073 92,760 143,841 1,396,163 3,040,413 550,581 400,545 695,977 368,467 8,506 555,653 28,526 5,349,898 27,753 338,504 73,917 53,305 81,664 771,646 417,810 139,545 495,403 76,918 11,933,192 80,777 9,554 4,152,003 139,580 92,804 643,227 230,089 1,027,877 195,100 3,324 2,713,767 155,028 128,664 251,642 1,467,288 424,511 1,109,449 59,370 299,151 :e Number of bales of Sea Island cotton, 1,133. tNumber of bales of other cotton, 176,712. JNumber of bales of other cotton, 281,292. 324 MARYLAND. Articles. Unit of Quantity. July 1, '90, to June 30, '91. July 1, '91, to June 30, '92. Quantity. Values. Quantity. Values. Metals — 474,544 6,665 53 1,061,587 280,381 1,923 421,712 16,249 51 1,177,833 412,295 Tons Tons Pounds Pounds Pounds Pounds Tons 4,943,130 610,114 144,224,644 5,061,386 13,657,136 12,304,801 2,743,349 51,455,852 6,331 9,339 37,288 15,121 5,987,412 69,632 204,622 209,279 76,153 743,591 70,796 247,324 291,678 41,062 156,617 36,972 14,748 5,446,578 20,232 151,882 43,420 32,822 34,877 32,354 1,319,603 10,007 16,717 138,832 130,656 51,941 87,908 48,775 163,589 34,789 3,098,334 52,004,521 8,063,145 13,840,848 13,498,603 2,866,806 57,463,283 6,076 9,981 3,099 1,466,901 136,047 Chemicals- 151,093 Tons Fruits and Nuts — 10,743 Provisions — Coffee Pounds Pounds Sq. Yards 28,366,682 774,981 8,507,354 27,387,716 341,846 134,406 198,706 42,271,097 77,289 117,136 130,938 561,002 17,793,44S 1,534,062 7,072,750 23,242,477 433,960 162,380 180,600 15,599,263 3,608,610 115,072 Salt Tea Textiles — 151,534 150,118 102,343 136,431 Sundries — 3,535 46,057,393 1,087 Pounds 61,461,27S 205,844 700 816 6,272,258 115,850 11,702,700 196,290 Tons 1,011 5,465 133,320 171,595 188,279 51,200 2,987 14,932 129,742 275,201 Tobacco — Pounds Gallons Gallons Dozens 333,005 Liquors — 17,515 17,083 28,761 23,744 2,993 10,621 4,577 9,742 15,931 i 16,046 24,832 i 20,946 2,522 [ 16,317 Gallons 15,134 21,061 10,010 1 4095 COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 325 July 1, 1390, to June 30, 1891. Azores or Madeira Islands . Austria- Hungary Other African Possessions . Belgium Brazil British West Indies " East Indies " Guiana Chili Cuba Canary Islands China U. S. Columbia Dutch West Indies Danish West Indies Denmark England France French Possessions in Africa French West Indies Germany Greece Hong Kong Liberia Italy Ireland Japan Mexico Netherlands Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. New Foundland and Labrador Portugal Puerto Rico Russia on the Baltic Sea " " Black Sea Spain Scotland Sweden and Norway Switzerland Turkey in Asia " Europe Uruguay Venezuela Hawaiian Islands Sicily Total Values op Impokts. July 1, 1891, to June 30, 1892. 34,346 81,789 i,452,031 493,010 3,538 184,229 237,026 .,924,274 46,022 26,150 1,857,275 101,403 .,497,989 34,794 11,351 1,184 602,591 29,220 12,046 92,029 23,188 23,331 192,440 254,326 132,036 39,806 54,943 58,719 3,965 37,775 22,453 20,555,687 17,363 49,335 86,487 3,606,093 428,879 52,180 126,675 150,888 957,685 12 26,417 25,030 600 4,143,999 91,081 1,264 1,754,374 3,566 745,754 19,828 42,577 98,321 27,388 22,995 5,477 24,914 25,143 173,000 292,970 141,254 31,731 53,918 75,432 97,191 16,286' 13,418,253 July 1, 1890, to June 30, 1891. Values or Exports. July 1, 1891, to June 30, 1S92. 1,739,822 3,696,565 46,930 "374,129 21,737 4,400 69,279 32.776,226 3,734,660 43,376 8,766,793 3,065,149 620 5,143,292 15,516 110,729 18,289 4,621,483 12,500 6,292 2,151 2,600 5,934,458 2,387,016 34,813 94,890 301.208 924 27,044 33,204 830,965 33,114,112 11,522,851 58,329 15,492,283 410 7,383,981 1,365 16,519,990 13,717 75,344 29,546 4,206 4,686,265 242,078 98,796,856 326 MARYLAND. Grain. For many years Baltimore has been an important grain exporting port, and at the present time its cereal trade is exceeded by only one port on the Atlantic coast. The natural location of the city with respect to the interior makes it the nearest point of export to central Ohio and the central valley of the Mississippi. This involves a much shorter haul, and naturally results in a decided preference for Baltimore over other seaboard cities, by grain shippers from the southern and middle West. The annual receipts average about 30,000,000 bushels, although in 1892 the enormous aggregate of 50,794,541 was reached. The bulk of this is drawn from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. During the winter months, when the great lakes and the Erie Canal are closed, the area under tribute is extended far into the Northwest. The heaviest exports are to Great Britain, Germany, Holland, Denmark and Belgium. Seven storage elevators and five floating transfer elevators provide ample facilities for the prompt receipt and rapid distribution of grain. The storage elevators have a capacity of 5,850,000 bushels. The transfer elevators can transfer 21,000 bushels per hour. The storage and delivery charges for a period of ten days are one and one-quarter cents per bushel for grain received from cars, and one and one-half cents when received from vessels. An efficient inspection department, with a chief inspector at its head, inspects and grades all grain arriving . at public store-houses. The administration of the department is vested in a bureau of inspection, composed of the president of the Corn and Flour Exchange and the chairman of the wheat and corn committees. The inspection charges are twenty-five cents per car, and five cents per hundred bushels when received by vessel and delivered according to grade. The supply of flour is drawn from the West — Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota — and, in a less degree, from city mills. Of the 3,732,150 barrels forming the aggregate receipts for 1892, 3,055,458 barrels came by rail and 499,989 from city mills. Exportations are principally to Brazil, Great Britain and the West Indies. The development of the trade is seen in the following table : COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 327 RECEIPTS OF GRAIN. Years. WHEAT. bus. CORN. bus. OATS. bus. RYE. bus. BARLEY. bus. MALT. bus. CLOVER AND TIMO- THY SEED. bus. TOTAL. bus. ELOUR. bbls. 1892 1891 1890 1889 17,571,333 18,743,394 6,378,638 6,889,432 7,004,443 13,150,486 12,310,534 8,414,114 17,756,630 17,146,432 17,898,569 20,933,255 36,414,393 34,634,426 22,017,120 7,331,540 3,945,247 4,409,670 6,389,834 2,810,917 2,456,100 4,076,017 30,631,527 6,928 096 21,093,894 18,354,018 6,943,839 9,126,699 15,099,869 15,948,828 7,093,051 11,779,638 3,401,308 15,486,884 16,590,291 23, 162,986 17,907,108 21,212,399 24,684,230 9,567,141 9,355,467 8,330,449 9,045,465 5,735,921 2,185,676 1,687,112 2,556,630 1,969,916 2,110,028 1,810,280 1,809,358 1,801,794 1,660,902 1,192,462 1,041,743 935,616 1,172,487 1,616,927 1,052,046 831,182 810,212 977,514 1,139,216 1,255,072 1,959,161 1,833,409 922,685 1,206,813 469,880 260,300 200,363 111,648 247,454 293,296 608,639 207,483 118,524 178,514 224,506 154,331 59,631 116,689 112,160 74,529 118,548 100,519 90,938 88,956 375,766 149,149 288,036 +446,751 493,479 422,869 424,946 380,141 30S,399 310,317 332,785 321,195 259,307 350,000 150,389' 484,141 107,555 89,942 258,830 117,196 120,251 111,482 50,794,541 28,954,895 31,530,049 28,219,257 16,825,675 25,138,003 30,095,571 27,149,078 27,718,058 30,765,821 22,770,461 37,867,054 54,722,872 59,827,977 41,035,905 29,491,810 29,551,849 15,028,854 17,003,065 12,496,957 13,551,664 11,734,303 3,732,150 3,099,399 3,388,937 3,189,572 3,015,648 3,161,263 1,928,194 1,589,063 1,200,345 1,158,380 1,227,264 1887 333,929 205,587 266,100 218,695 131,407 1885 1884 1,248,257 1,378,587 1,333,232 1,412,652 1,171,248 1,389,538 1,391,843 1,560,997 1,312,612 1,175,967 tlneludes Malt. EXPORTS OF GRAIN. Years. wheat. bus. CORN. bus. OATS. bus. RYE. bus. BARLEY. bus. CLOVER AND TIMO- THY SEED. bus. TOTAL. bus. FLOUR. bbls. 1892 16.661,559 16;074,292 4,817,614 4,507,165 4,161,129 10,717,353 10,575,290 4,575,262 16,511,340 15,375,093 17,564,407 19,676,640 33,768,985 1 32,144,349 1 19,610,791 5,479,567 ! 1,659,861 2,046,430 3,556,848 1,158,097 18,995,907 4,096,234 18,854,951 16,617,177 4,419,977 7,158,432 14,076,379 13,752,196 4,^93,759 10,012,247 1,371,823 12,735,083 14 686,908 21,327,419 16,953,458 19,268,725 20,953,724 6,989,607 5,959,757 6,003,618 172,271 546 617,053 131,999 5,670 1,422 1,160 33,620 900 4,038 6,262 10,035 19,825 76,577 19,018 740,670 26,785 107,463 224,064 229,958 36,704,455 31,191,713 34,579,333 31,356,363 8,724,271 18,048,979 24,652,899 18,394,881 21,903,979 25,478,909 18,942,492 32,421,758 48,475,718 53,577,379 36,666,999 24,748,292 22,613,585 9,036,037 9,580,267 7,161,715 3,661,623 2,703,715 1890 41,900 17,847 21 42 84 70 75 2,624,282 2,332,805 137,453 85,844 2,417,874 1887 3,081,246 1,662,504 33,728 397,980 87,531 - 1,093,093 437,713 441,477 463,878 413,923 497,042 29,034 49,584 447,134 34,148 590,150 369,519 426,094 453,000 2,624 61,038 474,758 359,566 328 MARYLAND. Cattle. Baltimore is steadily increasing in importance as a cattle market. It is in close proximity to the rich grazing fields of "Virginia and Tennessee; Western stock is confined for a briefer time than when shipped to more northern ports; ample facilities are provided in well equipped stock-yards, and the steamship lines from this port are especially fitted for cattle transportation. The receipts at the Union Stock Yards for 1892 were: Cattle, 100,035; sheep, 283,420; hogs, 546,338. The first shipment of cattle to foreign ports took place in 1878. Since that time the trade has assumed large proportions, its development being indicated by the following figures : Tear. Number. Value. 1879 2,675 $ 267,500 1880 10,758 949,858 1881 3,372 367,445 1882 3,824 473,835 1883 16,356 1,618,626 1884 15,393 1,747,095 1885 18,236 2,038,900 1886 12,493 1,307,410 1887 16,404 1,658,433 1888 23,286 1,903,512 1889 59,357 5,050,930 1890 90,847 7,481,340 1891 66,230 5,518,703 1892, to October 1 78,092 6,515,758 Total 417,223 $36,889,345 Tobacco. Baltimore has always been the principal market for all tobacco grown in Maryland. But little of this is used for domestic consumption, the bulk being exported to Holland, Germany, France and Northern Europe. Baltimore is also the distributing point for much of the tobacco grown in Eastern Ohio, part of which is consumed in this country, part exported to Europe. Since early provincial days a system of official inspection has prevailed, designed for the protection of seller and purchaser. Three warehouses for this purpose are in operation in Baltimore. The transactions for 1892 are indicated in the following statement : Stock on hand January 1, 1892 3,788 hhds. INSPECTIONS. Maryland 24,811 Deduct re-inspections . • 2,356 22,455 Ohio 6,520 Deduct re-inspections 461 6,059 Virginia and Kentucky 61 28,575 36,458 COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 329 Amount brought forward 36,458 SHIPMENTS OF MARYLAND AND OHIO TO Bremen 3,804 Holland 12,469 Antwerp 97 Hamburg 797 England 50 France 12,089 North of Europe via New York 87 Taken for home consumption and by Baltimore manu- facturers and re-packers 2,247 Shipments of Virginia and Kentucky of Baltimore inspection 30 31,670 Stock December 31, 1892 4,788 STOCK DIVIDED. Md. Ohio. Va., Ky. Firsthand 63 203 Shippers 2,837 218 Manufacturers 482 932 53 Total 3,382 1,353 53 Cotton. The cotton receipts of Baltimore, though considerable, are hardly of the magnitude to be expected from so favorable a point of export. Local storage and compressing facilities are excellent ; ocean freights are cheaper, and higher prices are obtained here than at more southern parts. With the extension and development of southern transportation facilities, it is probable that this trade will undergo marked expansion. The movements for the year ending August 31, 1892, compared with those of the preceding year, are as follows : 1892. 1891. Gross receipts, bales 386,205 281,570 Add stock carried over 5,500 200 Total 391,705 281,770 DISTRIBUTION. 1892. 1891. Exported, Great Britain 128,962 78,742 Continent 154,678 93,374 France 7,611 13,774 Coastwise and spinners' takings 89,266 90,380 Destroyed by fire 1,288 Stock on hand, August 31 9,900 5,500 The chief articles of export in addition to the above are : provisions, copper, oils, lumber, oil cake, seeds and whiskey. The principal items included under the head of provisions are lard, beef (canned and fresh), tallow, bacon and pork. For the fiscal year 1892, these items formed a total amount of 146,996,099 pounds, valued at $11,188,685. Extensive 330 MARYLAND. copper mines and works in Montana and Arizona are controlled by Balti- more interests, and the entire output is marketed in Baltimore. Nearly twenty thousand tons of the matte, valued at $2,713,767, were exported in 1892, in addition to 11,806,294 pounds of ingots, valued at $1,467,288. Among exported oils, petroleum, lubricating and cottonseed are the most important. Olio to the value of $771,646 was sent abroad in 1892. In addition to the enormous quantity of lumber received for local consump- tion — some seventy million feet in 1892— exports in boards, staves and logs during the year aggregated one and a half million dollars. Oil cake added a value of $1,027,877; timothy and clover seed, $736,031, and whiskey, $512,983. Coffee. For almost a century Baltimore has been a leading centre for the importation and distribution of coffee. The supremacy of the Baltimore clipper led to the early development of the trade, and it has since been maintained by long established firms. For a series of years the volume of imports decreased with the keen competition of other seaboard cities, but the normal tendency has more recently begun to assert itself. During 1892, trade was larger and more profitable than for some years past. The volume of imports aggregated 183,458 bags as against 166,689 in 1891, showing an increase of 16.769 bags. Aside from the benefits arising from intimate acquaintance with the trade, Balti- more possesses certain definite advantages as a favorable point of import. These consist in advantageous location, involving lower rates for interior shipment, ample facilities for receipt and distribution, and extraordi- narily low terminal charges. This latter point is especially deserving of emphasis, — careful estimates showing an advantage of nearly fifty per cent, in favor of Baltimore as against other Atlantic seaports. Fruit, etc. A fleet of vessels is engaged in the fruit trade between Baltimore and the West Indies. Pineapples, cocoanut and bananas are largely imported for home consumption and general distribution. In 1892 imports under this head aggregated $607,746, as against $541,077 in 1891. Baltimore is one of the largest manufacturing centres of fertilizers in the country, and hence a heavy importer of chemicals— soda ash, brimstone, muriate of potash, nitrate of soda, etc. The volume of imports is further swelled by iron ore, 421,712 tons (1892); tin plate, 52,004,521 pounds (1892); sugar, 15,599,263 pounds (1892). The extent of Baltimore commerce is further shown in the following statement of the tonnage movement and number of immigrants landed at the port for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1892 : COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 331 TONNAGE MOVEMENT. Nationality. Sail. Steam. Total. No. Tons. No. Tons. No. Tons. 166 20 52,638 6,551 271 9,248 1,501 9 531 1 5 59 1 44 3 2,701 846,719 1,198 10,009 162,320 1,324 23,829 5,059 175 551 1 5 60 14 46 3 55,339 853,270 1,198 Dutch 10,009 1 IS a 162,591 10,572 25,330 5,059 Total for 1893 202 203 70,209 78,994 653 414 1,053,159 627,761 855 617 " 1891 1,153 1,215 " " 1891 *59 per cent, increase. Nationality. Sail. Steam. Total. No. of Vessels. Tons. No. of Vessels. Tons. No. of Vessels. Tons. 147 18 1 2 3 51,817 6,205 271 1,121 2,021 7 627 1 23 97 44 5 714 1,004,474 1,198 44,521 239,052 24,324 8,217 154 645 1 23 98 47 5 52,531 1,010,679 1,198 44,521 239,323 1,121 26,345 Dutch 8,217 Total for 1892 171 185 61,435 55,677 804 523 1,322,500 849,538 975 708 «1,383,935 905,215 " 1891 1,909 1,930 1,524,602 " " 1891 1,501,158 "53 per cent, increase. 332 Argentine Republic. Austria Belgium Bohemia British West Indies. Denmark England France Germany Hungary Ireland Italy Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Roumania Russia Scotland Sweden Switzerland Turkey in Europe . . MARYLAND. IMMIGRATION. Nationality. Totals Passengers not immigrants Grand total, 1892. Grand total, 1891. 1 3,922 3 1,101 7 164 18? 13 17,080 1.864 51 25 517 2 10 6,644 5 172 30,845 1 1,021 5 113 125 11 16,667 734 47 19 153 2 131 15 4 2,122 12 277 312 24 33,747 2,598 117 2 107 44 670 2 16 11,010 65,823 1,500 57,323 42,004 CUMBERLAND. Some idea of the causes of Cumberland's immense trade, and advan- tages as a distributive point, may be better comprehended after a brief description of its railroads and the country through which they form channels for the outlet of the products of the farm, forest and mines. For what may be known as local distribution, it has several distinct roads. The Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad with its branches runs up through the mining region, and taps the towns of Eckhart, Mt. Savage, Frostburg, Lonaconing and Piedmont, whose aggregate popula- tion is over 15,000 souls, all living within twenty-eight miles of Cumber- land. The George's Creek and Cumberland Railroad reaches Lonaconing by another route. The Piedmont and Cumberland, an extension of the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg, parallels the Baltimore and Ohio through one of the most fertile of Allegany county's agricultural districts, and at Piedmont connects with the parent line. This opens up for one hundred and twenty-two miles the vast timber lands and gas coal regions of West Virginia. For the shipment of merchandise and coal to the large eastern and western markets, there are the main stem of the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pittsburg and Connellsville, and the Pennsyl- vania Railroads, which last road obtains an entrance to the city over the tracks of the State line branch of the George's Creek and Cumberland COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 333 Road. Added to this, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which has its western terminus in this city, affords direct connection with tidewater at Georgetown, D. C. "With all these facilities the expeditious handling of freight is, com- paratively speaking, an easy matter. With Cumberland as an entrepot, immense quantities of merchandise are received and distributed over the different lines mentioned. The express business for the months of October, November and December of 1892 shows over a million and a half of pounds received and forwarded. The United States Express Company handled 733,457, the Adams Express Company 437,976, and the Cumber- land and Pennsylvania Express Company 532,000 pounds. The freight handled, exclusive of coal, for the same period by the Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad amounted to 135,195,708 pounds; that handled by the Cumberland and Pennsylvania was 53,420,000 pounds; by the West Virginia Central, over the Piedmont and Cumberland, 92,703,436 pounds; by the Pennsylvania Railroad, to and from Cumberland, 68,435,433 pounds. To recapitulate, the tonnage of the express and freight business done in Cumberland during the months of October, November and December of 1892 was as follows : United States Express 736,457 Adams 437,978 O. &P 532,000 Total 1,706,433 The freight handled, exclusive of coal, for the same period, was- Baltimore and Ohio 138,271,094 Cumberland and Pennsylvania 53,420,000 West Virginia Central 92,703,436 Pennsylvania Railroad 68,435,433 Total 352,829,963 Total pounds of express matter 1,706,433 Total pounds of freight matter 352,829,963 Grand total 354,536,396 From the trade for the last three months of 1892, some conception of the annual business carried on may be formed. This tonnage, it must be remembered, is wholly made up of merchandise ; coal, the most important article of distribution, does not enter into it at all. The statistics of the Cumberland coal trade, which are published annually, report an output from the twenty-nine companies engaged in mining, of over four mil- lions of tons for 1892, and the employment of every railroad entering Cumberland in their removal to the seaboard. 334 MARYLAND. The number of tons mined, and the tonnage delivered by the different railroads to Cumberland, and there distributed, was as follows : FROM— ToB.&O.R.R.C.&O.Can. Penna.R.R. Local. Total. Cumberland & Pennsylvania R. R. . . . 1,343,905 93,705 214,011 83,089 1,734,710 Eckhart Branch R. R 312,452 170,116 36,755 519,323 George's Creek & Cumberland R. R... 208,112 568,003 28,202 804,317 West Virginia Central Railway 345,987 3,080 423,472 198,675 971,214 2,210,456 266,901 1,205,486 346,721 4,029,564 The successful handling and disposition of this vast amount of freight places Cumberland in the front rank of cities of its size as an admirable distributive point. The West Virginia Central Railway is about to build an extension from Cumberland to Hagerstown, at which point it will connect with the Western Maryland Railroad, and will afford Cumberland another artery of commerce. Surveys have been made for another road to reach the rich agricultural communities or upper villages of the South Branch, and an extension of the electric railway of Cumberland through the entire mining portion of the county is also among near possibilities, a company having already been chartered and organized for this purpose. HAGERSTOWN. Any consideration of the trade and commerce of Hagerstown involves in large measure the trade of Washington county, of which it is the geographic as well as business centre. Before the construction and development of railroad systems, in the days of the " Conestoga Wagon" with its "bell team," wheat, the staple product of the county, was ground in local mills. For many years the county stood well in the lead in production of this cereal, and its numerous available streams placed ample mill power within easy reach of every section. The county seat being the banking centre, farmer and miller went there for the purchase and sale of the commodity, and the National road was the highway to market. The early development of a fine system of macadamized roads, radiating hence to every section of the country and affording easy transportation, in winter especially, tended still further to such concen- tration. When the railway development came, natural conditions led to the same centering and radiation, so that now there is no village or point within the county more than three or four miles distant from a railroad station. The Cumberland Valley Railroad, running from Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, to Winchester, Virginia, crosses the whole width of the State here, a distance of twelve miles, and brings into close connection the whole of the Pennsylvania system. The Shenandoah division of the Norfolk and Western, beginning here, extends to Roanoke, Virginia, and COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 335 by its local connection with the Cumberland Valley, puts the city upon the great inside highway from New York to New Orleans and Memphis in the southwest, and to all Florida points in the southeast. A road is now being constructed from here to Cumberland which will connect, at this point, the Cumberland Valley and the West Virginia Central, thus making a direct route to the seaboard for the immense coal and timber products of West Virginia. The Washington County branch of the Baltimore and Ohio, running southward twenty-four miles through the county, connects it closely with that great thoroughfare. The Western Maryland, striking the county at its northeast corner, traverses the greater part of its extent westward to its connection at Cherry Eun, West Virginia, with the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio. It touches the Potomac at Williamsport, and by its branch from the mountain foot at Edgemont, thence to Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, connects with the Reading road, thus giving the advantage of close association with that extended system. There is thus secured to every smaller town, and to every section of the county, direct and frequent access to Hagerstown, and her distributive trade finds actual and active competition for transportation to every quarter, north, south, east and west. With twenty-eight passenger and express trains daily each way, it is not surprising that a large traffic has been developed in dairy products, fruit and poultry, for the markets of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and Pittsburg are all within less than twelve hours from the city. Another phase of development, not immediately connected with Hagerstown, yet in part the outcome of its business enterprise and capital, and in large measure under the control of its citizens, is the peach industry. Along the slopes and foot hills of the mountains on either side, thousands of acres are now planted in peaches, and growing yearly in value. The crop of 1892, under the very adverse conditions attending it, exceeded a half million bushels, the whole of which was marketed in the eastern markets to private consumers, and not for canning, the quality being to growers of far greater moment than quantity. Under fair conditions it is expected that the crop of this year will greatly exceed a million bushels. As further indicating somewhat of the character and amount of its trade, may be noted these facts : The whole- sale grocery and notion trade, reaching from Baltimore to Wheeling, from Harrisburg to Roanoke, amounts annually ta over $1,000,000; the sale and shipment of beef, cattle, sheep and hogs, exceeds $600,000 ; of horses, $250,000; of hay, $100,000; of hardwoods, cut and in bulk, all exported, $175,000. Retail trade is represented in part by the annual sales of dry goods, $400,000; clothing, ready made, $150,000; custom made, a like amount; shoes and hats, $200,000; groceries, $500,000; 336 MARYLAND. leather and its products, $75,000; hardware, $150,000; agricultural imple- ments, a large part of which, steam engines, threshers, clover hullers, etc., are made here, $150,000; fertilizers, $125,000; confectionery, $100,000. In the march of improvement the latest mill machinery has been introduced, and the manufacture and shipment of flour has also in large part centered here. From the four large roller mills and elevators in or controlled from the city, there is shipped as flour the product of about 300,000 bushels of wheat annually; the shipments of corn aggregate 100,000 bushels more. A large part, however, of the corn grown in the county is used in fattening cattle during the fall and winter, all being shipped from this point to Eastern markets, whence a part is exported directly to Liverpool. THE EASTERN SHORE. The Peninsula, comprising the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, and the State of Delaware, is about one hundred and seventy miles in length from north to south, and about sixty-five miles in width from east to west at its widest part. It is bounded on the east by the Delaware River and Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean, and on the south and west by the Chesapeake Bay. It is so penetrated on all sides by numer- ous navigable rivers, creeks and inlets, that it has been said that there are few farms, towns, or dwellings on the Eastern Shore of Maryland more than five miles from navigable water. This fact, with the smooth level roads, renders the matter of transportation by water a simple ques- tion. At the same time the absence of mountains and high hills, and the rarity of stone and rock, render the construction of railroads inex- pensive. The railroads of the peninsula are, with two exceptions, so closely connected in organization, that no intelligible account of the railroads on the Eastern Shore of Maryland is possible without reference to those of Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The Peninsula is traversed from north to south by a line of railroad, a part of which is controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad begins near Wilmington, Delaware, and runs through the State of Delaware, nearly parallel with the Maryland line, to Delmar (ninety-five miles). From this point the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Road runs through Maryland and Virginia to Cape Charles City, a distance of ninety-five miles (thirty- seven miles in Maryland). At Cape Charles City, connection is made by ferry with Norfolk, (twenty miles). These two roads make a continuous first-class road running from the extreme north to the extreme south of the Peninsula; and through trains make the run from Cape Charles City to Philadelphia in six and a half hours. COMMERCE AND TRANSPORTATION. 337 These roads are practically operated as a part of the Pennsylvania system. Connected with them, are a number of smaller tributary roads, also owned or controlled and operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Beginning on the Chesapeake side and with the most northerly, the Queen Anne and Kent Railroad runs from Centreville, the county town of Queen Anne's county, northeasterly through Queen Anne's and Kent counties to Massey's (twenty-five miles), connecting at that point with the Baltimore and Delaware Bay Railroad, and also with a branch of the Delaware Division, Pennsylvania Railroad, running from Townsend, in Delaware, to Massey's (nine miles). The Delaware and Chesapeake Railroad begins at Oxford, in Talbot county, and runs northeasterly through Talbot and Caroline counties to Clayton, Delaware (fifty-four miles, of which forty are in Maryland). The Cambridge and Seaford Road, running from Cambridge, in Dorchester county, northeasterly to Seaford, Delaware (twenty-seven miles, about twenty-two miles in Mary- land), connecting at Seaford with the Delaware Division. The Crisfield Branch of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad begins at Crisfield, in Wicomico county, rims northeast to Peninsula Junction (seventeen miles) in the same county, connecting at that point with the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad. On the Atlantic side, the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia Road begins at Franklin City, on Chincoteague Sound, in Virginia, near the Maryland line, and runs northerly, parallel with the Atlantic, to the Maryland line, and through Delaware, connecting with the Delaware Division at Harrington (seventy- eight miles, thirty-five miles in Maryland). These roads furnish excellent facilities for the transportation of freight and passengers to Philadelphia and points on the Pennsylvania system, all of them having two trains daily each way. The Peninsula is traversed from east to west by the Baltimore and Delaware Bay Railroad, as yet unfinished. It begins at Bombay Hook on the Delaware Bay, at which point it connects with the New Jersey Central by ferry, and runs in a westerly direction, crossing and connecting with the Delaware Division at Clayton, and when finished will extend to Rock Hall, in Kent county, Maryland. It has been finished from Bombay Hook to Chestertown (forty-two miles), with a branch to Nicholson (nine miles — thirty-three miles in Maryland). It has been graded to within about four miles of Rock Hall, and will probably be finished in the course of this year. Rock Hall is immediately opposite the Patapsco river, and the nearest harbor on the Eastern Shore to Baltimore. From this point connection will be made by ferry with Baltimore (about eighteen miles). At present the road is operated from Clayton to Ches- tertown only. It is owned by parties interested in the New Jersey Central Railroad. 22 338 MARYLAND. The Baltimore and Eastern Shore Railroad begins at Ocean City, a summer resort on the Atlantic coast, and runs northwesterly through Maryland to Claiborne, on Eastern Bay, a tributary of the Chesapeake (eighty-seven miles). From this point connection is made by boat with Baltimore (forty-two miles). This road is in the hands of a receiver, but is now in process of reorganization. The plan of reorganization includes the extension of the road from Easton, north through Talbot and Queen Anne's county, and Kent county to Centreville, Chestertown and Rock Hall, connecting at that point by ferry with Baltimore. The number of manufactures or industrial enterprises on the Eastern Shore is limited. The people are engaged chiefly in farming, fishing and oystering. The country is naturally very fertile. It is level or rolling, has no large hills and no stone, and it is easily cultivated. Its agricul- tural products are chiefly wheat, corn and the other cereals and fruit. Large quantities of peaches, pears and other fruit are raised. Though possessing exceptional facilities for the raising of stock, this industry does not exist to any great extent. Attention has recently been called to the advantages of the Eastern Shore as a health resort, and there is already some travel to the locality for this reason. The freight carried by the roads consists, in addition to passenger business, of products of the farms and water. Large quantities of grain, fruit, oysters, fish and game are shipped to the North and West over these railroads, the return freight being chiefly coal, lumber and the usual requirements of a farm- ing and fishing population. CHAPTER X. MANUFACTURES. The history of colonial Maryland is essentially that of an agricultural community. Throughout the seventeenth and far into the eighteenth centuries " tobacco is king." It not only dominated all economic activi- ties, but even entered into the details of social and political life. The commercial policy of England fostered its cultivation, as tending to preserve in her possessions an exclusive market for British manufac- tures. This fact, aided somewhat later by actual measures of repression, served to prevent any general industrial activity in provincial Maryland. Yet the natural advantages of mineral wealth and motive power could not be entirely suppressed. Iron-works were opened along the Patapsco river as early as 1715, and the regular exportation of pig-iron began in 1717. Thrifty German settlers, a little later, introduced the beginnings of wool and flax spinning, and the manufacture of linen and woolen goods. Numerous flour mills were attracted by the excellent sites along Jones' Falls, Gwynn's Falls and the Patapsco river, and this industry more perhaps than any other single cause, contributed to the early growth of Baltimore. In 1769 a non-importation association was organized, and extended throughout the province. The discredit thus thrown upon the whole line of British manufactures, culminated five years later in a system of practical non- intercourse with Great Britain, and for a term of years the colonists were thrown largely upon their own resources. Varied branches of manufacture sprang up, and the province tended rapidly to become self-supporting. In 1778 we find in active operation linen, woolen, card and nail factories, paper and slitting mills and bleach-yards. The first sugar refinery was established in Baltimore in 1784, and five years later the manufacture of glass was introduced. A considerable number of flour mills, iron furnaces, cotton mills and tanneries were in successful operation in different parts of the State. The industrial development of Maryland during the next half century is gradual, but substantial. Commerce and shipping, rather than manu- factures, engage general attention; yet Baltimore steadily becomes a 340 MARYLAND. leading centre for sugar refining, cotton duck manufacture, flour milling and metal production. In other directions progress is less marked, but everywhere the substructure is laid for the activity of later times. The new era may be said to have begun with the industrial revival following the close of the late war, and has ever since proceeded with rapid strides and over a widening area. In industrial opportunity Baltimore is unsurpassed among American cities, and younger centres invite development in every section of the State. Geographical position and railroad connection afford special opportunities in the procurement of raw materials and the distribution of products. Interior situation confers great advantages upon the harbors of the State as favorable ports of entry. Healthful climate, cheap living, low rents, skilled labor, tax exemptions, favored sites, water frontage, motive power, are among the special attractions that invite manufacturing industries of all kinds. BALTIMORE. In these days of forced urban development, it is common for every new manufacturing town to claim extraordinary advantages as an industrial centre. Far-sighted men, however, recognize that the struggle for existence is nowhere fought out more relentlessly than in the commercial world; and that those cities which have attained industrial prominence by slow development and by force of natural advantages are far more inviting, other things being equal, than those which have been forced into temporary importance by artificial methods. INDUSTRIAL ADVANTAGES. The advantages which Baltimore offers as a manufacturing centre consist in natural location, in peculiar economic conditions, and in the liberal policy of its municipal administration. Reference has already been made to the advantages conferred by favored geographical situation and the establishment of direct lines of communication. In the case of Baltimore, closer proximity by several hundred miles to the great cotton belt of the South, to the grain-growing sections of the West, and to the wood, coal and iron wealth of the interior, affords cheap and easy access to the supplies required for industries of every kind. The labor supply is steady and efficient. As compared with New York and Philadelphia or Boston, skilled mechanics receive from twenty-five cents to one dollar a day less in building and iron industries, and seventy-five cents to one dollar and a-half less as compared with Chicago, St. Louis and Minne- apolis. Unskilled labor is available at from one dollar to one dollar and a-half per day. This difference in labor cost does not involve lower efficiency or poorer living. In no other city of similar size in the MANUFACTURES. 341 country are the laboring classes better off. The proximity of a rich and productive country, the cheapness of water transportation, and the economy of domestic distribution through public markets, combine to render the cost of living in Baltimore less than in cities of much smaller size. The cheapness of house rents in Baltimore is notorious. Neat and comfortable dwellings in respectable neighborhoods may be rented at fifteen and eighteen dollars a month, and houses in more favored sections with many conveniences can be had for twenty-five dollars a month. Handsome dwellings, desirably located and fitted with all modern appointments, may be rented for forty dollars a month. The supply of water available for manufacturing purposes is unlimited and furnished at a nominal rate. Desirable manufacturing sites can be obtained with or without water frontage, and plants as erected are exempted by special ordinance from municipal taxation. nSTDXJSTKIES. The manufacturing interests of Baltimore include almost every important industry. The city is the largest manufacturing centre in the United States of ready-made clothing, oyster canning and fruit packing, shirts and overalls, fertilizers, straw goods and cotton duck, while its operations in other directions are absolutely even of greater magnitude. The statistics of important industries as returned by the Eleventh Census are as follows : *" i.* Industries. Capital Employed, Wages Paid. number of Hands Employed Materials used. Miscellan- eous Expenses. Goods < Manufactf ured. Brass Casting ' Clothing Fertilizers Iron Foundries Oyster and Fruit Canning Liquors, distilled Liquors, malt Drugs and Medicines Slaughtering and Meat Packing . Tobacco $ 1,689,428 11,897,563 4,163,347 5,041,767 3,226,416 1,421,225 4,924,988 975,725 1,153,856 4,208,451 > 663,056 4,178,971 1,837. 1,886. 94; 532! 246. 225, 1,240, 1,187 13,(191 638 3,436 8,990 146 690 698 421 3,242 785,852 1,120,981 1,566,577 ,789,085 .,369,261 683,861 508,482 '779,251 1,668,147 1,522,336 $ 30,745 408,258 197,316 235,833 141,023 1,029,220 963,062 290,599 75,232 1,260,387 $1,903,850 15,032,924 3,957,345 4,718,189 8,516,799 2,085,560 3,825,174 1,947,950 4,311,412 5,906,333 Percentages of Increase. Number of establishments reported. Capital invested Number of hands employed Wages paid Cost of materials used Value of product at work 35.22 104.63 40.39 121.83 44.27 69.19 ^Compiled from Census Bulletin, No. ! 342 MARYLAND. The following additional statistics are published through the courtesy of Superintendent Robert P. Porter, of the Census Office. They are preliminary in character, and subject to revision and correction before final publication : ii. A Capital. (a) 8*a 49 8 938,514 26 1,941,089 98 908,474 10 492,957 11 1,008,048 26 1,222,444 IK 724,457 12 203,788 81 1,780,101 6 59,075 12 469,357 4 1,063,987 11 32,243 127 1,696,184 18 418,400 19 1,256,422 11 648,908 55 1,164,457 4 183,800 Miscellan-tS eons """'«<=i Expenses.; n&n ^ j Cost Wages. of (Materials. Boots and shoes(ft) Brick and tile Confectionery Clay and pottery products Flouring and grist mills Furniture(c) Hats & caps, not including wool hats. Leather, tanned and curried Lumber(j) Millinery and lace goods Paints and oils(d) Pianos(e) Musical instruments(fc) Printing and publishing (/) Shirts, factory products Shipbuilding Steel(#) Marble and stone work(A) Lithographing and engraving 38,605 137,780 98,532 8,804 153,009 76,038 86,672 11,586 121,118 5,482 17,944 128,460 3,596 330,4811 44,225 91,343 30,596 169, SOD 22,810 1,334 1,820 854 617 240 1,371 843 205 1.243 167 117 737 50 1,802 1,311 975 320 731 197 t 571,006 547,067 278,632 261,713 172,548 647,786 305,072 90,185 752,976 53,038 64,752 532,160 33,979 1,117,208 345,407 610,410 156,104 461,805 125,766 $ 808,38S 146,407 1,198,219 116,010 2,775,120 1,031,735 607,580 335,798 1,819,479 68,940 200,041 400,592 26,948 729,848 596,993 692,740 473,271 644,541 98,331 1,711,367 1.055,508 1,861.599 500,625 3,285,721 2,056,419 1,261,523 455,818 3,105,288 155,500 344,230 1,291,165 81,961 2,826,356 1,191,918 1,640,317 749,207 1,571,945 316,352 (a) Does not include the value of hired property. (6) Includes returns classified by the Census Ofiice, as "boots and shoe uppers" and "boots and shoes, factory product." (c) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as "furniture, chairs," and "furniture, factory product." {d) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as "paints," and "oil, lubricating." (c) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as "musical instruments, pianos and materials." (/) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as " printing and publishing, book and job," and "printing and publishing, newspapers." (g) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as " iron and steel ; " " iron and steel, architect- ural ; " " iron and steel, bolts ; " " iron and steel, nails and spikes." (h) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as " marble and stone work " and " monuments and tomb stones." (j) Includes returns classified by the Census Office, as "lumber, planing mill products," "lumber from logs or bolt6." (k) Includes returns classified by the Census Office," as "musical instruments and materials not specified" and "musical instruments, organs and materials." Banking. The industrial development of any city is largely depend- ent upon the character and operations of its financial institutions. Baltimore banks are thoroughly in accordance with the growth and progress of the city and offer abundant facilities for mercantile trans- actions. The aggregate loans and discounts of the several national banks have increased nearly one hundred per cent, within a period of twenty years. The operations of State banks, banking and trust companies, contribute to make the result even more remarkable ; and the wisdom and fidelity with which these institutions are managed is shown by the MANUFACTURES. 343 fact that no chartered bank has failed in Baltimore within a period of sixty years. The development and resources of these institutions" is indicated in the following statement of the operations of the national banks of Baltimore and of the increase in bank clearances within a term of years : Number. Capital. Surplus. Loans and Discounts. Deposits. 1870 13 15 19 $10,891,985 00 10,890,130 00 12,313,260 00 13,243,312 00 §2,679,883 57 3,316,851 43 4,975,346 75 5,374,626 69 $17,069,159 92 23,808,488 16 31,727,650 32 31,964,550 51 $13,215,291 03 20,884,184 47 1880 1890 29,748,822 45 1892 28,174,838 45 BANK CLEARANCES. .$616,303,898 35 1890 $753,095,193 24 .659,346,47155 1891 735,714,652 00 . 620,587,729 65 1892 769,355,890 00 . 650,583,571 15 Clothing. The industrial development of Baltimore is exemplified in the growth of its clothing manufactures. Beginning some forty years ago, the trade assumed large proportions for a period, then suffered severely from the loss of southern and western business during the war, and finally entered upon a course of growth and expansion that has continued uninterrupted to the present day. The census of 1890 returned one hundred and twenty-five establishments engaged in whole- sale manufacture, at least forty of which are organized for production upon a large scale. The products vary in character from the highest grades of merchant clothing, to the cheapest and plainest wares. Distribution is general, though the chief makets are m the south and southwest. Canned Goods. All the world over Baltimore is famed as a great centre for the canning of oysters and the packing and preserving of vegetables and fruits. Some of the largest establishments in the country are located here and Baltimore brands command a wide market. The local oyster pack in 1892 aggregated five and one-half million bushels, although as a result of superior distributive facilities, almost the entire product of Chesapeake Bay is marketed here. Crisfield, Cambridge, Oxford, St. Michael's and Annapolis follow Baltimore in about the order named, as important oyster canning centres. During the summer months most of the canning establishments engage in vegetable and fruit packing. Immense quantities of corn, tomatoes and green peas, drawn largely from adjacent counties and the Eastern Shore, are so consumed, berries, peaches and pine-apples, of which more than a half million dozen were imported in 1892, form the favorite fruits. Distribution, as 344 MARYLAND. before stated, is very general, reaching throughout this country, and into every quarter of the globe. The packing industry has also made Baltimore an important centre for the manufacture of tin cans, about fifty million pieces being annually produced. Tobacco. The proximity to Virginia, North Carolina and the jjreat tobacco regions of the country, together with a large domestic produc- tion, has made Baltimore a leading centre for manufactured tobacco. In smoking tobacco, its production exceeds that of any other city in the United States, and it is a large producer of cigars and cigarettes. Distri- bution is largely in the Western and Northwestern states, and throughout the South. The extent of the industry is shown in the following statistics for the year ending December, 1892: Number of Cigar Factories in district 808 " Tobacco Factories in district 24 " Snuff Factories in district 6 11 Pounds of Tobacco manufactured 9,872,270 " Snuff manufactured 1,759,848 " Fine Cut manuf actured 532,641 " Leaf worked for cigars 2,072,270 " Leaf worked for Cigarettes 158,823 " Cigars manufactured 109,046,916 " Cigarettes manufactured 31,742,976 " Pounds of Sumatra Leaf imported at the rate of $2.00 per pound 61,406 " Pounds Havana Leaf imported at the rate of 35 cents per pound 249,368 " Pounds Leaf Tobacco exported 54,306,880 " " Stems Tobacco exported 10,068,634 Iron Foundries. Under the head of foundries and machine shops are classed a large number of extensive establishments engaged in the manufacture of structural iron, heating' apparatus, machine tools, stoves, elevators, guns, power-transmission machinery, steam engines and safes. The operations of these firms extend over a wide territory, and their products enjoy a high reputation. One firm makes a specialty of heating apparatus and gas works, and has erected wholly or in part, gas plants in New York, Chicago, Brooklyn, St. Paul, Norfolk, Rochester, as well as in Cuba and South America. A second is extensively engaged in the manufacture of special machinery, and possesses unusual facilities for the manufacture of machine-moulded gearing. A third devotes particu- lar attention to elevators and hoisting machinery, and a fourth to safes and vaults. Many other firms are engaged in the general manufacture of ornamental and other iron work for architectural purposes, and in the preparation of special machinery. Baltimore has been the pioneer in the manufacture of the loom for weaving cotton duck, to which her reputation for the superiority of cotton products is largely due. Other MANUFACTURES. 345 important forms of machinery have been devised and developed here, notably the linotype machine. Fertilizers. Baltimore is in advance of all American cities in the manufacture of fertilizers. In 1832 the first guano was imported from Peru for local use ; soon after the manufacture of a fertilizer from crushed bone was begun, the product being sold to farmers of the adjacent counties. Maryland furnishes a great amount of burnt lime for agricul- tural purposes; its soil also contains large deposits of marl. But most of the raw materials used in this manufacture come from external sources. The phosphate rock from South Carolina is the most important source of phosphoric acid. The necessary nitrogen or ammonia is derived from tankage, ground-crackling and similar refuse from the great slaughter houses- of the We^st, other sources being bones, fish scraps and bone black. Large quantities of natural guano are brought to Baltimore from the great deposits at Navassa Island. The potash used in fertilizers is obtained almost entirely from Europe, its most important source being the mineral kainite, largely imported from Germany. Ship-Building. In the earlier years of the century Baltimore was renowned for her ship-yards, and " Baltimore clippers " were famed all over the world. As the sailing vessels were replaced to a great extent by steamers, iron taking the place of wood in the construction, this industry for a while declined ; but she is now rapidly regaining her position as a ship-building centre. During the past year, sixty-one vessels of an aggregate net tonnage of 17,277 tons were launched from local ship-yards. The largest establishment is located on a tract of land adjoining Fort McHenry. The two steam ferry boats, Robert Garrett and Erastus Wiman, plying between New York and Staten Island, and the new ice boat Annapolis represent the work of this establishment. The United States gunboat Petrel was turned out in 1889, and in the following year the oil-tank steamer Maverick was completed, the first vessel of the kind built on this side of the Atlantic. The United States cruisers Detroit and Montgomery are the most important products of the establishment. The activity of the Marine Department of the Maryland Steel Company is described in another place. A number of other ship- yards for construction and repair work are in successful operation. Flour Mills. Baltimore flour mills are among the most productive on the Atlantic seaboard. Six large mills are in operation, two of which are in the city, and four in suburban towns. Although some of these date from almost the foundation of Baltimore, the modern process of crushing and sifting, known as the roller system, has been introduced, and flour of the highest grade is turned out. The local supply of wheat is drawn from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and 346 MARYLAND. Delaware, and the output is used for home consumption, for export to Brazil and the West Indies, and for distribution throughout the South. The mills combined have a daily capacity of nearly three thousand barrels. Baltimore enjoys peculiar advantages as a milling centre. Not only is Maryland and Virginia wheat rich in all properties necessary for producing flour of the highest grade, but the immense volume of grain poured in from the West permits the choice of the finest varieties from every wheat-growing State. Liquors. A number of breweries are in active operation, which not only provide for the home consumption, but supply a wide external market. Baltimore beer may now be found in all sections of the country, and it is estimated that the trade is increasing at the rate of about ten per cent, per annum. The flourishing condition of the industry, and the possibility of its further extension, have in the last few years attracted foreign capital, and large investments have been made. Several entirely new plants of model design and equipment have been recently erected. A number of distilleries are also operated, the product selling largely in the South and the Southwest, as well as at home ; and this industry has considerably increased in the last few years. Lumber. Eailroads and steamship lines bring annually to Baltimore large quantities of woods from the West and South; hard woods and white pines from West Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arkansas, Indiana and Ohio ; yellow pine from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The total receipts for local consumption aggregated in 1892 about ninety million feet. The value of timber exported during the fiscal year 1891-1892 was $1,467,970. Some twenty-five wholesale and thirty retail dealers are engaged in the trade, together with fifteen manufacturers of packing boxes, and eleven planing mills, sash, door and blind factories. The activity of all these establishments has been stimulated by the great increase in building during the past few years. The larger manufacturers and wholesale dealers control independent mills in the South and West, from which direct shipments are made. Furniture. Every conceivable variety of furniture, from the simplest office-fixture to the most elaborate drawing-room equipment, is manu- factured in Baltimore. The expansion of this industry is due partly to the natural location of the city and the cheapness of raw materials, partly to the efficiency of the labor supply. Large quantities of oak, maple, walnut, poplar, pine, ash, cherry, rosewood and mahogany are annually consumed. These supplies are drawn from the West, and to an increasing extent from the South. Distribution takes place over a wide area. Of the middling and cheaper grades, the South takes the largest quantity, while the higher grades are sent to every part of the country. The home demand for expensive goods in mahogany and rosewood forms a MANUFACTURES. 347 considerable item, while the remaining proportion of hardwoods is consumed largely in the adjacent States. Drugs. In this line of business Baltimore is the leading market of the South, both for manufacture and distribution. Raw chemicals, such as muriatic, nitric and sulphuric acids, sulphate of ammonia, saltpetre and bichromate of potash, are extensively produced. A great part of the output is used in the home market in the manufacture of fertilizers and drugs ; the remainder is taken by the Southern and Middle States. A large market has also been created for patent or proprietary medicines of local manufacture. Brass Casting. Brass founding and finishing forms one of Balti- more's most successful industries. The goods produced are of two general classes, the first consisting of steam, water and gas fixtures and plumber's supplies; the second, of church bells and chimes. The long establishment and successful operation of this industry has created a supply of skilled and intelligent labor. Particularly in the production of church bells has Baltimore attained prominence. One of the works covers six acres of ground, and is, probably, the largest establishment of its kind in the world. The peal of Baltimore bells may be heard in places as far removed as China, Burmah, India, Japan, Liberia, Turkey, Egypt, Brazil, Cuba,- Jamaica, England, Bulgaria, Mexico, throughout Canada and the British Provinces, and in every State of the Union. Shoes. The shoe and leather interests of Baltimore fall naturally into two classes, distributive or jobbing establishments and productive or manufacturing industries. As a distributing centre for boots and shoes, this is one of the largest and closest markets in the country. The sources of supply are New England, home manufactures and to a slight extent, New York and Pennsylvania. Sales are made largely in the South. A review of the market for the five years ending in 1891 shows an increased distribution of thirty per cent.; this, in face of growing competition and erection of new factories in all parts of the country. Copper Refining. For many years Baltimore has been the leading centre in the United States for copper refining. Inexhaustible mines in Arizona and Montana are controlled and managed by local interests, and their entire product is shipped to Baltimore either for treatment in the extensive works located at Canton or for shipment abroad. The principal business of the works at Canton is the refining of the ore destined for consumption in this country. This is brought direct from the smelter in Montana to the reducing plant — twenty-five hundred miles by rail — in bulk, without transfer, in the form of matte of sixty per cent, copper, and is here treated in reverberatory furnaces, converted into refined ingot copper, and sold for use in every State in the Union. It goes into all forms of brass and bronze castings. In 1891, over thirty-two million 348 MARYLAND. pounds of this refined copper, known the world over as the "Baltimore Brand," were turned out. Besides the pure copper, a large quantity of copper sulphate or blue vitriol is produced, the sulphuric acid used in the manufacture being also made here. Bricks and Tiles. This industry has already been spoken of under the subject of Clay, in the chapter treating of mineral products. Balti- more pressed bricks have for many years enjoyed high reputation, and shipments are now made to every part of the country. The Baltimore clays are also suitable for terra cotta and roofing tile manufactures. Large plants equipped with improved machinery produce a superior article for roofing purposes, and supply points throughout the north, west and south. Finer goods designed for house decoration rival the imported ware in both elegance of design and in perfection of finish. Potteries. There are in Baltimore five potteries, with twenty or more large kilns, employing about seven hundred and fifty men and women in making and decorating their wares. Baltimore products have attained a high reputation for artistic design and superior workmanship throughout the United States. Local clays are sufficiently fine and free from iron to be suited for the manufacture of the coarser grades of stoneware and pottery, while the three requsites for porcelain manufac- ture, flint (vein quartz), feldspar, and a fine clay, all occur in excellent quality within the limits of Maryland and the adjoining portions of Pennsylvania and Delaware. Flint is largely quarried in Harford, Carroll and Howard counties ; a useful soda feldspar is obtained near Rising Sun, Cecil county, and the best potash feldspar from Brandywine Summit, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. A few of the finer china clays come from Cornwall, England. Maryland coal is also unsurpassed for firing pottery kilns. Straw Hats. Baltimore has been identified with the manufacture of hats for more than a century. Down to the outbreak of the civil war, the city was a leading centre in the production of fur hats, and though there was a considerable falling off in this industry at the time, the close of the war was followed by the rise of a new enterprise — the manufacture of straw hats ; and the younger industry soon exceeded the older, both in number of establishments and amount of production: Baltimore has continued to enlarge and increase this trade, and is at present the leading city in the United States in the manufacture of the best class of straw hats. Nine manufacturing establishments are in active operation, with an aggregate capital of about six hundred thousand dollars. They give employment to about five hundred skilled male and seven hundred and fifty female operatives, and the annual product is estimated at upwards of three million dollars. MANUFACTURES. 349 Cottun Duck. Baltimore is the largest manufacturing centre of cotton duck in the world, turning out about two-thirds of the entire amount produced in the United States. The village of Woodberry has been built up largely through this industry, and is its chief site. In addition to local plants, two or three more distant mills contribute to the Baltimore trade. The annual product aggregates some two million yards, giving employment to about five hundred people. Large quantities of yarn and twine are also produced. These goods are in demand in every quarter of the world. Shirts and Overalls. In the manufacture of shirts, drawers, overalls and white goods in general, Baltimore is probably the most important centre in the country. The industry has largely developed from modest beginnings and attained importance by the excellence of its products. One extensive establishment is devoted exclusively to the manufacture of night-shirts. A number of factories are engaged in the production of shirts and overalls and in the manufacture of drawers and cotton goods Confectionery. Baltimore confectionery has a wide reputation for purity and superiority of composition. Most of the establishments so engaged conduct in addition, a flourishing distributive trade in Mediter- ranean and West Indian imports. It is estimated that the total volume of business annually transacted in both of these lines aggregates some five million dollars. Other Industries. An immense jobbing trade in dry goods and notions is transacted by Baltimore establishments, largely with northern and adjacent States. Heavy importations are made, and the volume of business transacted in 1892 was estimated as exceeding thirty-five million dollars. Much of the stone, marble, granite and slate quarried in Maryland is made up or marketed in Baltimore. As the mineral resources of the State are being more fully developed, this industry is steadily increasing, and local marbles more generally used. Crockery and queensware are handled by a number of long-established firms. Supplies are largely imported, and Baltimore possesses great advantages as a port of entry for merchandise of this kind. Baltimore pianos and musical instruments in general, are widely and favorably known. One establishment employs some seven hundred men in the manufacture of pianos, famous for their delicacy and excellence. The demands of local boot and shoe factories have stimulated a large trade in leather; heavy shipments are also made to northern and eastern markets. Extensive tanneries in Maryland and Virginia are controlled by the larger dealers. Paints and oils are largely produced and distributed. Well-known brands of ready-mixed paints are prepared here, and the closely allied goods, window glass and paint brushes, are successfully manufactured. Baltimore is the leading distributing point of hardware and tinware 350 MARYLAND. throughout the South. House furnishing goods are also manufactured. The supply of wooden and willow-ware is now almost entirely provided hy local factories instead of being drawn as hitherto from the Eastern states. The oldest lithographic establishment in the United States has its parent plant in Baltimore. Several establishments are now in opera- tion, producing work of the highest grade. Baltimore contributes more than one-half of the entire production of curled hair in the United States, and continues to increase her output in this direction. The city is also an important point of distribution for millinery throughout the South and West. Although the industrial activity of Baltimore is largely concentrated, flourishing manufactures are in operation in such suburban towns as Wetheredsville, Alberton, Granite, Laurel, Phoenix and Mount Washing- ton, and the present tendency seems towards the more general location of manufacturing establishments in the outskirts of the city. Sparrow's Point. The great works of the Maryland Steel Company at Sparrow's Point, on the north branch of the Patapsco, have been already described in the chapter on Mines and Minerals. Curtis Bay. An active industrial settlement has sprung up at Curtis Bay, on the north side of the Patapsco River, a few miles below the city. It embraces about fifteen hundred acres of land with an extensive water front. The water has an average depth of twenty-five feet, permitting vessels of large draught to discharge their cargoes in bulk. Important and varied industries, either established by local capital or attracted from without by the natural advantages and enterprising management of the place, have led to an extraordinary development within the last few years. A large sugar refinery has been erected, and is expected to bring back to Baltimore its early prestige in this industry. Extensive car works are in operation, employing some five hundred men and turning out fifteen new freight cars daily. Nut and bolt factories, an iron foundry, machine shops and a barrel factory are also in operation. A large rolling-mill is in process of erection. Several hundred neat and substantial brick houses have been erected to meet the demands of the growing population, while churches and schools give the locality all the best characteristics of a flourishing industrial centre. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad has, by means of a branch line, a tidewater terminus at Curtis Bay, thus securing direct connection with the railroads of the county. The settlement is also connected with Baltimore by an electric railway. Canton. Canton is the oldest and one of the most important industrial sections of the city, the corporation to which its present development is due, having been chartered in 1828. The property includes about twenty-three hundred acres of land, with an estimated MANUFACTURES. 351 water front of thirty-two thousand feet and a water depth varying from sixteen to twenty-eight feet. It is divided by graded and paved streets into lots suitable for manufacturing and building purposes. The tide- water terminals of the Northern Central Bailway," comprising elevators, piers and docks, are located here, securing immediate connection with the entire Pennsylvania system. Canton is also traversed by the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; the Baltimore and Lehigh and the Western Maryland Railroads have access to the property. The industries located here are numerous and varied, including many of those to which reference has already been made. It is in particular the centre of the oyster canning and fruit packing trade, and is the seat of the extensive copper refineries and pottery works already described. Saw and planing mills, iron foundries, brick yards, chemical works, fertilizer manufactories and distilleries are in successful operation. It has been said that one of the most striking industrial advantages of Baltimore consists in the admirable sites it offers for manufacturing purposes. Nowhere is this better seen than in Canton. A large amount of property is here available for industrial enterprise, possessing extensive water frontage and ample railroad facilities. Woodberry. Woodberry is a busy manufacturing section in the north of the city, at the base of Prospect Hill, Druid Hill Park. It is the chief site of the manufacture of cotton duck, of which, as before stated, Baltimore is the largest single producing centre in the world. Extensive iron foundries and machine shops are also located here, covering in all some ten acres of ground. The loom for weaving cotton duck, the turbine water-wheel and cable railway machinery have been developed here. At present from four to five hundred skilled workmen are engaged in the manufacture of all varieties of special machinery. The Northern Central Railway passes directly through the settlement. COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS. The important commercial organizations of Baltimore are as follows : Board of Trade, Chamber of Commerce. Merchants and Manufacturers' Association, Hopkins Place and German street. Corn and Flour Exchange, Chamber of Commerce. Produce Exchange, 105 South street. Provision Exchange, Chamber of Commerce. Builders' Exchange, 19 West Saratoga street. Canned Goods' Exchange, 413 Water street. Brick Manufacturers' Exchange, 19 West Saratoga street. Lumber Exchange, 19 West Saratoga street. Real Estate Exchange, 203 East Fayette street. 352 MARYLAND. Coal Exchange, 18 West Saratoga street. Brewer's Exchange, North and Lexington streets. Tobacco Board of Trade, 419 Exchange Place. Shoe and Leather Board of Trade, Hopkins Place and German street. Furniture Board of Trade, 110 East Lexington street. Taxpayers' Association, 203 East Fayette street. Old Town Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association, Gay and Exeter streets. West Baltimore Business Men's Association, 208 St. Paul street. Southwest Baltimore Business Men's Association, 110 St. Paul street. East Baltimore Business Men's Association. Stock Exchange, German near South street. CUMBERLAND. Cumberland has been frequently alluded to as the "Pittsburgh of Maryland." It would certainly be difficult to find a city more favorably situated for manufacturing purposes. Within easy distance are moun- tains full of the richest red and brown hematite ores. Alleghany county, of which Cumberland is the county seat, contains a fourteen-foot vein of bituminous coal, the quantity of which is almost inexhaustible. It can be delivered in Cumberland at a dollar and fifteen cents per ton. The smaller veins of this coal make excellent coke. Just across the river in West Virginia is found the gas-coal, and along the borders of Penn- sylvania is the bituminous coal, so that the worker in metal is enabled to furnish to all purchasers any quantity of iron, from the ingot to the finished tool steel. The Cambria Iron Company have a branch mill in this city, employing two hundred and fifty men. In addition to this are the Cumberland Steel and Tin Plate Company, Shafting and Machine Works, three foundries, one Car Spring Works, and three machine shops, together with the constructon and repair shops of the railroads centering here. Negotiations are now pending for the establishment of other works which will consume the entire output of the Cumberland Steel Company. Next in importance to Cumberland's advantages as a site for manu- facturing purposes, are its large lumber interests. The vast forests of soft and hard wood in Western Maryland and Northern West Virginia are largely owned or controlled by home capital, which is now organizing and establishing mills along the lines of the railways centering at Cumberland. The yards and factories in active operation in the city consume and dispose of millions of feet of timber monthly. In the establishment and prosecution of the industries of this kind home capital has been, for the most part, engaged; there are in prosperous existence one wood pulp paper-mill, with a capacity of ten tons per day MANUFACTURES. 353 of finished product, three large planing-mills, three building companies, two sash blind factories, three large lumber-yards, one coffin factory, and a number of other smaller concerns. One of the most profitable industries is that of glass-making, which is represented by two factories, employing a large number of hands engaged in turning out table and prescription ware of a high order. One of these companies organized in 1883 with a capital of fifteen thousand dollars. After having paid ninety per cent, in dividends, and having doubled its capacity at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars, it had in 1890, seventy thousand dollars over and above all liabilities, and its net earnings for the year 1892 amounted to over eighteen thousand dollars. Beside cheap fuel, Cumberland enjoys the advantage of the Medina sandstone, an almost pure silica, with less than one-half per cent, of sesquioxide of iron. The Cumberland Hydraulic Cement, used for building and other purposes, takes its name from a vein of that material which crops out in the very heart of the city. The production of this cement employs three mills, turning out a thousand barrels daily. Clay for the manu- facture of building brick is abundant, and four large yards are in operation. Outside the city are the mines and works of the Union Mining Company, where the celebrated Mount Savage fire brick is made. The immense fire-clay mines are inexhaustible. At Ellerslie a few miles distant, are located the Standard Savage Fire-Brick Works. These two corporations furnish employment to several hundreds of men. The city's flouring mills, of which there are three, all using the roller process, turn out 150,000 barrels annually. There are three distilleries and four breweries, the superiority of whose product is largely due to the pure mountain spring water that is used in the manufacture. In addition to these industries, Cumberland has three large tanneries six- cigar factories, one ice factory, two bookbinderies, two marble-yards two soap factories, one steam laundry and six newspapers, two of which are dailies. Cumberland's industries, according to a private census taken in October, 1892, furnish employment to 1,043 skilled mechanics and laborers. It is estimated that this will be more than doubled within the next three years, as the extensive improvements contemplated, and now in process of construction, by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at the southern end of the city, will afford employment to twelve hundred men. The company has purchased ninety acres of land, upon which repair and construction shops will be erected and tracks laid to accom- modate three thousand cars. Three of these new tracks have recently been laid, and two hundred men are now actively engaged in extending the work. 23 354 MARYLAND. The geographical situation of Cumberland renders it peculiarly adapted for industrial development. It fronts on tlie north branch of the Potomac River, and is bisected by Will's Creek, the banks of which abound in sites for mills and factories. These natural advantages have been greatly enhanced by the artificial aids of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which forms an outlet to the sea by water, and the convergence of no less than seven railroads at Cumberland, affording abundant facilities for the shipment of products manufactured within its gates to the markets of the United States. HAGERSTOWN. The manufacturing industries of Hagerstown include, in all, over one hundred establishments, furnishing employment to an average of over twelve hundred and fifty mechanics. Of the leading industries, a few may be noted. In the manufacture of gloves, one factory employs an average of one hundred and fifty hands, almost wholly young women, producing an average of over $75,000 per annum, in that special line of products, the largest output of any factory in the country. In the manufacture of bicycles, great development has occurred within the last few years, two large factories, employing three hundred workmen, with an annual product of $250,000, being now engaged in the industry. One silk mill gives employment to one hundred and sixty operatives, and has a product yearly, of over $200,000. There are two knitting mills, one of underwear, employing one hundred hands, with a product of $75,000, and one of hosiery, employing eighty hands, with a product of $70,000. One shirt factory, employing sixty hands, yields a product of $50,000. Another factory gives steady work to forty skilled mechanics in building pipe and cabinet organs, and is rapidly increasing its reputation and output. The value of the annual product of bricks, all used here, and falling short of the demand, exceeds $250,000. In the manufacture of furniture, one factory makes extension-tables exclusively, another is general in its product. Together they employ over one hundred workmen and produce wares of over $100,000 in value. Other manufactures of wood include mills making wheel and carriage stock, employing over one hundred and fifty work- men, and handling more than $150,000 of finished products. One firm annually exports over $125,000 of hardwood in bulk and dimension lumber. One paper mill has an annual product of twelve hundred tons of white paper, and sells in addition, fifteen hundred tons each year. Of the wholesale trade in confectionery, exceeding $100,000, more than half is manufactured here. The available banking capital of the city exceeds one and a half millions. MANUFACTURES. 355 FREDERICK. Frederick has long enjoyed the reputation of being the county seat of the third largest agricultural county in the country. More recently the city has advanced rapidly in industrial progress, and now offers unusual advantages for the establishment of small industries. The population of the city is at present, in round numbers, about ten thousand. Frederick is the home of the Louis McMurray Packing Company, the Frederick City Packing Company, the Union Knitting Mills, the Palmetto Fibre Company, the latter a large and very important enterprise engaged in the manufacture of all kinds of brushes from the Palmetto fibre of the Southern States; the Frederick Elevator Company, operating a grain elevator of fifty thousand bushels capacity, which receives and ships the grain raised by the farmers of the rich Frederick and Middle- town valleys; the Hygeia Ice Company, manufacturers of artificial ice on a large scale ; the Frederick Spoke Works, manufacturing wagon spokes and similar products from native hickory; a factory of straw hats, and numerous minor industries that contribute to the enterprise and the general prosperity of the county. Many of these industries were estab- lished in 1890 under the stimulus of the Frederick City Manufacturing Company. In the adjacent county, the point of most rapid growth and impor- tance at present is Brunswick, two years ago a sleepy little hamlet of two hundred souls, now a flourishing town of two thousand inhabitants. The change has been largely brought about by the establishment at that point of the large freight-distributing yards of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company. Middletown, Mechanicstown, Emmitsburg and Liberty are also flourishing towns, toward which the same spirit of enterprise has reached. The construction of a railroad through the Middletown valley, connecting the principal points with Frederick on the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio and AVestern Maryland Railroads is now being agitated, with every prospect of eventual consummation. Frederick's present railroad facilities consist in a connection with the main line of the Western Maryland, the Frederick Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which extends from Columbia, Pennsylvania, to Frederick, connecting at Columbia with the main line of the great Pennsylvania system. A short special branch of three miles also connects the city with the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio at Frederick Junction. The city is thus brought within two hours and a half of Baltimore, five hours of Philadelphia, and seven hours of New York, while all western connections are readily accessible. 356 MARYLAND. OTHER MANUFACTURING CENTRES. Annapolis. With all its historic opportunities and natural advantages, Annapolis has not progressed commercially as have other cities of the same age. Still it possesses respectable business industries. The shipping of oysters to the North and West has, for many years, been a profitable business. A glass factory is also in operation. A marine railway is located in the suburbs of the city, and carries on a flourishing business. The Farmers' National Bank and the Annapolis Savings Institution offer all necessary banking facilities. Four printing establishments supply the requirements of the public, and furnish the daily and weekly news. Annapolis is the terminus of two railroads, the Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad, and the Annapolis and Baltimore Short Line. Cambridge. Cambridge ranks as the third largest oyster centre in the State. The boats engaged in the trade represent a capital of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The annual catch aggregates four hundred and thirty-five thousand bushels, creating a fund of two hundred and eighty thousand dollars paid to four thousand men engaged in the business. The oysters are packed and shipped by several packing establishments to all parts of the country. Daily communication is afforded with Baltimore and river points by two lines of steamboats, and with Philadelphia and the north by the Cambridge and Seaford branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Cambridge also contains a large manu- facturing company, several lumber mills, two shirt factories, two brick kilns, three ship-yards and two phosphate factories. The town has a taxable basis of $1,800,000 and two national banks. Besides these industries, Cambridge is largely engaged in the catching and shipping of crabs, herring, shad and other products of the water. In the season, it is a centre for the shipment of much of the farm produce of the adjacent country. Havre-de-Grace. The natural location of Havre-de-Grace, near the mouth of the Susquehanna river, has made it the centre of the important shad and herring fisheries in the vicinity. The cutting and storing of ice engages many of its residents during the winter months, and ducking is, in favorable seasons, a source of considerable revenue. A steam flouring mill, canning establishments, a fertilizer factory and saw and planing mills are in successful operation. Situated in close proximity to Baltimore and Philadelphia, in the midst of a rich agricultural country with ample railroad facilities, Havre-de-Grace possesses many opportunities for industrial development. JUaston. Vigorous efforts have been made within the last few years to develop the manufactures of Easton. Healthy climate, cheap land and living, low rents and abundant transportation facilities, are all favor- able to this movement. Already manufactures of commercial fertilizers, MANUFACTURES. 357 flour mills, brick and tile yards and canneries are in successful operation. Smaller but flourishing industries are manufactories of shirts, washing machines, brooms, carriages, chairs, and window sash, and a number of well equipped machine shops and foundries. A creamery is in flourish- ing condition, and a large ice factory and another packing house will be built this summer. Two railroads and two steamboat lines afford quick communication with Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk. While still retaining its character as a county seat, Easton is fast becoming a manufacturing town. Salisbury. Salisbury, advantageously situated at the head of navi- gation on the Wicomico river, at the junction of the Eastern Shore and Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroads, is the centre of a large and valuable trade in lumber, having regular communication with Baltimore and Washington, and thence with all markets East and North. It is estimated that the annual manufacture of planed lumber aggregates eight million feet, a considerable part of which is consumed by local factories in making peach baskets and strawberry boxes and crates. In addition to this, about eight million feet of Virginia boards are annually used in the manufacture of oil cases. The surrounding country is well adapted to the cultivation of berries and truck farming, and a large part of this product is shipped from Salisbury. Altogether the town is one of the most flourishing and enterprising on the Peninsula, and the annual volume of its business has been estimated as exceeding one million dollars. Ghestertown. The characteristics of Chestertown as a town and place of residence have been described elsewhere. Kent county, of which it is the county seat, is one of the most productive sections of the State, and upon its products the trade of the town is largely dependent. The advantages which Chestertown offers to industrial enterprise have, however, been by no means neglected. One establishment is engaged in the manufacture of straw board, and turns out sixteen tons of the completed product daily. Another manufactures peach baskets, which are used throughout Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Other indus- tries are canneries, a drying-house, brick-yard, creamery, ice factory, planing-mill, fertilizer factories, flour mill and iron foundries. The town enjoys excellent steamboat and railroad facilities. ETkton. Elkton, the county seat of Cecil county, has undergone marked industrial development within the last few years. The erection of extensive pulp mills for the manufacture of paper has of itself given a material impulse to its prosperity. A large plant for the manufacture of fertilizers, extensive machine shops and the growth of fruit and vegetable canning, indicate the importance and the industrial possi- bilities of the town. Its contiguity to the large manufacturing centres; Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore, and its ample facilities for 358 MARYLAND. transportation by railroad or water, are highly favorable to its growth. Barge and boat-yards have been recently established at Elk Landing, near the town. These are controlled by Pennsylvania capitalists, and have been removed from that State on account of the greater advantages of Elkton. Port Deposit is an important point for trade in stone and granite. The quarries in the neighborhood give employment to some two hundred men. Stoves and tin cans are also manufactured. Crisfield is one of the great oyster centres of the State. Large quantities of fish and soft crabs are marketed here, and a considerable part of the produce of the surrounding country. Ellicott City is the site of a considerable part of the milling industry already described. Belalr is the county seat of Harford county and contains a number of large canneries and other manufacturing establishments. Scattered throughout the State are many hundreds of local manufactures — oyster canneries, fruit packing estab- lishments, planing mills, ice factories, iron foundries, flour mills and ship-yards. CHAPTER XI. CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. ,f CITIES. Maryland has always been an essentially agricultural, rather than a manufacturing state. Peculiar causes led to the early commercial devel- opment of Baltimore, and this pre-eminence has since been maintained. The State as a whole is accordingly characterized rather by a relatively large number of agricultural and tidewater settlements, than of great industrial centres. The population of the thirty-three cities, towns and villages having one thousand or more inhabitants as returned by the census of 1890, in the order of their rank, is as follows: Cities, Towns and Villages. Allegany Washington . . . Frederick Anne Arundel. Dorchester Allegany Harford Talbot Wicomico Carroll Kent Baltimore Baltimore city Cumberland city Hagerstown city Frederick city Annapolis city Cambridge town Frostburg town Havre de Grace city Easton town Salisbury town Westminster town Chestertown town Sparrow Point town Elkton town | Cecil Catonsville village ; Baltimor Laurel town | Prince George Port Deposit town Pocomoke city town Rockville town Cristield town Westernport village Hyattsville town Ellicott City town Snow Hill town Belair town Saint Michael town Centerville town Williamsport town Northeast town Sharpsburg town Chesapeake City town Oxford town Oakland town Cecil Worcester Montgomery Somerset Allegany Prince George Baltimore and Howard, Worcester Harford Talbot Queen Anne Washington Cecil Washington Cecil Talbot Garrett 1890. 1880 434,439 12,729 10,118 8,193 7,604 4,192 3,804 3,244 2,939 2,905 2,903 2,632 2,507 2,318 2,115 1,984 1,908 1,866 1,568 1,565 1,526 1,483 1,416 1,329 1,309 1,277 1,249 1,163 1,155 1,135 1,046 332,313 10,693 6,627 8,659 6,642 2,262 2,816 3,005 2,581 2,507 2,359 1,752 1,712 1,206 1,950 1,425 1,784 1,276 1,175 1,196 1,503 988 1,260 1,402 Number. Per cent 102,126 2,036 3,491 1,930 3,804 428 273 2,507 566 403 778 579 58 1,221 207 1,416 154 113 261 30.73 19.04 52.68 14.48 85.32 32.31 23.54 64.51 30.95 127.91 58.72 3.95 423.96 16.22 13.11 9.45 64.73 14.95 360 MARYLAND. In the following pages reference is made only to the fifteen having a population of two thousand or more. BALTIMORE. Baltimore, the principal city of Maryland, is situated on the Patapsco river, at the head of navigation, about fourteen miles from the Chesapeake Bay, in 39° 17' north latitude, and 76° ; 37' west longitude from the meridian of Greenwich. Its distance from the Atlantic by the Chesapeake Bay is two hundred and four miles. The nearest neighboring city is Washington, distant thirty-nine miles by rail. A small stream called Jones's Falls divides the city into east and west Baltimore, and empties into the Patapsco, which is here a considerable estuary of the Bay, and indenting the land with its middle branch and southwest branch, as they are called, enables vessels to ascend to the heart of the business quarters of the city, where the principal harbor is prolonged into a small interior harbor called the basin. That part of the city which lies south of the basin, and projects into the Patapsco into the form of an irregular peninsula, at the extremity of which Fort McHenry is built, is called South Baltimore. The entire area of the city is thirty-one and a half square miles. The land rises regularly from the water's edge northward in a series of undulations which throw the whole surface of the city into a succes- sion of gently rising hills, the sides of which slope toward the Patapsco or toward the tortuous course of the Falls. These elevations toward the north, northwest and northeast of the city reach a considerable height, commanding fine views of the city and river. Beyond the city limits the same undulating and gently-rising country continues for many miles, and indeed to the northern boundary of the State. The hill-sides, to a considerable extent covered with natural woodland, and sloping down to small dells drained by rivulets, are dotted with villas and handsome cottages. No city affords more varied and attractive sites for suburban and rural residences ; and the moderate price of land enables even persons of very limited means to have country homes amid scenery of exquisite beauty, within an hour's or even a few minutes' ride from the city. It was the possession of its fine harbor with its extraordinarily extensive water front that enabled Baltimore so rapidly to outstrip her older colonial rivals, and to seize and keep the commercial supremacy. Founded, as has been related in a previous chapter, in 1730, in 1775 Baltimore numbered 6,755 inhabitants; in 1790, 13,500; and in 1890 (according to the police census of that year), 455,427. Of these, 77,033, or about one-sixth, were negroes and mulattoes. WASHINGTON MONUMENT, BALTIMORE, MD, CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 361 Government. The municipal government of Baltimore is vested in a Mayor, elected biennially, and a City Council of two branches. The first branch is composed of twenty-two members, one from each ward, elected annually, and the second branch of eleven members, one from every two wards, elected biennially. The principal departments are : A Tax Department, the head of which is a City Collector, with an Appeal Tax Court to correct and adjust assessments; a Register's office and a Comp- troller's office ; a Department of Finance, consisting of the Mayor and two (unsalaried) citizens of his appointment, which has charge of the public debt and other matters of municipal finance ; a Law Department, consisting of a City Counsellor, a City Solicitor, an Examiner of Titles, and a City Attorney, who advise the executive in legal matters, and have charge of municipal litigation; and a City Commissioner, who controls the paving, sewerage, &c. in addition there are Boards of Commissioners for Police, Water-Supply, Public Schools, the Harbor, Fires, Parks, &c, whose duties are indicated by their titles. City Hall. The bureaus and offices of the city government are in the City Hall, an imposing structure of white Maryland marble, covering an area of over 30,000 square feet. The architectural style is the Italian Renaissance. The design is a central mass with lateral wings, inclosing courts which give light to the interior rooms. From the centre rises a dome, supported by columns resting on a marble base, and surmounted by a lantern and finial 236 feet from the ground. The principal approach is on Holliday street by a marble portico. The building occupies an entire block, thus presenting a f acade to each street, and from whatever point viewed the effect is pleasing and impressive. A circumstance connected with its erection is unusual in the history of similar public buildings. Not only were all the expenses of building and finishing covered by the original appropriation, but a balance of $228,865 remained unexpended and was returned to the City Treasury. Fire Department. This is controlled by a Board of Fire Commis- sioners of six members, with the Mayor as a member ex-officio. It is equipped with fifteen engine companies, nine hook-and-ladder companies, seven chemical engines, and a fire-boat for harbor use. The permanent force consists of two hundred and thirty-three men, besides fifty call- men, who are summoned when required. A salvage corps for the rescue and protection of endangered property co-operates with the fire depart- ment, but it is an independent organization supported by the local Board of Underwriters. Police. The police of the city is controlled by a board of commis- sioners of three members, appointed by the State Legislature. The active force consists of a Marshal, Deputy Marshal, with the necessary subalterns, and six hundred and forty patrolmen. The city is divided into seven 362 MARYLAND. police districts, each with its station-house. An alarm telegraph and telephone system connects the whole and extends over the whole city, and patrol wagons can instantly be summoned in case of accident or other emergency. The suburban districts are patrolled by a mounted force, and a steam patrol boat protects the harbor. Water Supply. This has been fully described in a previous chapter. It will be sufficient here to recapitulate that it is derived from two sources — the Gunpowder river and Jones's Falls. The water is stored in five artificial lakes — Loch Eaven and Lakes Montebello and Clifton for the Gunpowder system, and Lake Roland and Druid Lake with the Hampden High Service, and Mount Royal reservoir for the Jones's Falls system. These with the conduits and distributing mains have an aggre- gate storage capacity of about 3,000,0(J0,000 gallons, and a daily supply capacity of 165,000,000 gallons. Health Department. The chief executive officer of this department is the Commissioner of Health, appointed annually by the Mayor, and invested with powers to deal with everything that concerns or imperils the health of the city. In connection with this department is the city morgue, at the foot of President street. Courts. The courts of Baltimore have been described elsewhere. The courthouses are three ancient structures on Calvert and St. Paul streets, south of Lexington ; but as these are about to be superseded by a fine modern structure, suitable to the needs of the city, we shall not occupy our space with the description of obsolete relics that have out- lived their usefulness and will soon disappear. Post-office. This is a new and handsome building, erected by the federal government and completed in 1890. It occupies a large part of the block between Lexington and Fayette streets, immediately west of the City Hall. It is built of Maine granite, and the design is a hollow parallelogram, the facade being broken by a centre position flanked by two towers. The basement is used for the reception and storage of mail matter. The proper work of the post-office occupies the first floor, while on the second floor are located the offices of various federal officials. The third floor is occupied by the federal courts. Custom House. The Collector of Customs, with his staff, has for many years been housed in the old Merchants' Exchange building at the corner of Gay and Lombard streets. It is entirely inadequate to the needs of the city, and very ugly; and it is to be hoped that before long it will be replaced by a more creditable structure. Parks. There is nothing of which Baltimoreans have juster reason to be proud than of their beautiful parks and public squares. The largest of these, Druid Hill Park, to the north-west of the city, contains 700 acres, and had been, before its purchase by the city, the country seat f^'% CITY HALL. BALTIMORE, MD CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 363 of a family whose good taste had, for generations, preserved its natural beauties. In these it probably stands alone among American city parks. The diversity of hill and dale, deep woodlands threaded by winding paths, dense thickets, the coverts of deer, bright ttretches and slopes of green sward, crystal streams and springs, lakes and ponds, present pictures of exquisite beauty, changing at every moment. The city has carefully preserved these natural beauties, and enhanced them by judicious treatment. Drives, bridle-paths and foot-paths, enable the thousands who visit it daily to enjoy all its charms, whether their tastes lead them to mingle with the lively throngs always to be found in the vicinity of the "Mansion House" or the lake, or to seek the meditative solitude and silence of the woods. Lines of cars convey visitors to it from every part of the city, and it is a favorite resort of all classes of society. The Earl of Meath, who visited this country in 1890, and devoted especial attention to the parks of American cities, published an article on the subject in the New Review (Vol. II), in which he says that "as a lovely specimen of the forest park, Druid Hill was the finest among those that I visited in the United States." The main entrance is on Madison avenue. To the right is Druid Lake, with a driveway of a mile and a-half running around it. In other parts are lakes and ponds for boating and skating and for the propagation of fish. In a special inclosed pond are a pair of sea lions. Groves are arranged with shelters for picnics and with playgrounds for children, and there are grounds kept in order for base ball, tennis and other outdoor sports. Near these are the public buildings — the Mansion House, with spacious verandas, dining and lunch-rooms, and the Maryland House, transported from the Centennial Exposition of 1876, with collections illustrating the fauna and other natural productions of the State. Near these buildings is a small zoological collection and an aviary. A fine herd of deer roam at large in the woods, a flock of Southdown sheep pasture in the fields under charge of a shepherd in authentic costume, and a stable and a paddock are allotted to a pair of dromedaries of the finest breed, presented by the King of Italy to the late John W. Garrett. The park is supported by a tax of nine per cent, on the gross receipts of the street car companies. If Druid Hill illustrates the forest park, a handsome specimen of the artificial, or garden park, is presented by Patterson Park, a favorite resort of the inhabitants of the eastern section of the city. This is entered from the avenue of the same name by an imposing marble gateway, on pass- ing which the visitor's attention is arrested by a large fountain with a basin fifty feet in diameter. In all directions lie beds of flowers and shrubs, presenting a charming picture. A conservatory contains a fine 364 MARYLAND. collection of rare and exotic plants, palms, etc., and a lake in the south- east corner is usually gay with small boats. In this park may still be seen a part of the earthworks thrown up by the citizens in 1814, when Baltimore was threatened by the British forces, as related in the first chapter of this work. On that part of the peninsula before described which lies beyond and to the south of the basin, is Federal Hill Park, an elevated plateau, eighty-five feet above the water. On this plateau, during the late war, rather formidable earth-works were constructed by the federal forces, and mounted with heavy guns directed upon the city, which it overlooks. It was, fortunately, never thought necessary to use them; and after the restoration of peace, " grim-visaged war smoothed his wrinkled front" in this particular locality, the ramparts were levelled, and the surface adorned with trees, shrubs and flower-beds. The crest of the plateau commands an interesting view of the city and harbor. South of this plateau is Riverside Park, overlooking the Patapsco river, the fort and the bay as far as North Point. In Northwest Balti- more is Harlem Park, distinguished for the beauty of its gardening. Squares. The squares, or ornamented spaces in the residence sections of the city, are too numerous to describe in a work like this. We may single out for mention the largest and most beautiful, Eutaw Place, a series of squares extending from Lanvale street to North avenue, laid out in grass and flower-beds, diversified by shrubbery and fountains. Mount Vernon Place and Washington Place are the four squares at the base of the Washington Monument. They are adorned with flowers, trees and fountains. The visitor's eye is especially attracted by the beautiful bronze statuary, which are the chief ornaments of these squares. A colossal lion by Barye, four allegorical groups by the same master, and a noble figure by Dubois, representing a youthful warrior in Gaulish costume, seated and leaning upon his sword, entitled " Military Courage," adorn the western square, and are the gift of W. T. AValters, Esq. The northern square has a statue of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, and the eastern one of George Peabody, both of heroic size. Fronting on the square are the Mt. Vernon Church, the Peabody Institute and many tasteful private residences. Monuments. Baltimore is often called "the Monumental City"; but this designation arose not so much from the number of its monu- ments, as from the fact that it was the first city in America that could boast a worthy monument to Washington. The Washington Monument, erected by the State of Maryland, and finished in 1829, is a Doric column of white Maryland marble, 164 feet in height, rising from a marble base 50 feet square and 24 feet high, and surmounted by a statue 16 feet in height, representing Washington in the act of resigning his commission.' CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 365 A winding staircase in the interior leads to the plinth, which is guarded by a parapet, and from it an extensive view can be had of the city, harbor and surrounding country. Battle Monument, in Monument Square, commemorates the Balti- moreans who fell in defense of the city at the battle of North Point, September 12, 1814. In the grounds of the Samuel Ready Orphan Asylum stands a slender shaft of brick, covered with stucco, which is interesting as the first monument raised in the New World to the memory of Christopher Columbus. It was erected in 1792 by the Chevalier d'Anmour, the French consul ; and for thirty years was the only monument to the great navi- gator in the hemisphere which he discovered. One hundred years after its erection, a statue of Columbus, presented by the Italian residents of Baltimore, was unveiled in Druid Hill Park. Other monumental memorials are the Wells and McComas monument, the Wildey monument, the Wallace statue, in Druid Hill Park, and the cippus which marks the grave of Edgar Allan Poe. Residences. The domestic architecture of Baltimore is character- ized rather by substantiality and comfort than by show and splendor. Few, if any private houses are of the style which reporters call "palatial." Nearly all the residences are of brick, ornamented, in those of the better class, with string courses, lintels, and other trimmings of marble or sandstone of various hues. Of late years there has been a decided tendency to improve the domestic architecture by introducing novel designs and variety of building materials. Sandstone of various tints, from a deep maroon to a bright russet, marble, gneiss, fine gray freestone, green serpentine, bricks of different colors, diversify the streets with a pleasing polychromatic effect. In some sections of the city the visitor is surprised by the great number of small but decent houses, inhabited for the most part by workmen with their families. Baltimore has never taken kindly to tenement-houses and lodging-houses; and the cheapness of rents enables nearly every married workingman to have a home of his own; so that Baltimore is emphatically a city of homes. When we consider the advantages to the health, comfort, independence and morality of the workingman that gather around his "am fireside," we can cheerfully accept the loss of architectural display. Clubs. The inveterate domesticity of Baltimoreans has probably been the cause that the clubs are less numerous than would be expected from the size of the city, though of late years there has been some change in this respect. The Maryland Club, founded in 1857, is the oldest and most important, and has recently removed to a stately new building of white marble, at the corner of Charles and Eager streets, 366 MARYLAND. which is one of the most ornamental buildings in the city. In addition, there are the Baltimore Club, the Athenaeum Club, the University Club, the Germania and the Phoenix clubs, besides others of less numerous membership. The Masonic lodges have temporary quarters in the former United States court house on Fayette street, pending the rebuilding of their temple on Charles street, destroyed by fire a few years ago. The Order of Odd Fellows have recently built a fine hall at the corner of Saratoga and Cathedral streets. Other institutions of Baltimore, as well as its commerce and manu- factures, are treated. under their appropriate heads. The medial position of Baltimore, exempting it from the excessive rigors of winter and the exhausting heats of summer, contributes largely to making it one of the healthiest of American cities. According to the police census of 1890 the population of that year was 455,427, and the total mortality of the same year was 10,198, giving a total death-rate of 22.41 per thousand. The white mortality was 8,057, out of a white population of 384,394, or a death-rate of 20.98; and the colored mortality 2,141 out of a population of 71,033, or a death-rate of 30.15. ANNAPOLIS. The most interesting survival of Maryland's past is her ancient capital, Annapolis. Two and a-half centuries have rolled away full of the most surprising changes, and yet this relic of Old Maryland is as full of interest to-day as ever in her long history. Thirteen years after the establishment of the proprietary government at St. Mary's in the year 1647, an invitation was extended by Governor Stone to a colony of non-conformist Puritans settled in the lower counties of Virginia, and much disquieted by the authorities of that colony, to enjoy perfect religious freedom within the borders of Maryland. For a year they hesitated, but fresh persecutions were upon them, and the offer was accepted. During the early spring and summer of 1649 the emigra- tion continued from Virginia. Thankful for their preservation and happy at finding a home where peace and security were guaranteed them, the Puritans named their new settlement "Providence." At first a long stretch of plantations along the shores of the bay and its tributaries, the Puritan settlement could not be protected from the Indian marauders that nightly threatened, and gradually we mark the tendency to central- ize upon one spot at the mouth of the Severn, where their meeting-house stood. Here Anne Arundel Town, later called Annapolis, had its begin- ning. As the soil was fertile and well cultivated, this section grew to be the richest in the Province. CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 367 The central situation, general prosperity and more salubrious climate marked this region as the best location for the seat of government, which was removed from St. Mary's to Anne Arundel Town by Governor Francis Nicholson in 1695, and the name changed to Annapolis in honor of the Princess Anne, afterwards Queen of England. In 1708 Annapolis became a chartered city, with a regular municipal government. King William School, which had been founded in 1696, became the chief seat of domestic education. From the opening of the century the capital increased steadily in wealth and importance, and soon became the social centre south of Philadelphia, and the inhabitants were distinguished for sociability, courtesy and refinement of manners. Races, balls and other festivities attracted strangers not only from adjacent coun- ties, but adjacent colonies. Conviviality prevailed; clubs were founded, and deep drinking was the rule among all classes, the clergy not excepted. The Tuesday Club became famous in the colonies for its wit and good cheer, and claimed among its members many of the leading Americans of the day. The quaint but voluminous records of the club give a charm- ing insight of the social life at Annapolis. The provincial State House became better known as a ball-room than a hall of legislation. A theatre was in full operation as early as 1745, and was the first, it is asserted, in the colonies. French hair-dressers, tailors and perfumers plied then- trades in the little city, and excited the admiration and wonder of the French and English visitors. The golden age of Annapolis lies between 1750 and 1770, when its wealth, influence and attractiveness were at the highest point. The spirit of resistance to the arbitrary measures of England rose high at Annapolis. Non-importation clubs were formed, and the pres- ence of the convention at once cherished and moderated the patriotic spirit. The burning of the " Peggy Stewart," with her cargo of tea, has been described on an earlier page. It was at Annapolis that Washington resigned his commission to Congress, on December 23, 1783. But the Revolution concludes a chapter of her history, and marks the beginning of her commercial decay. In a few years she was entirely overshadowed, in this respect, by Baltimore on the Patapsco, and all her struggles to regain her old position were in vain. In the second war with Great Britain, Annapolis was on the very verge of the battlefield, and many of her sons were upon the muster rolls of those who rallied to the defense of the federal capital and Baltimore. The little town was blockaded by the British fleet, but the guns of Fort Severn, manned by resolute citizens, drove the enemy down the bay. The historian notes but few changes in the half century which separates this war from the greater civil conflict. Annapolis grew 368 " MAKYLAND. but little, her commerce decreased, while many of her better citizens moved to Baltimore and Washington. The establishment of the Naval Academy here in 1845, marks the beginning of the naval regime in the history of Annapolis, an important factor economically and socially. During the Civil War, Annapolis became an army town, and thou- sands of troops were quartered within her limits, while a large "parole " camp lay on the outskirts. So menaced was she at times that the Naval Academy had to be removed to Newport until hostilities had ceased. Since the war her population has doubled and her material prosperity greatly increased, though Annapolis will probably always be noted more for its social opportunities and the hospitality of her citizens, than as a pushing business-like modern city. Colonial Houses. To the architect, the old houses of Annapolis present an interesting study, as among the purest and most complete examples of what is known as the "Colonial Style." Of the seventeenth century buildings, few survive here or in the State, or at most, so modified as to be scarcely recognizable. Passable exceptions are the house at the corner of Church and Conduit streets, and the building used as the Treasury, on State House Hill. Of the class of houses termed " mansions," the Carroll house, now a part of the Redemptorist seminary, is one of the earliest, as indicated by the massive simplicity of its style. A garden terraced towards the water was the usual adjunct of these homes, and while they had a town- ward entrance the more pretentious front generally overlooked the garden toward the bay. Intrinsic evidence, as shown in the change from a somewhat primitive construction to the style of William and Mary, recalling the Dutch taste of Hampton Court, and then to the Georgian, lost in turn in the greater elegance of the French influence of Louis XV architecture, may be traced distinctly in Annapolis mansions. Taken in historical sequence we have the Tydings house; the Treasury; the Randall house, built 1730 by Thomas Bordley; the Carroll mansion; the Brice house, corner East and Prince George streets, 1740 probably; the Iglehart house, Prince George street ; its opposite neighbor, the Paca house ; the Claude house, Shipwright street, and the Ridout mansion, Duke of Gloucester street; the Mason house, built by Governor Ogle 1742, and St. John's College (McDowell Hall) ; the Randall house, Market Space, and the house of Antony Stewart, of " Peggy Stewart " fame, Hanover street. The City Hotel, Washington's hostelry, belongs to an early period, while the Chase mansion, built by Governor Lloyd, and the Lockerman house opposite, built 1770, plainly show the growth of French influence in plan and decoration. In the more modern dwellings of the colonial period the hipped roof, similar to the French mansard, though without an ornamental CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 369 character, was almost universal and covered many a comfortable home of those days. One of the houses of this character, on Charles street, is noted as the printing office and dwelling of the editor of the Maryland Gazette, published here since 1745. Another on State House circle, the Franklin house, is a specimen of the hipped roof colonial dwelling. Old Annapolis consisted mostly of this sensible style of building, varied occasionally by the very high-pitched roof, both picturesque and suited to storm and sun. Mo3t of these humbler dwellings have disappeared, or, by modifica- tion or additions, have lost all their original architectural character. The State House and other public buildings of Annapolis are described elsewhere in this volume. Municipal Institutions. Annapolis is governed by a Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen, deriving authority from a charter granted in 1708, and since amended by the Legislature. St. John's College, four public schools, three parochial schools, and five private schools, provide ample educa- tional facilities. Protection from fire is assured by a steam fire engine, two volunteer hose companies, a hook and ladder company and the fire organization connected with the United States Naval Academy. Water and gas supply are in the hands of private corporations. CUMBERLAND. The location of Cumberland, the county seat of Alleghany county, and the second city of Maryland in point of importance, size, manufac- turing interests and population, is in the northwestern part of the State, one hundred and seventy-eight miles, by rail, from Baltimore city. It is on the boundary line that separates Maryland from West Virginia — the Potomac River — at the intersection of Wills' Creek with the river. Its precise geographical position is longitude 78° 45' 25" and 39° 39' 14" north latitude; its altitude is seven hundred feet above sea level. The land upon which the city is built was originally owned by Governor Thomas Bladen, who disposed of it to George Mason, of Fairfax county, Va., to whom a grant, by letters patent, was made on the 25th of March, 1756. In October, 1783, it was purchased by Thomas Beall, of Samuel, for $1,407.10. In 1785 Mr. Beall laid off the town, the county of Alleghany having about this time been separated from Washington county, of which it formed a part. In 1787 articles of incorporation were drawn up and presented to the Legislature, who granted the privileges asked for. Before this the town, which contained but thirty-five families, was known by the name of Washington Town. A desire on the part of the inhabitants for a more distinctive name was manifested, and the one borne at the present time was selected in commemoration of Fort Cumberland, which had been erected on the site by Gov. Dinwiddie, of 24 370 MARYLAND. Virginia, as a defence against the French and Indians in 1754, and around which the first houses had been built. The commanding site of old Fort Cumberland is at present occupied by Emmanuel Episcopal Church and some beautiful private residences, and is one of the prettiest spots in the State, commanding a magnificent view of the city and surrounding hills and valleys. In 1794 the first levy of $200 was made for the erection of a court-house, to be located adjoining the site of the old fort. Other levies were made up to 1799, when the total amount expended on its construction amounted to $612.10. On January 1, 1795, Cumberland was made a postoffice, established by order of the Postmaster-General, and with its courthouse and postoffice, became entitled to be recognized by the outside world as a place of local habitation. The woodsman's axe, border civilization and the progress of a century have cleared the way gradually, until there nestles in a basin at the hills and lofty mountains that almost completely surround it, one of the most beautifully located, energetic and bustling cities in the country. The business portion of Cumberland is built on the flats, banked on the south and west by the north branch of the Potomac river and Wills' creek, while on the rising ground on the east, north and west side are the residence portions. Handsome private buildings mark the homes of its citizens along broad and shady streets, while the towering verdure-clad slopes of Wills' mountain form a background to a noble panoramic view. The city has a breathing place in " Narrows Park," out on the National road, the substantial construction of which by the United States govern- ment before the days of the locomotive, makes it the chief of all promenades and carriage-ways. This popular road winds through an immense cleft in the mountain, known as the " Narrows," whose rocky sides stretch perpendicularly a thousand feet on either side, leaving a chasm a little over a hundred yards wide, through which roll the waters of Will's Creek. Flanked on both sides by railroads and the National highway, it is a veritable gateway from the north entrance into the city. A short distance from the Narrows entrance is the park. Across a little valley from that place are situated the base-ball and athletic grounds, and two miles further west is the Alleghany Grove camp ground, filled with neat cottages. At the southern end of the city lie the Tri-State Exposition grounds — embracing a large enclosure, in which is an excellent half-mile regulation track, numerous stables for horses, a grand stand for spectators and large halls and exposition buildings. Those points of interest in the suburbs are reached from all points of the city by six miles of electric street railway operated by the trolley system. Among other points outside of Cumberland well worth visiting are the coal mines, to which four different routes by rail are at the choice of the tourist. An hour's ride, on any of them, will place him at the mouth of one of the large CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 371 mines that have so greatly contributed to Cumberland's prosperity. In the city itself, which has a population of fourteen thousand, there are many points and features of interest. It has fifteen miles of paved streets, the most frequented being laid in vitrified brick. It is well illuminated by gas and electricity, and the water supply from the river is abundant. The city's officials consist of a mayor and eleven councilmen, city clerk, treasurer and a tax collector. These officials have their quarters in the City Hall, a large, handsome building, erected in 1874, and occupy- ing the square bounded by Frederick, North Centre, North Liberty and Bedford streets. The entire ground floor of this building is occupied as a meat and vegetable market ; the second floor by the Academy of Music, the seating capacity of which is over one thousand persons. Lodging rooms and city offices take up the rest of the structure. In the rear of the City Hall is the Market Square, Station House and the Pioneer Hose Company's building. Thirteen policemen make up the force of the city's guardians. The fire department at present consists of four volunteer companies. The taxable basis of the city on June 1, 1892, was $6,845,548, and the tax rate was placed at eight mills. ( The educational needs of the city are amply provided for by seven public and six parochial schools, one high school and the Alleghany County Academy. Its religious world worships in eighteen churches, representing all creeds. The handsomest of these are owned by the congregations of the Presbyterian, Emmanuel Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Saints Peter and Paul's and St. Patrick's Catholic. In connection with Saints Peter and Paul's Church there is a convent in charge of the Ursuline nuns, and a large monastery of the Capuchin Order, while the convent of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Joseph is attached to St. Patrick's Church. The cemeteries are Rose Hill and Saints Peter and Paul's, beautifully located on the brow of the hill on the western part, Greenmount, Sumner (colored), St. Patrick's and a Jewish cemetery in the eastern part of the city. One of Cumberland's handsomest buildings, the court-house, was destroyed by fire on the early morning of January 5, 1893. It will be rebuilt, enlarged and improved during the present summer. Immedi- ately in the rear of the court-house site, on the opposite side of the street, is the county jail, a well-protected and strongly built piece of brick work. Within a stone's throw of the jail are located the city water works, between Green street and the river. Just at the eastern limits of the city are the Alms-house and Sylvan Retreat, an asylum for the insane, built by the county in 1888, at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars. On Baltimore avenue there is the Western Maryland Home and Infirmary. This charitable undertaking was organized in 1887 by a few 372 MARYLAND. of Cumberland's philanthropic ladies. State aid was obtained, and the present perfectly appointed hospital erected at a cost of twenty thousand dollars. The industries of Cumberland have been treated in another chapter, and a visit to any one of these will well repay the visitor. The cement quarries, the steel mills and glass factories are, perhaps, of particular interest. HAGERSTOWN. Hagerstown, the county seat of Washington county, is picturesquely situated upon the crest of the main watershed of the Cumberland valley, with the historic Antietam one mile east and the Conococheague six miles west. It is nearly at the middle of the valley, which here is about twenty miles wide, and is equidistant from Pennsylvania and West Virginia. At an elevation of 600 feet above sea level, its broken and rolling site has adequate surface drainage and is exceptionally healthy. The geological formation of the region is Lower Silurian, the Trenton limestone being the surface rock, with mountain sandstone flanking at the foot-hills on either side. It is at the centre of one of the richest agricultural sections of the continent, and from the hill-sides and higher buildings the eye takes in, to the east and west, bounded only by "South" Mountain on the east and "North" Mountain on the west, a grand panorama of the valley, twenty miles or more in width. To the north and south extends a stretch of more than sixty miles of thickly-settled, abundantly-watered, highly-cultivated farm lands, the homes of thrift, happiness and peace, while at either extremity lie the great battle-fields of Antietam and Gettysburg. The city was founded in 1762, by Jonathan Hager, whose name it bears. In making its plan, he wisely provided wide and regular streets, and spacious town lots, so that, in the older parts of the city, an absence of the crowding so often seen in American cities is noticeable. The history of Hagerstown before 1860 is that of most county seats in agricultural sections, one of slow, steady growth from within, yet so substantial as to lay broadly the foundation for large things in the future. Upon the great highway, the National road, from Washington westward, its wayside inns were of wide repute in stage coach days. The road system of the county early received attention, and the abundance of limestone facilitated the making of excellent Macadam roads. At the present time eleven of these radiate to all the lesser towns,, affording ample facilities for access, and with admirable railroad facilities, concentrating in this city the larger part of the traffic of the county and the adjoining parts of the valley, both north and south. Being one of the strategic points of the late war, it early came to share the fortunes of CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 373 the borderland, and its occupation by the forces of one of the other of the contending armies, was almost constant. This was not, however, an unmixed evil, since it attracted some measure of attention to the advantages of its location for business, manufacture and residence. Its real development began about 1870, at which date its population was less than 5,000. Since then its growth has been steady in" measure, substantial in character and encouraging in stability and diversity. Its population in 1890 was 11,698, an increase in the decade of over 52 per cent. The estimated present rate of increase is over 7 per cent, per annum, making the population at the beginning of the year 1893 at least 13,000. This estimate is fully warranted by the annual increase for some years past of over 225 dwellings. The fact is also significant that houses are built to meet actual needs, and are in large part erected by wage-earners for their own occupation. Hagerstown has twenty-one churches, of which twenty are Protestant, representing eleven denominations, the Lutheran predominating, three colored and one Catholic. All have fine edifices, and a number very beautiful church buildings. It has also five public school buildings, accommodating thirty-nine graded public schools, five private schools, one young ladies' seminary having over two hundred students, and a commodious and elegant municipal building, with ample public market accommodations. Its hotels are greatly superior to those of any town of its size in the East. They are ten in number, furnishing accommodations for one thousand persons, and actually accommodating an annual average of forty-five thousand persons. The two principal ones cost over $125,000 each, and are models of elegance and comfort, heated throughout by steam, lighted with electricity, with elevators and all modern conve- niences, so complete in their accommodations as to be noted and especially attractive to travelers. The entire city is amply lighted by electricity, its dwellings and business houses by electricity and gas. With its graded and paved sidewalks, wide, macadamized streets, its law-abiding popula- tion (the entire and efficient police force consisting of a chief and three roundsmen), Hagerstown is a model town. Its ample water supply of pure, soft sandstone water, is drawn from mountain streams eight miles away, and two hundred and fifty feet above mean level, giving an average hydrant pressure of eighty-five pounds at the highest point of service, and so making almost unnecessary the volunteer fire department, which includes two first-class steam-engines, two hand-engines and ample hook-and-ladder and hose apparatus. Its municipal government is now conducted by a Mayor and Council. All street maintenance and extension are under the direction of an unpaid street commission. All public needs and expenditures are met by an annual tax of five mills, and this, with the State, and county tax, 374 MARYLAND. amount to but fourteen and one-half mills. Property is assessed at an average of about three-fourths of its estimated market value. The limitation by charter of the maximum corporate tax, and of public expenditures in each year to the amount of tax specifically levied, with the inhibition of the creation of debt without previous legislative authority and popular approval by vote, effectually guards the city against extravagance in municipal expenditures. FREDERICK. Frederick, the county seat of Frederick county, is a beautiful town, nestling among Maryland hills upon the banks of Carroll Creek. It was laid out by Patrick Dulany in 1745, and the first house was built by John Thomas Schley on what is now East Patrick street. Here Washington and Benjamin Franklin met for the first time, and here also "Washington and Braddock fitted out their famous expedition against the French and Indians in 1755. The barracks in which the troops were quartered, and the military road built by them and over which they marched, are still in a good state of preservation. Before the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was built, all the travel and traffic to and from the West came over the National road, which passes through the city. Such distinguished statesmen and public men as Henry Clay, General Andrew. Jackson, President William Henry Harrison and General Winfield Scott were entertained by its citizens, while the older inhabitants of the generation that has just passed away, delighted to relate their recollections of the visit of the Marquis De Lafayette and the ball given in his honor in this city. Frederick is well laid out with wide streets intersecting each other at right angles, paved with stones and lighted with electricity. The houses are substantially built, and though some are old-fashioned and quaint in style of architecture, many are modern and handsome, equalling those of any other city of its size. The public buildings, including the court-house, market-house, public halls, churches, schools, banks and the State institution for the deaf and dumb, are modern and well built. The stores are numerous and well furnished with articles in their various lines. Markets are abundantly supplied with the necessaries and com- forts of living, at reasonable prices. The city has, just beyond its limits, a large reservoir supplied with an abundance of pure, fresh water, brought in pipes from springs in the mountains, in sufficient quantity for all domestic and manufacturing purposes and for the needs of an efficient volunteer fire department. The fertile lands, the admirable location, the low cost of living, the salubrity and beauty of its site, the energy, thrift and prosperity of its population, all combine to make Frederick a highly attractive city. CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 375 Cambridge, the county seat of Dorchester county, is the largest town on the Eastern Shore. It is finely situated on the south bank of the Choptank River, about eighteen miles from its mouth, which at this point is between two and three miles wide. The town is divided unequally by a branch of the river into east Cambridge and the main town, and possesses a fine harbor for vessels of all descriptions. The streets are, as a general rule, wide and well shaded by trees, while the whole is beautified by flower gardens and grass plots in front of many of the dwellings. The houses are, generally, of the cottage type, so characteristic of Eastern Shore towns; but many substantial brick buildings have recently been erected in the business section. The town is well lighted by gas, and will soon be provided with a system of artesian water supply. It is amply protected from fire by a volunteer fire department. Educational advantages are afforded by an excellent system of public schools, including a high school, partly supported by the State. There are eight churches, six white and two colored, repre- senting as many different denominations. Frosfburg is the second largest town in Allegany county. It is situated on a plateau of the Allegany Range seventeen hundred feet above sea level. It is in the midst of a great coal region, midway between Cumberland and Piedmont, on the line of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad. The population of the town is composed for the most part of miners of foreign extraction, but of thrifty and law- abiding habits. The town is governed by a Mayor and a board of six Councilmen ; it is lighted by gas and well provided with well water. It contains fourteen churches, several public schools and two newspapers. The vicinity of Frostburg is notable for the beauty and sublimity of its natural scenery. The view afforded from the town itself into Penn- sylvania, Maryland and West Virginia is most impressive. Havre de Grace is pleasantly situated on the south bank of the Susquehanna River near its mouth. It is one of the oldest towns in the State, and received its name from a fancied resemblance to the site and environment of the French port. The city is governed by a board of five commissioners elected annually. It is attractively laid out with wide streets, lined by well-built houses. A system of public schools for white and colored children, and a number of churches provide for the needs of the inhabitants. The industrial activity of the town largely centres, as has been stated, about its fisheries and ice trade. Havre de Grace has admirable railroad connection with the larger cities, being about midway between Baltimore and Philadelphia. It is located in the midst of a rich agricultural country, with an almost inexhaustible supply of fish and fowl at its very door. Living is cheap, the climate is 376 MARYLAND. healthy, and it offers many attractions as a place of permanent or transient residence. Easton, the county seat of Talbot county, has grown up around the court house, which was built, somewhat more than one hundred years ago, in an "old field near Pitts Ms bridge." The court house, a well- proportioned Colonial building, is still the most prominent feature of the town, standing with the jail and armory, on a shaded green. Near it are the market house and town hall, and the Odd Fellows' hall. The town is regularly laid out, well lighted with electricity and gas, and supplied with abundant water from artesian wells. It is still primarily a shire town, the capital of a wealthy and populous county. On any " public day " the streets are crowded with vehicles of every description, while the market house and "space" are full of people buying, selling and discussing business or county affairs. The Talbot county fair is held here every fall, the exhibits being displayed in a series of fine buildings owned by the Fair Association. Easton has a militia company of about forty men, and an efficient fire company. The important religious denominations are represented by well built churches. The most interesting of these structures is, perhaps, the Friends' meeting house, erected over two hundred years, and standing in a grove of great oaks, just outside the town. Both Fox and Penn worshipped here. Four newspapers are published in the town, and well organized public schools are in operation. Salisbury, the county town of Wicomico county, and the second largest town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, is situated on the Wicomico river, ninety-five miles from Annapolis. In its present form the town dates practically from a disastrous fire, occurring several years ago. In the work of reconstruction, the main street was widened and straightened, and brick buildings generally substituted for the earlier frame structures. As a result, the town presents a modern appearance unusual in towns of larger size. Salisbury has several banks, a number of churches, and a volunteer fire department. Its public schools are well equipped, graduates of the high school being prepared to enter a colle- giate sophomore year. Two newspapers are published in the town. The climate of Salisbury is pleasant and healthful, and the surrounding country is rich and productive. Its industrial activity centres largely in the lumber trade. Westminster, the county seat of Carroll county, is situated at the head-waters of the Patapsco, midway between Baltimore and Hagerstown, on the line of the Western Maryland Eailroad. It was founded as early as 1766 and incorporated as a town seventy years later. It is situated in the midst of a rich and productive country, and has ample water power for industrial establishments. Fine grades of marble are quarried in the CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 377 vicinity. Westminster is the site of Western Maryland College, a co-educational institution under the control of the Maryland Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church. The town contains several fine structures, and hears the general appearance of a substantial, prosperous community. Chestertown, the county town of Kent county, was incorporated in 1706, and early became a port of entry for the Province. The original custom-house and counting-room, though since converted into dwellings, can still be pointed out. The town is well laid off, the streets being wide and straight, and lined on either side with historic shade trees. The court-house and jail are spacious modern structures, as are many of the private residences. Chestertown is the site of Washington College, which was established in 1782, and was visited by Washington himself two years later. Five churches of as many different denominations, two banks and a series of public schools are located in the town. It is sixty miles distant from Baltimore by water, and ninety miles by rail. Steamers from Baltimore arrive daily. ETkton, the county seat of Cecil county, is advantageously located at the head of Elk river, a tributary of the Chesapeake. The town is also half way between Philadelphia and Baltimore on the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad. The public buildings consist of a court-house, recently rebuilt, with fire-proof offices for the county archives, a handsome town council hall, part of which is occupied by a well equipped local fire company; and seven church edifices, all excel- lently maintained. The town is supplied with both gas and electric light. Water has recently been introduced through a modern reservoir and gravity system, affording a constant supply of pure and soft water for domestic and municipal uses. The educational facilities of the town embrace an academy of high grade, a grammar school and public schools for white and colored children. Ample facilities are afforded for public entertainments, and a free circulating library will soon be provided. Two national banks afford all needed banking facilities, and the retail trade of the town is transacted by enterprising mercantile establishments. Elkton is the centre of a refined and cultivated population, with every inducement for permanent residence, and many attractions for summer sojourn. Oatonsville is on the Frederick road, six miles from Baltimore, with which it is connected both by railroad and street railways. It is well provided with churches and schools, and is the site of the Spring Grove Insane Asylum. Its pleasant location, healthy environment and prox- imity to Baltimore have made it a growing suburb of that city. Sparrow's Point is the site of the works of the Maryland Steel Company, and has been described in another connection. 378 MARYLAND. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. State House. The first colonial capital of Maryland was St. Mary's, in the southern part of the Province, but the seat of government was removed in 1694 to Annapolis, where the first state house was built upon the site of the present building. This being destroyed by fire in 1704, a larger capitol was erected, but this again, after fifty years' occupation, proving too small for the increased needs of the community, was torn down in 1769, and replaced by the present- structure. The plans are supposed to have been drawn by a. pupil of Sir Christopher Wren. The dimensions are : height to the top of the dome, 200 feet; front, 120 feet; depth, 175 feet. The. visitor enters by the south door into a rotunda of imposing effect, beneath the dome. To the right of the entrance is the Senate chamber, and that of the Delegates on the left. The Senate chamber has been the scene of memorable events in the country's history. Here, on December 23, 1783, Washington surrendered to Congress his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United States. In this chamber, in 1784, the long struggle for American independence was brought to a close by the ratification, in the presence of Congress, of the treaty of peace with Great Britain. Here, in September, 1786, the first Constitutional Convention, generally known as the Annapolis Convention, met to frame a better form of government for the United States. This apartment, measuring thirty feet by forty, has been enlarged and embellished in the last few years. On the west wall is a painting representing Washington resigning his commission, and on the opposite side is the famous portrait of Washington by Gilbert Stuart. Other portraits of distinguished Marylanders, and many curious and interesting historical relics, adorn the walls of this and the antechamber. In the Delegates' chamber is a fine painting by Peale, representing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. The State Library, containing about 70,000 volumes, and the Judicial and Executive Departments are on the second floor. In the Governor's room is a fine portrait of George Calvert, first Lord Baltimore, copied from the original by Mytens, and presented to the State by the late John W. Garrett, Esq. Here too are portraits of several early governors of the State. From the balcony above the dome, at the height of one hundred and eighty-five feet, a magnificent view is obtained ; the city of Annapolis with its harbor, the Severn river, the Chesapeake bay, and the picturesque surrounding country, spreading like a panorama before the eye. Two fine bronze statues of colossal proportions adorn the grounds. One, representing Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the United States, CITIES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 379 is the work of W. H. Einehart. a distinguished Maryland sculptor, and was erected by the State in 1872. The other, representing Baron DeKalb, leading the Maryland and Delaware troops at the battle of Camden, where that hero fell, mortally wounded, was erected by the United States in 1886, in pursuance of a resolution of Congress passed in 1780. This spirited work is by Ephraim Keyser, also a Maryland artist. Executive Mansion. The official residence of the Governors of Maryland for one hundred, years before 1866, was the building now used as the library of the Naval Academy, having been purchased by the Federal Government in the year last named. In the same year, during the administration of Governor Swann, the present Executive Mansion was built. State Treasury, &c. Upon the State-house hill, to the right of the State-house, stands a quaint old colonial building of very modest propor- tions. This is the Treasury of the State of Maryland. The building is in the shape of a Greek cross, and is probably the oldest edifice in the city. The venerable college poplar is the single living witness of its building, nearly two hundred years ago. The rooms are low, and the walls of unusual solidity and thickness, capable of bidding defiance to the limited resources of colonial burglars. Near it stands a modern building containing the Land Office and other public offices. CHAPTER XII. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. The political evolution of Maryland from the struggling palatinate of the seventeenth century to the sovereign State of our own day, has been traced in an earlier part of this volume. . The purpose of the following pages is to describe the present government and existent political institutions of the State. GOVEKNMENT. Constitution. The present Constitution of Maryland was formed by a convention assembled in Annapolis in May, 1867, and was ratified by popular vote in the following September. It is the fourth Constitution adopted in the history of the State, earlier instruments bearing date of 1864, 1851 and 1776. It is preceded by a Declaration of Rights, containing forty-five articles, asserting the usual rights of trial by jury, freedom of speech, religious liberty, taxation according to actual worth, with declara- tions against retrospective and sanguinary laws, attainder, monopolies, trial by martial law, etc. The Constitution proper consists of fifteen articles, treating of elective franchise, executive department, legislative department, judiciary department, Attorney General and State's Attorneys, Treasury department, sundry officers (County Commissioners, Surveyors, State Librarian, Commissioner of the Land Office), education, militia and military affairs, labor and agriculture, public works, new counties, amendments, miscellaneous matters and vote on the Constitution. Administration. The government of Maryland follows the general theory of American political organization in a fundamental separation of departments. This is specifically provided in Article 8, of the Declara- tion of Rights, which asserts that " the legislative, executive and judicial powers of government ought to be forever separate and distinct from each other." For purposes of administration the State is divided into twenty-three counties, and the city of Baltimore, which is not comprised within the limits of any county. The local affairs of each county are regulated by a board of County Commissioners, elected by popular vote, but determined in number and term of office by special acts POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 381 of the General Assembly. There is no general administrative sub- division of counties into townships, but school and election districts exist for the purposes indicated. The government of Baltimore is vested in a Mayor and City Council.* The local affairs of other minor civil divisions, cities, towns and villages, are variously controlled by a Mayor and Council, by a Burgess or President and Board of Commissioners, or by a Board of Commissioners alone. The manner of election and range of powers of these authorities are in each case defined by legislative charters, and by special acts of the legislature, passed from time to time. Executive. The executive power of the State is vested in a Governor, elected for a term of four years and receiving an annual salary of $4,500. He must have attained the age of thirty years, and must have been for ten years a citizen of Maryland, and for five years next preceding his election a resident of the State. He is the commander-in-chief of the land and naval forces of the State, may call out the militia to sup- press insurrections, repel invasions and enforce the execution of the laws, but can not take the command in person without the consent of the legislature. All legislative enactments must be submitted to his consid- eration, and his veto can be overruled only by a three-fifths vote of both houses. He has the usual power to grant reprieves and pardons and to remit fines and forfeitures to the State. He appoints, by and with the consent of the Senate, all civil and military officers of the State, whose election is not otherwise provided for, and is vested with general authority to secure the faithful execution of all laws. The Governor, upon election, appoints a Secretary of State, who continues in office during the gubernatorial term, and receives an annual salary of two thousand dollars. He keeps and preserves a careful record of all official acts and proceedings, and performs such other duties as are prescribed by law, or as properly belong to his office. Legislative. The legislative department consists of two distinct branches, a Senate and a House of Delegates, together styled the General Assembly of Maryland. Each county in the State, and each of the three legislative districts of Baltimore, is entitled to one Senator elected for a term of four years. The apportionment of representation in the House of Delegates is made upon the following basis : Counties having a population of eighteen thousand persons or less are entitled to two delegates ; those between eighteen thousand and twenty-eight thousand, to three delegates; between twenty-eight thousand and' forty thousand, to four delegates ; between forty thousand and fifty-five thousand, five delegates; and fifty- five thousand or more, six delegates. Each of the *For a more detailed account of the government of Baltimore, see page 361. 382 MAKYLAND. legislative districts of Baltimore city is entitled to as many delegates as the largest county — six. No person is eligible as Senator until he has reached the age of twenty-five years, nor as Delegate until he has reached legal majority, nor to either office unless he has been a resident of Maryland for at least three years, and of the particular county or legislative district which he may be chosen to represent, for one year. The members of both bodies receive a compensation of five dollars per diem for actual service. The General Assembly meets biennially, and as the first Legislature under the Constitution of 1867 met in 1868, sessions always fall in even years. It convenes on the first Wednesday of January and continues in session for a period fixed by a constitutional limitation as not longer than ninety days. A special session may be convened by proclamation of the Governor, but may not sit longer than thirty days. Judicial. The judicial powers of the State are vested in a Court of Appeals, Circuit Courts, Orphans' Courts, Baltimore City Courts and Justices of the Peace. All judges, except those of the Orphans' Courts, are elected by popular vote for a term of fifteen years and are selected from those who have been admitted to practice law in the State, and who are " most distinguished for integrity, wisdom and sound legal knowledge" (Const, of Md., Art IV., Sect. 2). The State is divided into eight judicial circuits, in the following manner : Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico and Dorchester counties, first; Caroline, Talbot, Queen Anne, Kent and Cecil, second ; Baltimore and Harford, third ; Allegany, Washington and Garrett, fourth; Carroll, Howard and Anne Arundel, fifth; Montgomery and Frederick, sixth ; Prince George's, Charles, Calvert, St. Mary's, seventh ; Baltimore city, eighth. For each of the first seven of the above circuits, a chief judge and two associate judges are elected, who hold a Circuit Court of not less than two terms in each county. A clerk of the Circuit Court is elected by popular vote in every county for a term of six years. The salary of the chief judge is fixed at $4,500 per year, and that of an associate judge at $3,600. The judiciary of Baltimore consists of a chief judge and four associate judges, together styled the Supreme Bench of Baltimore City. The judges are elected for a term of fifteen years, and are assigned to the following courts : Superior Court, Court of Common Pleas, Baltimore City Court, Criminal Court, Circuit Court and Circuit Court No. 2, the two latter being courts of equity. The Court of Appeals is composed of the chief judges of the first seven of the judicial circuits of the State, and a judge from the city of Baltimore specially elected thereto. The Governor designates one of this body by and with the consent of the Senate, as chief judge. A clerk POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 383 of the Court of Appeals is elected by popular vote for a term of six years, and the sessions of the court are held in Annapolis. An Orphans' Court is located in each county of the State and in Baltimore city. It consists of three judges elected by popular vote for a term of four years, and exercises the functions of a Probate Court. A Register of Wills is similarly elected for a term of six years. He is eligible for re-election and subject to judicial removal for cause. Justices of the peace are appointed in the several counties by the Governor, and have jurisdiction in civil suits where the amount involved does not exceed one hundred dollars. Constables are appointed by the County Commissioners and by the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore for a term of two years, subject to judicial removal for incompetency or neglect of duty. A sheriff is elected in each county and in the city of Baltimore every second year. Coroners and notaries public are appointed by the Governor. Legal. The legal functions of the State are entrusted to an Attorney- General, elected by the voters for a term of four years, and receiving an annual salary of three thousand dollars. He must have resided and practiced law in the State for at least ten years before his election. He is charged with the prosecution and defense on the part of the State of all cases pending in the Court of Appeals, or in the United States Supreme Court. He is required to give his opinion in writing, whenever required by any public officer, upon any legal matter pending before him, and cannot receive any fees or perquisite in addition to the salary paid for the performance of his official duty. A State's Attorney is elected by popular vote in each county and in the city of Baltimore for a term of four years, and serves as the prose- cuting officer of the State in the particular district. He must have been admitted to practice law in the State, and have resided at least two years in the county or city in which he may be elected. FINANCES. The finances of the State are administered by a Treasury Depart- ment, consisting of a Comptroller, chosen biennially by popular vote, with an annual salary of twenty-five hundred dollars, and a Treas- urer, appointed by the General Assembly at the same salary. The Comptroller is vested with a general superintendence of the fiscal affairs of the State. He prepares and reports estimates of revenue and expen- diture; enforces the prompt collection of all taxes; preserves all public accounts, and grants all warrants for money to be paid out of the treasury in pursuance of appropriations by law. The Treasurer receives and deposits the moneys of the State, and disburses the same upon warrants 384 MAEYLAND. drawn by the Comptroller. He provides for the payment of the interest of the State debt, and for purchases on account of the sinking fund. Funded Debt. The net funded debt of Maryland aggregated on September 30, 1892, $3,082,286.35. The original loans, which have all been re-funded at 3 and 3tj% per cent., were issued to aid in the construc- tion of works of internal improvement, largely the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad; for the erection of State institutions, and to assist in the public defence during the late war. The volume of indebtedness is being rapidly reduced — by the amount of $2,036,656.28 in 1892 — and will probably be entirely extinguished in a few years. The credit of the State is high, its bonds being sought for purposes of investment, and commanding premiums in the general market. The following is a detailed statement of the funded debt: Character of Loan. Maturity. Amount. 3 per cent. Exchange Loan of 1886 1900 $ 638,355.00 3 r s jV per cent. Defence Redemption Loan 1899 3,000,000.00 3 per cent. Exchange Loan of 1886 1901 1,270,474.10 3 per cent. Exchange Loan of 1889 1903 3,079,400.00 3 per cent. Exchange Loan of 1891 1905 706,757.14 Gross amount of Funded Debt $8,684,986.24 As an offset to this debt, the State holds the following bonds and stocks, on which interest or dividends are paid : Stock in Washington Branch B. & O. R. R. Co $ 550,000.00 " Farmer's National Bank of Annapolis 40,470.00 " Annapolis Water Company 30,000.00 Bonds of N. C. Railway Mortgage 1,500,000.00 Bonds of Susquehanna and Tide- Water Canal Co 1,000,000.00 Cash to Credit of Sinking Funds 1,485.46 Stocks and Bonds to Credit of Sinking Funds 2,474,744.43 $5,602,699.89 Net debt after productive stocks held by the State and the Sinking Funds are deducted* $3,082,286.35 Revenues. Article 14 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights (Art. XV.), declares that " every person in the State or persons holding property therein, ought to contribute his proportion of public taxes for the support of the government according to his actual worth in real and personal property." This is the basis of Maryland taxation. A direct tax is levied upon all real and personal property, for purposes of public education and to provide interest and sinking funds for the funded debt. It is imposed upon individual and corporate property, and upon the * "It is worthy of note that the productive stocks, with a single exception, held by the State, have a market value greatly in excess of their par value, and if a statement was prepared placing the State securities at their market, value, this net debt would be decreased by more than one-half." (Report of Comptroller for 1893, p. vi) . POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 385 capital stock of corporations, less the assessed value of parts of its capital already taxed or non-taxable. Personal property is listed by the state- ment of the taxable, and valued by the assessor. The last general assessment was made in 1876. Revisions are, however, made from year to year by the county boards and by the Appeal Tax Court of Baltimore City. A Tax Commissioner is apointed by the Board of Public Works for a term of four years, at an annual salary of twenty-five hundred dollars, to assess and revise for State purposes the shares of all incor- porated associations or institutions liable to taxation. The assessed value of property in 1877 — in which year the returns of the general assessment became first available — in 1891 and in 1892, and the amount realized in 1892, are as follows : Counties and Baltimore City. Allegany ....... . Anne Arundel . . . Baltimore City . . . Baltimore County Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett Harford Howard Kent Montgomery Prince George's.. Queen Anne's St. Mary's Somerset Talbot 7/ashington Wicomico Worcester Totals Assessed value 01 property for State levy in 1877, $478,468,028 Assessed value of property for State levy in 1891. i 16,082,934 10,725,314 276,408,052 39,650,644 2,037,800 4,381,469 15,885,655 13,389,101 3,322,016 6,183,618 23,139,041 4,124,187 12,137,415 7,436,312 7,759,640 9,951,605 9,005,217 7,230,844 2,831,924 4,088,342 8,634,056 17,055,413 4,065,605 4,477,273 $510,003,077 Assessed value ot property for State levy in 1892 $ 16,151,558 10,874,049 277,171,612 41,359,723 2,033,209 4,351,415 15,877,537 13,271,949 3,410,140 6,193,888 23,613,030 4,261,610 12,444,104 7,515,094 7,783,728 10,425,220 9,138,883 7,544,416 2,718,126 4, 193,568 8,698,294 17,351,775 4,149,119 4,605,481 §515,137,528 Amount of levy for 1892 at 17% cents on each $100.00. $ 2S,669 01 19,301 44 491,979 61 73,413 50 3,608 95 7,723 74 28,182 62 23,557 70 6,052 98 10,994 15 41,913 13 7,564 36 22,088 27 13,339 29 13,816 11 18,504 76 16,221 52 13,391 34 4,824 67 7,443 57 15,439 46 30,799 40 7,364 68 8,174 72 $914,36S 98 RECAPITULATION FOR 1892. Amount of levy for public school tax, at 10% cents on each $100 $540,894 32 Amount of levy for defence redemption tax, at 5% cents on each $100 283,325 60 Amount of levy for treasury relief tax, at X% cents on each $100 77,270 62 Amount of levy for exchange loan of 1886 tax, at }£ cent on each $100 12,878 44 Total $914,368 98 The rate of the State tax for each year since 1876 is as follows: 1877 I'M per cent. 1878 to 1887 18| per cent. 1888 to 1892 17f per cent. Sources of revenue other than this general property tax, are the sale of traders' and other licenses, a bonus or franchise tax of one-eighth of 25 386 MARYLAND. one per cent, upon the capital stock of all newly created corporations, a franchise tax upon the deposits of saving institutions, a part of which accrues to the locality where the institution is located; a tax of one- half of one per cent, upon the gross receipts of electric light and electric construction companies; of one per cent, upon the gross receipts of railroad corporations ; and of a designated per cent, of the gross receipts of other specified corporations. A State tax is also imposed on collateral inheritances, and on commissions of executors and administrators. The excess of fees of public officers and the liquor license in Baltimore City constitute other sources of revenue. Receipts. The total receipts in the State Treasury for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1892, were $3,006,551.18. Of this aggregate the important items were as follows : Direct tax upon persons and incorporated institutions. . $902,770 12 High Liquor License for Baltimore city *507,086 87 Trader's License . . 189,764 52 Foreign insurance companies 113,601 83 Tax on gross receipts of corporations 133,016 34 " " collateral inheritances 114,009 21 " " executors' commissions 58,452 40 Interest on invested Sinking Fund 171,514 65 Exchange Loan of 1891 100,000 00 Direct tax of 1861 from United States Government 371,299 83 Expenditures. The total disbursements from the State Treasury during the fiscal year ended September 30, 1892, were §3,065,833.02. The principal items of expenditures were the following : Public Debt, interest $323,596 39 Sinking Fund 404,387 58 State Stock, for redemption 406,012 76 Judiciary 100,992 28 Legislative 122,829 49 Public schools, white and colored 560,512 86 Charitable, Reformatory and Penal Institutions 237,430 00 Colleges and academies 67,317 29 PUBLIC DEPARTMENTS. Board of Public Works. The Governor of the State, the Comp- troller of the Treasury and the State Treasurer constitute the Board of Public Works. Their duties are generally defined in Article XII of the Constitution of Maryland, as " a diligent and faithful supervision of all public works in which the State may be interested as stockholder or creditor." At the present time this consists in the appointment of directors for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and various other corporations in which "Of this amount, $380,169.79 was returned as required by law to Baltimore City. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 387 the State is, to a less degree, interested. The Board of Public Works also appoints, as will be seen hereafter, the officers of the State Fishery Force, together with certain special officers, such as the Tax Commissioner and the Insurance Commissioner. Militia. The history of the militia of Maryland is throughout a record of unflinching bravery in war and of timely service in riot and disorder. The close of the Revolutionary War found the State with five full regiments in the field. Many of them were converted into militia companies of one kind or another, which the Whiskey Insurrection, the threatened difficulties with France, and the imminent outbreak with England kept alive and strong. A large force of well-equipped volun- teers fought in the war of 1812, and during the Civil War, no class responded more promptly or served more gallantly than did the citizen soldiers of Maryland. Since the war the militia has rendered excellent service in the preservation of order. During the railroad strikes of 1877 the Fifth Regiment, together with the Sixth, was called upon at an unexpected time to assist in maintaining law and order, and discharged its duty creditably under the most trying circumstances. Subsequent activity has been characterized by the same spirit. Animated by the same spirit and remarkable for its rapid development is the Fourth Regiment, the nucleus of which, the Baltimore Light Infantry, was organized in the winter of 1885. The Maryland National Guard was reorganized in its present form by an act of the Maryland Legislature passed in 1886, providing for a State military force of not more than two thousand two hundred and eighty men, formed in one brigade. At present the command is com- posed of the following organizations : First Regiment Infantry, nine companies, consisting of Frederick Rifles, Hagerstown Light Infantry, Linganore Guards, Jackson Guards, Governor's Guards, Waverley Guards, Towson Guards and Howard Zouaves. Fourth Regiment Infantry (Baltimore), nine companies, of sixty men each, with fifty-two officers, making the total strength of the regiment about six hundred men. Fifth Regiment Infantry (Baltimore), twelve companies of sixty men each, with sixty officers. The band of the regiment numbers seventy-five musicians. A Veteran Corps, consisting of three companies, with a full strength of one hundred and fifty men, maintains fellowship among ex-members of the regiment. Second Battalion Infantry, four companies, consisting of Voltigeurs (Cumberland), Garrett Guards (Oakland), and Hamilton Light Infantry (Frostburg). 388 MARYLAND. Third Battalion Infantry, five companies, consisting of Groome Guards, Prince George's Rifles, Talbot County Guards, Lloyd Guards and Calvert County Company. Monumental City Guards (Baltimore), independent colored company. Baltimore Rifles (Baltimore), independent colored company. Alleghany County Guards (Cumberland), independent colored com- pany. Fishery Force. The Maryland State Fishery Force consists of two steamers, nine schooners and two sloops, armed and equipped as a naval militia to enforce the oyster fishery laws of the State. Eight local boats are paid by the counties to watch the waters within their jurisdiction, but are under the control of the State navy. The movements of the force are directed by a commander appointed, as are all the subordinate officers, by the Board of Public Works. Each of the steamers is controlled by a deputy commander, and each of the schooners and sloops by a captain. The territories protected by the local boats are Poplar Island Narrows, Cambridge, Herring Bay, Holland Straits, St. Mary's River, St. Michael's and Oxford. The Governor McLane is the flagship of the navy. The outfit of the regular boats, as distinguished from the local boats, consists of Winchester rifles and one cannon each. The steamers have each a crew of twelve men, and the schooners and sloops each of six. The local boats, which are only employed for six months of the year, have each a crew of four men. They carry no cannon, but are armed with Winchester rifles. Tobacco Inspector. From early provincial days, measures have been taken in Maryland to maintain a high standard of excellence in the production of its chief staple. The various statutes adopted from time to time were systematized in a Tobacco Code, passed in 1763. It consisted of one hundred and fifty-three sections providing in great detail for the inspection, sampling and shipping of tobacco. This code has since been supplemented and revised at intervals. To facilitate inspection, a number of tobacco warehouses have been erected in Balti- more, the first as early as 1823. At present three are in activity, each under the direction of an inspector, biennially appointed by the Governor at an annual salary of twenty-five hundred dollars, and a subordinate force similarly appointed. The general supervision of the system is entrusted to a Supervisor of Warehouses, appointed for a term of two years at an annual salary of twenty-five hundred dollars. Land Office. A Land Office, distinct from other public departments, was created in Maryland as early as 1680. Its functions were adminis- tered by a Land Council, and included the disposition and regulation of all public lands, whether by lease or sale. The Confiscation Act of 1780 vested in the State all lands belonging to the Proprietary and other POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 389 British owners. In 1781 a portion of these lands was allotted to Maryland officers and soldiers who had served in the War of Revolution, and a Land Office was created for the Western Shore, and another for the Eastern Shore, under the direction and care of Registers. The two offices were united in 1851 at Annapolis. Subsequent legislation has materially enlarged the character and scope of the department. Its administration is vested in a Commissioner of the Land Office appointed by the Governor for a term of four years and receiving an annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars, together with a commission oh the fees of office. He is required to make searches and furnish copies of land patents ; to prescribe rules for and regulate the conduct of County Surveyors in making surveys and returning certificates and plats ; and to hear and decide upon all caveats which may come before him as Commissioner. Bureau of Statistics and Information. A Bureau of Industrial Statistics and Information was established in Maryland in 1884, and biennial reports published upon the industrial and social condition of the State. In 1892 the Bureau was reorganized and its scope largely extended. As now constituted, the department is in charge of a Chief of the Industrial Bureau, appointed by the Governor for a term of two years, at an annual salary of $2,500. The work of the Bureau includes the collection of information and statistical data concerning the condition of labor, the agricultural and mineral products of the State, and the traffic of railroads and transportation companies, and of shipping and commerce. The information so gathered is collated and published in an annual report. The Bureau is located in Baltimore at the southwest corner of Charles and Saratoga streets, and it is here that all inquiries suggested by and unanswered in the present volume should be addressed. Maryland State Weather Bureau. A Bureau for the reception of meteorological reports and the display of warning signals for the States of Maryland and Delaware, was organized in May, 1891, under the joint auspices of the Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Agricultural College and the United States Weather Bureau. The service occupies quarters in the Physical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, on Monument street and Linden avenue, with Dr. C. P. Cronk, of the United States Weather Bureau, as meteorologist in charge. Sub-stations are located in all the counties of Maryland, and also in Delaware, from which reports are regularly received and where warning signals are displayed. State Board of Education. The general care and supervision of public education in Maryland is vested in a State Board of Education, consisting of four persons, appointed by the Governor at every regular session of the General Assembly and serving without salary, the Gov- ernor himself and the principal of. the State Normal School. They exercise general supervision over Boards of County School Commissioners, 390 MAKYLAND. examine candidates, when requested, for the office of County Examiners, and issue professional certificates to teachers. They are ex-officio trustees of the State Normal School, and are vested with its general administra- tion and control. Each Board of County School Commissioners and all schools and colleges receiving State appropriations are required to make to them an annual report of all matters affecting educational interests in the county. County Boards are also requested to submit a statement of receipts, disbursements and indebtedness. An abstract of these reports, together with a statement of the apportionment of money to the counties and Baltimore city, and such suggestions regarding the educational interests of the State as are deemed expedient, is submitted in an annual report to the Governor. State Board of Health. This board has general care of the sanitary interests of the people of Maryland. It consists oE seven members — three physicians, one civil engineer, a secretary, the attorney-general of the State {ex-offieio), and the health commissioner of Baltimore [ex- offieio) — appointed by the Governor for a term of four years, and serving without compensation. The secretary is, however, elected by the board upon organization, and receives an annual salary of eighteen hundred dollars. The functions of the board include a general supervision over the health of the State, investigations into the presence and causes of disease, epidemics and nuisances in specific localities, and the collection of vital statistics. Two Boards of Medical Examiners, consisting of seven physicians each, appointed for a term of four years, and respectively representing the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, and the Maryland Homoeopathic Medical Society, examine and license persons qualified to practice medicine in the State. A Board of Examiners of Dental Surgery, composed of the attorney-general, the health commissioner of Baltimore and five practic- ing dentists, appointed by the Governor for four years, and serving without compensation, examine and issue certificates to all persons practicing dentistry within the State. Three Commissioners of Phar- macy are biennially appointed by the Governor upon nomination of the Maryland College of Pharmacy, to license practical pharmacists in the State. A State Lunacy Commission, composed of six competent persons appointed by the Governor, and serving without compensation, with the attorney-general as a member ex-officio, exercise supervision over all institutions, public and private, in which insane persons are confined. The protection of domestic animals from contagious and infectious diseases is vested in a Live Stock Sanitary Board, consisting of three commissioners appointed by the Governor, and receiving a per diem compensation for actual service. Two Commissioners of Fisheries, at POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS. 391 an annual salary of fifteen hundred dollars each, have charge of the propagation, culture and preservation of food fishes in the waters of the State. Two Inspectors of Steam, Boilers, biennially appointed by the Governor at the same salary, inspect, register, and, if necessary, condemn, stationary steam boilers throughout the State. An Insurance Commissioner, appointed by the Board of Public Works for a term of four years at an annual salary of $2,500, issues licenses to insurance companies and maintains the standard of solvency fixed by State law. The interests of the mine labor of the State are entrusted to a Commissioner of Mines for Alleghany and Garrett counties,, appointed by the Governor at an annual salary of $1,500. He makes periodic investigations of the condition of all mines, sees to the enforcement of all laws relating to mine ventilation, is an inspector of mining scales and weights, investigates all loss of life in mines, and may institute suit if the accident arises from the overseer's violation of law. A State Vaccine Agent, appointed by the Governor for a term of six years at an annual salary of $600, procures and supplies virus to physicians throughout the State. Flag and Seal. The great seal of Maryland has already been described and explained in the Historical Sketch. The flag of the State bears the escutcheon of the seal. This device seems to have been adopted by common consent, as there is no record of the formal adoption of any design as the official flag of the State. That the colony had a distinct flag or standard, we know. The first recorded instance of the use of a Maryland flag occurs in Leonard Calvert's report of the reduction of Kent Island (February, 1638), in which he says that he and his force marched with Baltimore's banner displayed. At the battle of the Severn in 1655, where the supporter* of the proprietary government under William Stone, the Governor, were defeated by the Parliamentary party under Captain William Fuller, Stone's forces marched under the flag of Maryland, borne by William Nugent, "standard-bearer of the Province;" while Fuller's party displayed the flag of the Commonwealth, charged with the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew. It is also said that a Maryland flag was carried by the Marylanders who accompanied Brad- dock's expedition against Fort Du Quesne in 1756. A Maryland flag was presented at the outbreak of the late war to the Frederick Volunteers, an organization which afterwards became part of the First Maryland Regiment, C. S. A. ; and it was carried from the first battle of Manassas, July 21, 1861, to the surrender at Appomattox, April 9, 1865. 392 MARYLAND. It is almost superfluous to add that Marylanders take great pride in their beautiful and historic flag. It forms a part of the stands of colors of the principal militia commands, and is displayed at the City Hall on occasions of public festivity. Federal Representation. Maryland is entitled to elect six represent- atives to the United States Congress, of whom two are entirely and two partly chosen by the votes of Baltimore city. The composition of the Congressional districts is as follows: 1. Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico, Dorchester, Talbot, Queen Anne's, Caroline and Kent counties. 2. Cecil, Harford, Carroll counties; districts two to twelve of Baltimore county; wards Eleven, precinct No. 9, Twenty-one, Twenty-two of Baltimore city. 3. Wards One, Two, Three, 'Four, Five, Six, Seven, Fifteen and Sixteen of Baltimore city. 4. Wards Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, precincts one to eight inclusive, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Eighteen, Nineteen of Balti- more city. 5. St. Mary's, Cnarles, Calvert, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties, districts one and thirteen, Baltimore city, ward Seventeen. 6. Alleghany, Garrett, Washington, Frederick, Mont- gomery counties. The law provides that of the two United States Senators from Mary- land, one shall be chosen from the Eastern, and the other from the Western Shore. CHAPTEE XIII. CHURCHES AND RELIGTOUS INSTITUTIONS. The history of the many religions organizations now existing in the State of Maryland cannot be written within the compass of a dozen pages, nor can any adequate showing be made of their present activity and boundless possibilities. Scores of volumes have been written upon the past, hundreds of pages of statistics published to show the condition of the present. The present paper, therefore, avoiding detailed statements of past and present, gives only brief synopses of every current phase of religious life within the State. Where the general history of any one denomination becomes closely linked with the State, where important church councils have been held on Maryland soil, this local connection has been brought out ; but no attempt has been made to give a connected history. The very complicated system of administrative divisions in the larger denominations has also been explained in so far as it has any con- nection with our Maryland churches. Nearly one-half the chapter is taken up with describing briefly the many and varied forms of organiza- tions and associations which have grown up under the protecting wing of the churches with the idea of making religion more attractive to certain classes, and thus more effective in its main purpose. CHURCH STATISTICS. The present strength of the various denominations within the State is shown by the accompanying table, which has been compiled from the results of the eleventh census (1890). Nearly a third of the figures are from unpublished tabulations and are here given through the courtesy of Rev. H. K. Carroll, L.L.D., special agent of the Census Bureau in charge of the statistics of churches : 394 MARYLAND. m *# a o? o tPCOt-1 © c- & © na m £-^i>_Q0 CD CO ■OH ■okkmwhh 1 of CS • © ©income; * OJ c» • ©© 1C c "mef ©'" cc t-~ <©co~in It-' OT CO rn't-T ©*-r"*"io"co' * Ofc-Ttl coi-T a 3 & d5 P e© 03 ^H t> COC3CS .© ' ■* >n w so . CO © C©*H CO t- CO t*»*,-icOCM en in c« cs fHCO© t-co-* CStH r-1 i-4 tH i-( 03 t- *- 3 CO o CM rH tHi-I'C3 CD . .£ R 1 5^ ^ '?; « and O "t « o5£ | K z s a f=i is & B£ ■ ; a H cl>, ; : £ Slgj : x t, >3cd e< '■ ti ^ o s» 3 z 2 BJ° § : • : • a i> . eh . • « ; "" SB* ':§ = Er »-^2 -o : ^ fe^&Sz : 1 9 § 3 g g j K H OS H g cZ m « pi w g ^ £ © — ■— f i.t — -f -f -^ c; -¥ c^ c j 3D001T51OC3 -Lo 1 CO t- © CO "JD I CO •** r-1 in w 10 Old 3 73 CT lO W co Hiijt-o; j= *# j: owmommffsrH ci oi © ?- 04 © t- CO a 3 -O*" eico"cfo"c>f r-'r-T -c T J>0QGiT* a"§ CO" CCtr? csi ©"r-T ©"'cH*'* CO c* s 1-1 o t-t-IOOOOOCOUJO It ? !© m © © • -p: '--■ it © ice 3 tfOOO c> © © © in© © ■ 000 ojq£> ''■'- *~ "J ' r Z- P P "I — ^ c 9 5 lint-©© • ^ c: ;- 1- i- J- - : !© © o © ■ C^! 3 — - r — CO © t- ^ -* cd — c"! id l- cd It - .CO © CD CO . ~ .- — ca OC -* -- 1l- poS, ■3-° o o -* ? - «P CD 'O CD !-■ r - iTfoacoco . UPC! CO I- IP 0! CO o* c -Ch CO^ ►TO ~ cf in m" cf c?f T-H ^H l> Pm e© 1 c3 SO . © ©jiOThaoaicoooeo^fcStr-'llc D CO -# t- 01 i-t -f f- 00 CD CO CO ! t-rt and Northern Maryland, Baltimore city always being excluded, 91,832. The circumstance that the section of the State having the largest superfi- cial area had the smallest population, was due to the fact that a large portion of the Western counties were still either an altogether unpeopled wilderness or at best were very thinly settled. The table below will show the comparative increase in Northern and Southern Maryland since 1790. Population. Increase during decade. Percentage of increase during decade. Increase since 1790. Percentage of increase since 1790. Date of Census. •a til o ■d it a* o 0Q -a a a o a 03 SB a^ o m T3 a .3 f | o -a a 11 o 02 o T3 a II o 03 <6 a M o -d a if |! o 91,832 106,518 110,589 121,575 138,230 147,372 176,168 20S.439 235,43 1 281,600 106,754 100,034 106,281 101,328 108,713 103,003 109,308 121,064 120,855 141,896 1800 14,6S6 4,071 10,986 16,655 9,142 28,796 32,271 26,992 46,169 *-2,244 «-6,720 6,247 »4,953 7,385 «5,710 6,305 11,756 *209 21,041 2,602 15.99 3.82 9.93 13.70 6.61 19.54 18.32 12.95 19.61 *.80 •S6.29 6.24 «4.66 7.29 «5.25 6.13 10.76 *.17 17.41 1.83 14,686 18,757 29,743 46,398 55,540 84,336 116,607 143,599 189,768 187,524 *6,720 *473 «5,426 1,959 «3,751 2,554 14,310 14,101 35,142 37,744 15.99 20.42 32.39 50.52 60.48 91 .84 126.98 156.37 206.65 204.20 *6 29 1810 *.44 1820 *5.08 1830 1840 1850 - 1860 1870 1880 1.83 *3.51 2 39 13.40 13.21 32.92 1890 279,356 144,498 35.35 "Decrease. A hundred years ago the Southern counties had a more numerous population than the Northern, and now the latter have twice as many inhabitants as the former. Every decade has witnessed an increase in the population of the Northern part of the State, the apparent decrease in the decade between 1880 and 1890 being due to the change in the boundaries of Baltimore City. As in other portions of the State, progress has been both relatively and absolutely more rapid since 1840 than before, the population having 438 MARYLAND. increased but 55,540, or at the rate of 60.48 per cent, between 1790 and 1840, as against an increase of 131,984, or at the rate of 89.56 per cent, since. For the sixty years between 1790 and 1850 there was, practically speaking, no change in the number of the inhabitants of Southern Maryland. In one decade the census returns would indicate a slight increase and in the next a corresponding decrease. For the decrease between 1790 and 1800, the cession by Maryland of portions of Prince George's and Montgomery counties to provide a site for the Federal Capital, is at least partly responsible. Since 1850 the population of the Southern counties has increased about one-third, more than half that increase having apparently been in the decade between 1870 and 1880. As to this seemingly abnormal increase in this particular decade, the Southern Maryland counties simply stand in the same position as almost all other sections of the country in which the negro population is relatively large. The changes in the census law and in its administration resulted in 1880, in all the so-called " black belts," in a much fuller and more accurate return of population than had ever been made before. It will be noted in examining the tables already given that in agricultural sections there are often long periods in which there is no substantial gain in population, and then either as a result of increased transportation facilities, of changes in the methods of farming, or of the springing up of local industries other than purely agricultural, or of several or all these causes combined, the region seems to take a new start, and for a while at least grows rapidly. In Northern Maryland such a change of conditions took place appar- ently between 1840 and 1850, following very closely upon the opening of railroad lines, and being contemporaneous with the rush of immigrants from Europe. In Southern Maryland it has been but partially made even yet. It is true that since 1850 there has been a material increase in population, but that increase has been confined entirely to the portions of Prince George's and Montgomery counties lying near Washington or along the railroad lines, and to those portions of Howard and Anne Arundel counties which lie within twenty or twenty-five miles of Baltimore city. ST. MARY'S, CHARLES AND CALVERT. The remaining counties of Southern Maryland, St. Mary's, Charles and Calvert, are historically and socially among the most interesting portions of the State. With the exception of Claiborne's trading-post on Kent Island, the earliest settlements in the State were made in them. During the days when tobacco was the great and almost the only THE POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 439 source of provincial wealth, these counties were among the richest and most prosperous in the entire colony. In them, too, was to be found a nearer approach to the plantation system of the more Southern com- monwealths than existed elsewhere in Maryland. Unfortunately for the permanence of their early prosperity, both along the Potomac to the south and west, and the Chesapeake to the east of them, navigable water extended far past them, and towns and cities naturally sprang up at the heads of navigation, at which places, of course, the land haul from the interior to the seaboard was the shortest. The great wagon routes, and subsequently the railroad lines from the West to the Atlantic ports, and from the North to the South along the coast, ran to and between the great shipping ports and centres of popu- lation; and these counties lying as they do off both the direct lines of travel from the West to Baltimore and Washington, and the roads running southwest along the coast from Boston, New York and Philadelphia have long suffered from their isolation and lack of facilities for transportation. Under such circumstances they have been almost compelled to confine their agricultural industry far too closely to the cultivation of their great staple of tobacco, with the unfortunate economic results which usually attend the prolonged and exclusive cultivation of one crop. The soil of these counties is usually good, their climate mild and healthy, and in most parts their scenery varied and attractive, and as they are specially adapted to trucking and small farming, they would readily support a dense population; but principally because of the lack of adequate means of transportation, and possibly though to a less extent to the disturbance of their previously existing social and industrial system by the war and the emancipation of the negroes, as well as perhaps by some tardiness and lack of elasticity in adapting themselves to the changed order of things, they have lagged behind the rest of the State, as the following table will show : ST. MARY'S, CHARLES AND CALVERT COUNTIES. Date of Census. g ft o 0) "* o SO R T3 lj 5 so r! 3 fl o ,§ a 3 so o ,§ ad -I-& i S. PQ a a so o 3 Ph q Increase since 1790. a 5 <*- o flog P»-i.9 S 03 P* o CjO "3 s § §3.2 p* 44,809 41,168 41,044 87,547 ( 40,128 38,476 39,506 42,177 40,547 46,020 40,870 2,581 1,030 2,671 5,473 3,641 124 3,497 1,652 1,630 5,150 6.87 2.68 6.76 13.50 8.13 .30 8.52 ! 3,641 3,765 7,262 4,681 6,3.33 5,303 2,6.S2 4,262 3,939 2.70 8.13 1810 8.40 1820 16.21 10.45 4.12 ..., 14.13 11.83 5.87 1870 3.86 ii'.i9" 1,211 9.51 1880 1890 8.79 440 MARYLAND. The population of these counties was returned by the first census at a higher figure than by any other of the succeeding ten, except that of 1880. It is possible that even that exception may be more apparent than real, the seeming increase being not improbably due entirely to the more efficient machinery of enumeration then first put into operation. They seem to have had fewer inhabitants about 1820 than at any period since. Whether the closing of their accustomed transportation routes for some years during the preceding decade by the British fleet was the cause of this falling off in population, it is not now easy to say. The progress of this section has been long retarded, but with the completion of the projected railroad lines from Baltimore and Washing- ton through these counties, there are many reasons to believe that the conditions which have so long arrested their forward movement will be, in large measure, at least, removed. Whenever a change takes place it is likely to be accompanied by the springing up of towns and villages, of which this section of Maryland is now singularly destitute. Leonard- town, named after Leonard Calvert, the brother of the second Lord Baltimore and first Governor of the Province, and the county seat of St. Mary's county, is the most populous town in these counties, and in 1890 it had but 521 inhabitants. DENSITY OF SETTLEMENT. At present the most densely settled portions of the State and the sections in which smaller cities, towns and villages are the most numerous, are the counties lying along the Pennsylvania border to the north and west of Baltimore City, except Garrett county, in the extreme west, which, situated as it is, among the higher ridges of the Alleganies, is still the most sparsely settled county in the State. Anne Arundel county directly bordering on Baltimore city, and containing, as it does, the city of Annapolis, has a high average density of settlement, although the more southern portions of the county are still comparatively thinly peopled. The following table shows the number of inhabitants to each square mile of the land surface of each county in 1890: County. Inhabitants to each square mile of land surface. Garrett 20 Alleghany 87 Washington 91 Frederick 77 Carroll 70 Baltimore 117 Harford 68 Average for Northern Maryland 75 county. Inhabitants to each square mile of land surface Anne Arundel 85 Howard 65 Montgomery 53 Prince George's 54 Calvert 45 St. Mary's 43 Charles 33 Average for Southern Maryland 54 County. Inhabitants to each square mile of land surface. Cecil 68 Kent 55 Queen Anne's 52 Caroline 44 Talbot 69 Dorchester 40 Somerset 66 Wicomico 54 Worcester 41 Average for Eastern Shore .... 53 THE POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 441 CITIES AND TOWNS. Besides Baltimore tlie cities of Cumberland, Hagerstown, Frederick and Annapolis, each contained more than five thousand inhabitants in 1890. Of these cities Annapolis is the oldest, and Hagerstown during the last decade grew most rapidly. The population of each of these cities, according to the ninth, tenth and eleventh censuses, was as follows : 1890. 1880. 1870. Cumberland 12,729 10,693 8,056 Frederick 8,193 8,659 8,526 Hagerstown 10,118 6,627 5,779 Annapolis 7,604 6,642 5,774 In 1890 there were twenty-nine other places in Maryland with more than one thousand inhabitants each. The names of these towns, the population of each, and the county in which each is situated, are stated below : City or Town. County. Popula- tion. 1890. City ok Town. County. Popula- tion. 1890. Dorchester 4,192 3,804 3,244 3,939 2,905 2,903 2,632 2,507 2,318 2,115 1 1,984 1,908 1,866 i 1,568 | 1 1,565 1,526 Harford Balto. and Howard. 1,488 1,487 Talbot Wicomico Carroll Worcester 1,483 1,416 1,329 Kent Sparrow's Point Elkton Washington Cecil 1,309 1,249 1,163 1,155 Cecil Chesapeake City Pocomoke City 1,135 1,036 THE WHITE AND NEGRO POPULATION. As in most of the other old slave States, the primary division of the people has always been between the pure Caucasians on the one side and persons with African blood in their veins on the other. In most of the earlier guesses at the population of the State, no attempt was made to estimate the ratio borne by the white to the colored population. Since 1748, however, the number of inhabitants belonging to each class has always been estimated even if previous to the first Federal census in 1790 no actual count was made. Repeating the caution that no great reliance can be placed upon the estimates of population made prior to 1790, the number of whites and of blacks in the Province or State at the date of each estimate, and of each Federal census, with the percentage the inhabitants of each 442 MARYLAND. race constituted of the total population at that date, will be shown by the following table : Date of Enumeration Population. Percentage of Population. Date of Enumeration or Estimate. Population. Percentage of Population. or Estimate. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. Negro. White. , Negro. 94,000 107,963 116,759 140,110 170,688 208,049 216,326 235,117 36,000 46,235 49,764 59,717 65.917 83,362 111,079 125,222 145,429 72.31 70.02 70.12 70.12 70.70 67.19 65.26 63.34 61.78 27.69 29. 9S 29. K8 29.88 29.30 32. SI 34.74 36.66 38.22 1S20 260,223 291,108 318,204 417,943 515,918 605,497 724,693 826,493 147,127 155,932 151.815 165,091 171,131 175,397 210,250 215,897 63.88 65.12 67.70 71.68 75.09 77.54 77.51 79.29 36.12 1756 1S30 :;4.8s 1760 1840 32.30 1770 1850 28.33 I860 534.91 1782 1870 33.46 1790 1880 1890 22 49 1800 20.71 Apparently from the outbreak of the Revolution until 1810, a period of some thirty-five years, the negro population increased at a more rapid ratio than did the white. Since the last mentioned date, however, the reverse has been true, and now the negroes number but a trifle over one-fifth of the entire population. As late, however, as 1830, persons with negro blood in their veins constituted more than one-third of the aggregate inhabitants, and were in a majority in no less than eight out of the nineteen counties into which the State was then divided. At that time in every one of the five counties lying to the south of Baltimore, there were negro majorities as there also were in the three adjoining Eastern Shore counties of Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot. In 1890 there were only two counties, Charles and Calvert, in which the whites did not outnumber the negroes, and in each of these the negro majority was relatively small. It is seldom safe to prophesy as to the future movements of population, but judging by the history of the last eighty years, it appears highly probable that the negro element is destined to become numerically less and less im- portant. In the last decade the whites increased more rapidly than the negroes in no less than twenty-one out of the twenty-three counties of the State. In Baltimore county, one of the remaining two, the small apparent relative increase of negroes was probably due altogether to the annexation to Baltimore city, during the decade, of territory the negro population of which was proportionately smaller than that of the county as a whole. In Garrett, the other county in which the negroes consti- tuted in 1890 a greater percentage of the population than they did ten THE POPULATION OF MARYLAND. 443 years previous, the total negro population was only one hundred and eighty-five, or less than one and a half per cent, of the aggregate inhabitants. The change in percentage simply means that there were a few more negro waiters in 1890 employed in the summer hotels at Deer Park and Oakland than there were in 1880. There is not a county in the State in which the negroes were not in 1850, in proportion to the total population, more numerous than they were in 1890. In some counties the change in the relative number of the two races has been striking. Thus in Kent, Queen Anne's and Talbot in 1850, the negroes constituted more than half of the entire population, while to-day they number less than two-fifths of it. Sixty years ago, in Prince George's county, which adjoins the District of Columbia, almost two- thirds of the entire population were negroes; now they number but little more than two-fifths. The negroes are least numerous in the counties of Western Maryland adjoining Pennsylvania. Of the five counties so situated, only in Fred- erick is there as many as one negro in every ten of the total population. In the five counties together the negroes number only about one- fourteenth of the population and are relatively decreasing. In the three counties of Baltimore, Harford and Cecil, lying along the Pennsylvania line to the north and northeast of Baltimore city, about one-sixth of the population is colored. In this section the relative proportion of the two races has changed but slightly in the last thirty or forty years. In the Eastern Shore counties south of Cecil the negroes number but little more than one-third of the population, and the whites have been gaining on them with considerable rapidity. In the central counties of the Western Shore, Anne Arundel, Howard, Prince George's and Montgomery, the whites constitute more than three- fifths of the entire population, and the proportion is steadily increasing, while even in the three southern counties of the Western Shore, in which, taken together, the negroes are slightly more numerous than the whites, the relative decrease has been so great that the indications are that by 1900 there will be a white majority. The colored population of Baltimore city has been largely increased at the expense of the counties and of Virginia, and is now rela- tively greater than it was thirty years ago, although slightly less than it was in 1880, a decrease, however, which is partly due to the annexation of a portion of Baltimore county containing very few negroes. 444 MARYLAND. DESCENT OF WHITE INHABITANTS. The earlier settlers in the Province were, as a rule, of English birth. In the region bounding on Pennsylvania, from Baltimore westward, there was a numerous influx of Germans in the eighteenth century, and in particular neighborhoods the dialect commonly called "Pennsylvania Dutch " was sometimes spoken. In the later provincial period the Scotch Irish formed a very influential element of the population, while there were many pure Irish of the elder faith. Local antiquarians interested in particular European nations have traced out the part persons of those nationalities have had in the making up of Maryland, but however picturesque some of those settlers and their settlements may have been, it remains true that for practical purposes the entire white population of Maryland at the date of the Revolution, and for many years after- wards consisted of natives of the British Isles or of Germany and their descendants. Between the Declaration of Independence and 1830 there was no great immigration from abroad, although the troubles in San Domingo at the close of the eighteenth century first brought many refugees to the State, while the population of the rapidly-growing city of Baltimore was being materially increased by newcomers from abroad. The movement from Europe beginning somewhat earlier than the date of the great. Irish famine and of the political troubles in Europe, following the popular risings of 1848, was given an enormous impetus by these events. The nativities of the population were first returned in 1850, and the following table shows the number of the native and foreign inhabitants of the State at each census from that time to this, and the ratio which each bears to the total population : Date or Census. POPDLATION. Percentage. OF Total Population. Native. Foreign. Native. Foreign. 1850 531,825 609,513 697,482 853,137 948,094 51,209 77,536 83,412 82,806 94,296 91.22 88.72 89.32 91.14 90.95 8.78 1860 11.28 1870 10.68 1880 8.86 1890 9.05 THE POPULATION OP MARYLAND. 445 As the preceding table shows, there has been no great change in the last fifty years in the relative number of the native and foreign born inhabitants of the State. The latter were, however, proportionately somewhat more numerous in 1860 than they have been at any time since. On the other hand, natives of the United States, one or both of whose parents were born abroad, formed in 1890 relatively a somewhat larger element of the population than at any time since 1870, when for the first time a return of the parentage of the inhabitants was made, as the following table shows : Date of Census. Aggregate Population. Native op Foreign Parentage. Number. Percentage. 1870. . 780,894 934,943 1,042,390 97,950 136,028 156,421 1880 1890 The population of foreign parentage, whether of native or foreign birth, is very unevenly distributed over the State. Proportionately it is most numerous in Alleghany county, where it constitutes no less than 45.05 per cent, of the aggregate number of inhabitants. The bringing in during the last forty or fifty years of successive importations of foreign miners and laborers to work the mines in this county, has resulted in the foreign element being there more largely represented than elsewhere. Next to Alleghany county, it is in Baltimore city that foreigners and the children of foreigners are relatively the most abundant, forming as they do 41.55 per cent, of the total population of the metropolis of the State. Such counties as Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Harford and Howard, adjoining on or lying in the immediate neighborhood of Baltimore city and Garrett, to which some of the foreign born residents of the neighboring county of Alleghany and some of their children have moved, come next in order. Outside of the city and counties above named, there are no counties in the State in which persons of foreign parentage amount to as much as 10 per cent, of the total population, while in some of the more Southern counties of the Eastern and Western Shores not one inhabitant in every hundred had either parent born abroad. In Maryland, as generally throughout the country, immigrants from Europe seem consciously or unconsciously to avoid sections in which persons of negro blood are numerous. The following table, which shows the relative proportion of native whites, of native whites of foreign parentage, of foreign born whites, of native colored and of 446 MARYLAND. foreign born colored for each county in the State, makes this tendency quite plain : G'OUKTIES. Aggregate Popula- tion. Native White of Native Parentage. Native White of Foreign Parentage. Foreign White. Native Colored. Foreign Colored. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent, Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. Num- ber. Per Cent. 41,571 34,094 72,909 434,439 9,860 13,903 32,376 25,851 15,191 24,843 49,512 14,213 28,993 16,269 17,471 27,185 26,080 18,461 15,819 24,155 19,736 3n,782 19,930 19,747 21,405 14,657 4,044 186,625 4,731 9,570 28,030 19,421 6,772 15,797 40,041 11,813 18,905 9,730 9,985 16,462 13,364 11,440 7,966 14,464 11,374 35,197 14,585 12,907 51.49 42.99 56.30 42 96 47.98 68.83 86.57 75.12 44.58 63.59 80.87 83.12 65.20 59.81 57.15 60.56 51.24 61.97 50.36 59.88 57.63 88.48 73.18 65.36 13,109 2,015 13,204 111,942 32 283 1,528 1,535 170 188 1,896 1,635 2,453 1,623 432 686 915 302 121 118 496 1,570 104 64 31.53 5-91 18.11 25.77 • .32 2.04 4.72 5.94 1.12 .76 3.83 11.50 8 46 9.98 2.47 2.52 3.51 1.63 .76 .49 2.51 3.95 .52 .32 5,621 2,908 8,431 68,576 33 239 683 894 112 148 1,046 580 1,259 806 347 352 588 162 66 68 378 507 42 41 13.52 8.53 11.56 15.78 .34 1.71 2.11 3.46 .73 .591 2.11 4.08 4.35 4.95 1.41 1.29 2.25 .88 .42 .28 1.91 1.27 .21 .21 1,430 14,497 10,208 66,869 5,064 3,809 2,133 4,001 8,136 8,707 6,526 185 6,374 4,107 6,804 9,685 11,211 . 6,555 7,666 9,500 " 7,486 2,506 5,198 6,731 3.44 42.52 14.00 15.39 51.36 27.40 6.59 15 48 53.56 35.05 13.18 1 30 21.98 25.24 38.95 35.63 42.99 35.51 48.46 39.33 38.44 6.30 26.08 34.09 6 17 22 427 .02 .05 .03 Baltimore City .10 1 .02 .01 1 S .01 .01 Frederick .01 Harford 2 3 3 .01 .02 Kent .02 Prince George's Queen Anne's 2 2 .01 .01 Somerset Talbot Washington 5 2 2 1 4 .03 .01 .01 .02 The State 1,042,390 576,285 55.29 156,421 15.00 93,787 9.00 215.38S 20.67 509 .04 The proportion which the natives born of foreign parentage bear to the foreign born, varies considerably. In some counties, such as Alle- ghany, to which immigration was relatively greater a generation ago than it is now, the foreigners are less than half as numerous as the natives of foreign parentage. In other counties to which foreign immigration has but recently set in, the foreigners are more numerous than the native children of foreigners. Large as has been the foreign element added to the population of Maryland within the last sixty years, there is no reason to doubt that the overwhelming majority of it will be absorbed without difficulty in the native population, as much of it has already been, and that, too, without making any noticeable change of importance in the previously existing character of the population. Immigrants from Europe have brought various customs with them. Such of these customs as proved attractive to Americans and were adopted to a greater or less extent by them, have taken some root, and are likely to continue, while the rest seldom last much longer than the generation which brought them over the ocean. Persons who fear a permanent change in the character of the population lose sight of the fact that the branches which have been engrafted upon the older American stock are very closely related to it. THE POPULATION OP MARYLAND. 447 The English race was composed of an admixture in varying propor- tions of the victorious invading hosts of the Germanic and Scandinavian tribes with the original Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles. As the following table shows, the overwhelming majority of the foreigners residing in Maryland are, and always have been, natives either of the British Islands, or of some of the Scandinavian or Germanic countries of continental Europe : Born in British Isles or Total in Germanic or Scandi- All iOthers. Foreign navian Countries. Population. Number. Per Cent. Number. Per Cent. 1S50 51,798 75,980 79,098 97.20 98.00 94.83 93.87 87.30 1,490 1,549 4,314 5,078 11,975 2.80 2.00 5.17 6.13 12.70 1860 1870 1S80 82,806 94,296 1890 82,321 *The total foreign population for 1850 stated in this table differs from that given : The difference exists between the different tables in the Census of 1850. . previous table It will be noticed, from the above table, that there has recently been a marked relative increase in the immigration to Maryland of members of non-British and non-Teutonic races. The following table shows that this increase has been principally among natives of Bohemia, Italy, Poland and Russia, the number of persons born in those countries and residing in Maryland having risen from 2,501 in 1880 to 9,025 in 1890: Austria " Proper " . . Bohemia British America France German}' England Ireland Scotland Wales Italy Poland Russia All Other Countries. Total 215 507 ,124 ;,467 1,557 ,093 260 53,2SS 333 599 !,762 1,235 1.872 ,583 701 229 266 789 644 649 47,045 4,932 23,630 2,432 994 210 145 50 1,626 401 1,169 988 620 45,481 5,244 21,865 2,645 924 477 642 213 2,137 1,388 1,554 1,020 623 52,436 5,591 18,735 2,323 761 1,416 1,797 4,258 2,393 94,296 / CHAPTER XVI. Jq CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. The preceding pages have described many institutions that are deemed worthy of praise, but in few of them does Maryland take more pride than in her charities. The cry of the needy has always brought a generous response, and many earnest lives and many fortunes have been devoted to the care of the dependent and delinquent. ADVANCED METHODS. Since the administration of charity has become a subject of scientific stuuy, and public attention has been given to the methods and ultimate effects rather than to the amount of charity, Maryland has been com- paratively quick to adopt the improved methods. How to relieve distress without pauperizing the recipients, how to restore the wayward to lives of usefulness, and how to give the homeless child a just share in our inherited civilization, are questions to whose solution a goodly number of the people of Maryland are devoting their best energies. As early as 1849 the Society for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor was organized, having for "its object and design" "to discourage indiscriminate alms-giving, street begging, pauperism and idleness; and to elevate the moral and physical condition of the indigent, and so far as compatible with those objects, the relief of their necessities." Thus a beginning was made in the reformation of charities, though the fact that the association soon became almost exclusively a relief -giving agency, indicates that public sentiment did not yet recognize the import- ance of curing as well as feeding the pauper. The association, however, has never forgotten its avowed purpose, and much has been accomplished by it toward the introduction of wise methods of relief. In 1868, the Maryland Prisoners' Aid Association was established with reform in punitive methods as one of its leading objects. Through the efforts of this association and its honored president, countless abuses have been remedied, a number of reformatory institu- tions have been established, and public attention has been constantly directed to the importance of preventive and reformatory measures. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 449 Toward improvements in the structure and management of county almshouses and jails several influences have conspired. Since 1870 an officer of the Prisoner's Aid Association has annually visited these institutions, giving valuable suggestions to those in charge, and calling public attention to abuses which require the force of public opinion for their redress. An important factor in this reform movement was a plain-spoken report upon the public charities of Maryland, which was issued by the State Board of Health in 1877; and since 1885 the frequent visits and annual reports of the State Lunacy Commission have stimulated the progressive tendencies. As a result of these efforts the secretary of the commission confidently affirms that the Maryland almshouses and jails are, on the whole, as well conducted as those of any State in the Union. The improvements in the management of almshouses and jails, resulting somewhat incidentally from the activity of the State Board of Health and the Lunacy Commission, indicate that still more might be accomplished by a Board charged especially with the oversight of the charities of the State ; and the establishment of a State Board of Chari- ties is now under consideration. But since its establishment in 1881, the Charity Organization Society of Baltimore has been the chief factor in the dissemination of advanced methods in the administration of charities. Of the specific work of these societies more will be said in another place. The institutions for the care of the dependent and delinquent classes of Maryland naturally centre in Baltimore, where the aggregation of nearly one-half the population of the State concentrates social needs and renders organized effort for their relief both natural and easy. The present chapter, therefore, will first consider those institutions and societies which are dealing with the social problems of Baltimore, and then, under each subdivision, something will be said of the local work which is being done in the various branches of charity and correction in the different counties of the State. In describing these institutions an effort will be made to follow a natural order. INSTITUTIONS FOR INFANTS. Through this order of treatment the first picture to present itself is one of the saddest of all. Over four hundred friendless little infants, deprived of mothers through death, or more often, cast away by them in order to escape burdens or hide shame, are yearly brought to the three infant asylums. Most of the abandoned infants which are brought in by the Police Department soon die from the effects of bad blood, disease and exposure. 29 450 MARYLAND. Those coming from the lying-in hospitals have a better chance of life, though, at best, the motherless infant has a precarious existence. Of the four hundred infants left to the care of the public, about one- half are taken to St. Vincent's In/ant Asylum, where they are cared for by the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's of Emmittsburg. This institution was founded in 1856, and since 1860 has occupied its present site on the corner of Lafayette avenue and Division street. Children are received up to six years of age and about one hundred and fifty are to be found in the institution at any time. Unless restored to their parents or provided with suitable homes before that time, the children are kept until seven years of age, when they are transferred to other institutions. A Maternity Hospital, connected with the institution, offers shelter and reformatory influences to unprotected young women who need such an asylum, and are not hardened in sin. The system of boarding-out infants till eighteen months of age has been tried and found to result in a diminished mortality. A kindergarten is provided for the children between the ages of three and seven, and its good effects are apparent in the bright faces of the children and the zest with which they enter into the games and exercises. Institution children need the kindergarten more than any others. A farm of sixty-three acres, located near Mount Hope, supplies the institution with milk and other farm products, and in summer is utilized for giving the children a short experience of country life. A new building is about to be erected upon the farm with a view to keeping all the children in the country during the summer months. The Nursery and Child's Hospital on Schroeder street is managed by charitable women of the city, some of whom devote much of their time to its interests. A stately mansion, once in the outskirts of the city, forms the nucleus of the building, and the broad porticoes and large grounds invite the children to healthful exercise. Infants are committed here as to St. Vincent's Asylum, by the magistrates of Baltimore, or of other districts of the State, and many are left temporarily by parents who are unable to care for them. Many children are adopted from this institu- tion, and attractive ones, especially if they be girls, are readily placed in desirable homes. If suitable homes are not found for children before they are five years of age, they are usually transferred to some orphan- age, where they may receive instruction. An. oversight is kept of all placed-out children and applications for the admission of infants are carefully investigated to prevent parents from putting away their children for merely selfish reasons. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 451 As the name of the institution implies, it embraces a hospital depart- ment for the benefit of sick children. A new wing has recently been built which makes room for about fifty more children upon the upper floor, while the lower floor is equipped as a dispensary for the treatment of such children of the poor as do not require residence in the hospital. The third infant asylum of Baltimore is known as St. .Elizabeth's Home for Colored Orphan Children. It is under the management of the Sisters of the Franciscan Order. The department for infants is located at No. 317 St. Paul street, where about one hundred colored foundlings and orphans were received last year. The number is increasing. As soon as old enough to receive instruction the boys are transferred to the Wilming- ton orphanage for colored boys, but the girls remain with the Franciscan Sisters in a neatly kept orphanage connected with the Franciscan Convent, on Maryland avenue. One-half the working-hours are devoted to study and one-half to learning house-work and sewing. The girls are placed out at service in families as soon as they have had sufficient training. The Home for Mothers and Infants, on Barclay and Twenty-first streets, is doing good work in saving both mother and infant by keeping them together. A recent report of this home says : " There is no better education for the mother's character than the care of her child. When the mother first comes to us she may be an ignorant, childish, frivolous young girl, her higher nature dormant, her reason and conscience in so undeveloped a state that they cannot be relied on as a guiding power. But there is one resource. What the undeveloped conscience cannot do for her, her love for her child will accomplish." Since the institution was opened in 1890, about fifty destitute mothers with their infants have found in it a temporary home and a sanitarium for their moral, physical and economic improvement. The women usually remain in the home from eight to ten months, during which time they are kept busy, so far as their strength permits in learning to sew, do housework, and care for their infants properly and in making clothing. An opportunity is given for earning something by their work, and when they are prepared to leave, positions are found for them, usually in the country, where they can support themselves with their infants. DAY NURSERIES. Two day nurseries have been established in East Baltimore for the care of the small children of industrious women who are kept from their homes all day by employment. The mothers are charged five cents a day for one child, seven cents for two and ten cents for three. The Baltimore Day Nursery is on Patterson Park avenue, and the North- 452 MARYLAND. eastern Day Nursery is on Orleans street. A day nursery has also been established in connection with the Electric Sewing Machine Rooms. FREE KINDERGARTENS. The Kindergarten seems likely to become a part of the public school system, but at present the free kindergartens of Baltimore are supported and managed as private charities. The importance of the kindergarten as a means for rescuing little children from harmful influences and directing their pliant minds into channels that lead to intellectual activity and moral strength, is being recognized more and more each year. The first free kindergarten in Baltimore was opened in 1883, under the supervision of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Since then, according to a recent report made to the Kindergarten Association, the number has been increased to ten for children from the streets and alleys, and four for children in institutions. They are supported largely by individual churches, and are usually located in those portions of the city which contain the greatest number of poor children. The increasing interest in this means of bettering the condition of the children of the poor has been manifested during the past winter in the formation of a Kindergarten Association for the purpose of establishing new free kindergartens, and furthering the adoption of the kindergarten system in the public schools. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN. Before describing the Homes for Children some mention should be made of the means of rescuing the unfortunate ones from the cruelty of unnatural parents, and from an environment of vice and crime. For this purpose the /Society for the Protection of Children from Cruelty and Immorality was organized in June of 1877. A salaried agent devotes his entire time to the work of the society in protecting children within their homes, removing them when necessary, and seeing that the laws in behalf of children are carried out. During the year ending March 31, 1893, 208 cases were investigated, affecting the welfare of 471 children, and 189 children were removed from cruel, intemperate or depraved parents or guardians. Of this number 28 were found homes in private families, 15 were transferred to the Henry Watson Children's Aid Society and 146 were placed in twenty- one different homes or reformatories for children. An important part of the work of this society has been directed toward the enactment of suitable Laws for the Protection of Children. In respect to the legislative work we will quote from a sketch of the CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 453 Society for the Protection of Children, which Mr. G. S. Griffith addressed to the National Prison Congress of December. 1892 : It is generally conceded by persons familiar with such matters, that the State of Mary- land occupies the most advanced position in the matter of this kind of legislation, and this is owing entirely to the efforts of the Society. The various statutory regulations, drafted and presented at different times to the Legislature by the Society, and afterwards enacted, will be briefly noted. 1. The habeas corpus law. The effect of this statute is to enable judges in all cases involving the custody of children to proceed with sole regard to the interest of the child and to do everything that a humane regard for the child's welfare requires, absolutely ignoring every other consideration. The entire subject is placed upon a strictly humanitarian basis. 2. The destitute and suffering minors' law. Under this act a child that is neglected or ill-treated can be immediately removed from its parent or other custodian, without any of those delays or formalities that are incident to ordinary legal proceedings. 3. A statute, exceedingly comprehensive in its terms, prohibiting the use of children for begging or the like. 4. A statute, exempting from vexations, suits or prosecutions, persons who "harbor" children, when there is reason to believe that they have been ill-treated by their parents. 5. A statute, prohibiting the selling or giving of cigars, cigarettes or tobacco to minors under fifteen years. 6. A statute, recently passed and very stringent, prohibiting the employment of children under sixteen years for more than ten hours a day. 7. A recent statute, authorizing courts to sentence minors to juvenile institutions instead of ordinary prisons. 8. An " adoption" law passed by the Legislature of 1892. HOMES FOE CHILDREN. It seems natural that the care of orphans should be the first charity to be undertaken by the public in a systematic way, and whatever other institutions may have been in existence during the early history of the city it is at least true that the oldest of the present charitable institu- tions of Baltimore are orphanages. The Benevolent Society of St. Paul's Parish was incorporated in 1799 for the support of an orphanage which is still sustained with increasing resources. The Baltimore Orphan Asylum grew out of a "charity school," which was incorporated as early as 1778, and assumed the name of " Female Orphaline Charity School " in 1801. A number of the other orphanages started as free schools for the education of indigent children, but when the free public schools made that charity unnecessary, the funds which had accumulated for the. sup- port of the schools were used for the care of orphans. The name St. Peter's School is still to be seen over the door of the orphanage on Myrtle avenue, and the corporation known as the Trustees of St. Peter's School is still in active existence as a support for the orphanage. Including the infant asylums already described, and excluding cor- rectional institutions, there are forty-one homes for children in Maryland. 454 MARYLAND. With the exception of a State institution for feeble-minded children and a State school for the deaf, all these homes are under private control, though fifteen receive appropriations from the State treasury and twelve from Baltimore city. The following figures are obtained from data carefully gathered for the Maryland exhibit in the department of charities and correction at the World's Columbian Exposition : Excluding the special schools and the industrial homes, we find thirty-three homes, which shelter 1,743* children. The real estate so occupied, exclusive of buildings rented, was valued at $1,781,665, and in addition to the use of this property the operating expenses of these institutions the last fiscal year amounted to $182,649. These expenses were met in part by the income from endowments and productive investments amounting in the aggregate to about $2,505,583. A total indebtedness of $29,344 was reported; but the interest upon the indebted- ness was not included in the operating expenses. Thus we find that upon the average, the support of an orphan for one year costs $104.79 in addition to the use of $1,022.18 of property.f Of the small children, more boys are received than girls, and fewer are adopted; but the boys leave the institution earlier than the girls. In accordance with the public sentiment upon that point, white and colored children are never found in' the same institution, though both races are well provided for. The orphanages of Baltimore are subject to no general control nor systematic visitation, and of course the efficiency of their work vai'ies with the special fitness of those who are placed in charge ; but public interest in their work acts as a stimulus to good management, and, granting that orphans must be raised in institutions, it may be doubted whether much better results could be obtained without greater outlay. There are a few which may be called ideal homes ; in none do we find gross abuses. That they are well managed from the standpoint of sani- tation is indicated by the low death rate which, excluding infant asylums, was for the last year but seven to the thousand.:); On looking at these institutions more closely, they appear to fall into groups. In the first place there are three large non-denominational orphanages, with from one hundred and twelve to one hundred and fifty *This number is obtained from the number of clays' board for the year. The total number of inmates for the year is, of course, greater. t These figures, however, do not include the total cost of maintaining these institutions, for nearly all the orphanages receive many donations in the form of provisions, clothing, and gratuitous service, which are not reported in the operating expenses. IBy comparing the report of the City Health Department for 1892 with the returns of the U.S. Census of 1890, we find that the death rate for the total population of Baltimore between the ages of five and twenty was but 6.88 to the thousand. The average vitality of orphans, when recived by the insti- tution, is doubtless below that of other children. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 455 boys and girls in each, then a group of five orphan asylums under Roman Catholic management, then three Protestant institutions for colored children, a Hebrew orphan asylum, eight denominational or church orphanages, mostly for girls; then a group of institutions, mostly for older children, which are more distinctly industrial or educational ; and, finally, five local orphanages in different parts of the State. All these institutions, except one home for little colored children, provide at least an elementary education in English branches, usually about the same that is given to children of the same age in the public schools, though as a rule institution children are not as readily interested in studies as those who are stimulated by the outside life. In addition to their school studies, girls are always taught to sew and do housework. The Home of the Friendless, on Druid Hill Avenue, is the largest Protestant orphanage in the State. Destitute children of all ages under twelve years are received, though but few are taken in infancy. Many children are placed here temporarily by parents who hope soon to be able to provide for them again. When able, such parents pay something for the support of their children. A kindergarten has been recently established for the younger children. Suitable homes are found for the inmates as soon as possible, and but few are kept beyond the age of twelve. Of the 266 children in the institu- tion last year there were : Discharged to Parents or Friends 75 Provided with Homes 33 Transferred to McDonogh School 4 Transferred to Manual Labor School 2 Transferred to Samuel Ready Home 3 Transferred to All Saints' Orphanage 2 Died 3 Remaining at the close of the year 155 The Baltimore Orphan Asylum, on Strieker street, receives only children who are above five years of age, and usually retains them till they are able to earn their living in the outside world. Like the Home of the Friendless, this asylum is supported in part by private subscriptions and public appropriations, but its chief income is derived from invest- ments which have been accumulating ever since Captain Yellott bequeathed $2,000 to it in the year 1807. The third of the large general orphan asylums is known among its patrons as the Allgemeines Deutsdhes Waisenhaus. It is supported by the Protestant German population of the city, over twenty-eight hundred persons contributing each year in sums varying from twenty-five cents to fifty dollars. A sewing society of three hundred and sixty-six members supplies the clothing, and, according to the last printed report, fourteen other German societies are associated with the asylum. 456 MARYLAND. At the age of fourteen the boys are bound out to learn a trade, and most of the girls are provided with homes or situations as domestics. One of the most interesting features of this institution is its use of the neighboring public schools for the education of the children. The expense of separate schools is thus avoided, and the children have the stimulus of contact with outer life. The superintendent of this institu- tion reports that no extra difficulty arises from the system, and the Hebrew Orphan Asylum has adopted the same method with satisfaction- Among the institutions which are under Roman Catholic manage- ment we find a correlation which is largely wanting in the other charities of the city. St. Vincent's Infant Asylum provides for white children under seven years of age, while between the ages of seven and fourteen girls find a home in St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum and boys in the St. Vincent de Paul Orphan Asylum, where school work receives the chief attention. Older girls are given industrial training at St. Joseph's House of Industry, and a reformatory institution is provided for wayward children of each sex. The St. Mary's Orphan Asylum maintains more children than any other institution in the State. Many girls are com- mitted to it from the different counties as well as from the city, and its support is largely derived from public appropriations. The city pays two dollars a week each for eighty or ninety committed children. The St. Vincent de Paul Asylum, on Front street, is managed by the Brotherhood of the Christian Schools, and the boys attend the St. Vincent de Paul parish school. St. Anthony's German Orphan Asylum is supported by the German Catholic churches of Baltimore. The children attend the St. James Parochial School, and at the age of twelve are placed in German Catholic families, where they are regularly visited. There are two other Roman Catholic institutions for white children located on Gough street in East Baltimore : The Dolan Children's Aid Asylum and St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum. The children from both attend neighboring Catholic schools, and both are supported in part by an income from the estate left by Father Dolan. For colored orphans there are two institutions under Catholic man- agement : The St. Elizabeth Home, already described, and the St. Frances Orphan Asylum, on East Chase street. The latter institution is under the control of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, a Roman Catholic sisterhood of colored women, established in 1829 for the education of colored girls. Under the same roof is an academy for colored girls, and a few of the orphans who are especially bright in their studies receive advanced instructions in the academy. The support for the orphans is obtained largely by personal solicitation. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 457 Of tlie three Protestant institutions for colored children the one of chief interest is the Johns Hopkins Colored Orphan Asylum, where about thirty girls are being trained for useful lives. Among the directions given by Johns Hopkins to the Trustees of the Johns Hopkins Hospital Endowment, provision was made for the establishment, at some future time, of a large institution "for the reception, maintenance and education of orphan colored children." Accommodation was to be provided for three or four hundred children, and a possible income of twenty thousand dollars was named. The execution of the other provisions of the Hopkins gift have made it necessary to delay the establishment of the orphans' home, upon the large scale contemplated by the donor, and meanwhile the present asylum for colored girls is being maintained from the Hospital fund. St. Mary's Home for Colored Boys is one of the charities con- nected with the Mount Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, and is under the management of a branch of the Order of All Saints' Sisters. The Simmons Home for Friendless Children is managed by an association of charitable colored people. It has been lately reorganized and moved to No. 130 North Pearl street. One of the largest and best conducted of the homes for children is the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, on Calverton Heights. The large building, imposing from the outside, is scrupulously clean within, and order is everywhere apparent. A kindergarten is provided for the little children. The older ones attend the public school, where they are said to stand at the head of their classes. On returning from the public schools an hour is given to the study of Hebrew and German. An Orphans' Aid Society, composed of several hundred Hebrew women, supplies clothing for the children, and finds employment for them on leaving the orphanage. By the help of this society a "grand bazaar" was held in March of 1892, which yielded over twenty-three thousand dollars for the benefit of the orphan asylum and other Hebrew charities. There is room for but few words concerning the eight church orphan- ages. Two only receive boys. Si. John's Orphanage, at Waverley, is under the control of the vestry of St. John's Episcopal Church, and the boys attend the parish school. The Baptist Orphanage of Maryland, on West Lanvale street, receives both boys and girls. It was opened in October of 1890, through the efforts of two charitable women, who devote their time to the care and instruction of the children. The support comes largely from the Brantley Baptist Church. Of the six church orphanages for girls, four are connected with Protestant Episcopal Churches : The All Saints' Training Home (Mount Calvary Church) ; the Girls' Orphanage of St. Paul's Parish, incorporated as The Benevolent Society of the City and County of Baltimore ; the Christ 458 MARYLAND. Church Asylum for Female Children, and St. Peter's Asylum for Female Children. The Egenton Female Orphan Asylum is under the control of the First Presbyterian Church, and the Kelso Home for Orphans of the Methodist Episcopal Church is under the partial control of the Baltimore Methodist Conference, though it has a self -perpetuating board of trustees. All of these orphanages, except the last, receive young girls of any denomination, and all keep them in charge until eighteen years of age. The comparatively small number in each institution allows some approach to family relationship, and an effort to make the orphanage pleasant and homelike is apparent in all. The Benevolent Society, Egenton, and Kelso homes are supported entirely by endowments, while the others depend largely upon annual subscriptions and contributions. The Christ Church and Kelso Homes occupy fine buildings in North Baltimore, and the Benevolent Society has a summer home in the same part of the city. In the church orphanages for girls much attention is given to moral, intellectual and industrial training; but two of the endowed homes for children have been so carefully planned from the standpoint of education that they are no less interesting to the educator than to the philan- thropist. One of these is the McDonogh School for Boys, which has been treated in another chapter; the other is the Samuel Ready Asylum for Female Orphans, which will now be described somewhat in detail as an institution especially worthy of study. Upon the death of Samuel Ready in 1871 the sum of $371,000 was placed in the hands of a self-perpetuating board of trustees for the establishment and support of the asylum, which had already been incorporated. By allowing this fund to accumulate for a number of years, the grounds have been purchased and improved with a total cost of $179,000, while still leaving a productive endowment of $524,947. The income from this endowment is greater than the annual operating expenses, and the surplus is used for new buildings. A new wing was built last year, a house for the gardener has just been completed, and a school building separate from the home is planned by the trustees in order to increase the capacity of the institution. There are now sixty girls in the home, thirty-eight from Baltimore and twenty-two from twelve counties of the State. The number of eligible applicants so much exceeds the capacity of the house that, as with the McDonogh School, some discretion may be used in selecting those who will make the best use of the exceptional advantages which are offered. In the introduction to a recent report of the United States Bureau of Education upon "Industrial and Manual Training in Public Schools," Mr. Isaac Edwards Clarke speaks of the Samuel Ready Asylum as "an ideal orphans home," and describes some of its characteristics in the following words : CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 459 "The feature which differences this from many other similar 'orphans' homes' is the care taken to prevent any consciousness by the children that they are inmates of a charitable institution; while in many so-called orphans' homes, there seems to be a constant effort to impress this one fact upon the consciousness of the unfortunate child-inmates. In this truer 'home,' on the contrary, the development of the independence, self-reliance, self-respect, and personal character of the individual child, is a constant purpose kept in view; in connection with the effort to surround all with the protection and happiness of a home. The children of this family, inmates of a cheerful, well-ordered household, may well be reckoned as exceptionally fortunate. Here the spirit of Frobel's ideals of child happiness and child development seems to be admirably embodied ; though not shown by formal kindergarten methods." * " The excellent methods here adopted are, indeed, well worth the careful study of all interested in similar establishments; yet, in this instance, as in so many others of exceptional success, the secret must be held to lie rather in the personality of the individual teacher, than in formal communicable methods." An air of culture and refinement is to be found in all the appoint- ments of the house. Curtains in the dormitories and bath-rooms provide private apartments for dressing and the daily bath. The usual orphans' uniform gives way to tasteful garments suited to the features and to the choice of each individual. Through an elaborate system of rotation all kinds of household duties are assigned and each room is placed in the charge of some girl who uses, and cultivates, her own taste in keeping it in order. Each child has a small flower-bed of her own. All are taught sewing, cooking and even marketing and shopping. An opportunity for earning money at the rate of two cents per hour is given for overtime work, and the girls learn to economize in the use of their earnings. Every care is taken to preserve the health of the pupils, and there has been no serious illness in the institution since it was opened in 1887. The girls have a vacation in August, varying in length from one day to three weeks. Those who do the best work or make the greatest effort, get the longest holiday, and the fact that the length of their holiday depends upon themselves is a great incentive to earnest effort. In the school-room the most approved methods are in use ; drawing, vocal music, and physical culture are prominent features in the instruc- tion of all. As all the girls must be prepared for self-support, each individual receives careful attention, and is given special instruction in accordance with her proclivities. Twelve girls are now learning type- * There is a kindergarten class, though it is used chiefly as a recreation or as a reward for good class work. No children are received under live years of age. 460 MARYLAND. writing, and ten instrumental music ; two are taking drawing lessons at the Maryland Institute ; one is receiving special instruction in scientific cooking, while five are taking a special course in dress mating. The girls attend churches of their respective denominations, and no sectarian views are inculcated, but in all the regulations of the institution the development of strong moral character is recognized as the most important object to be attained. The Boys' School of St. Paul's Parish is an institution for the maintenance and education of poor boys during the school year. Twenty- five are now in attendance. Some of the boys return to their homes during the summer, and some are supported elsewhere by the schooL The Baltimore Manual Labor School for Indigent Boys is at the same time an educational and an industrial institution, located a few miles from the city upon a farm of one hundred and fifty acres. Accord- ing to the Baltimore Charities Directory, about thirteen hundred boys have been received since the foundation of the institution in 1845. The products of the farm, through the help of the boys, yield about one-half the operating expenses. St. Joseph's House of Industry, like St. Vincent's Infant Asylum and St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum, is under the management of the Sisters of Charity, and nearly all its seventy-five inmates came from the latter institution. Only girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen are received. An hour a day is devoted to school work, but the chief occupation is sewing. Each girl is given thorough instruction in the different branches of sewing and dressmaking, and much fine work is done for regular customers. When the girls leave the house employment and suitable homes are found for them ; but they are welcomed back whenever in need or out of work. A country home near Jessup's is used as a summer resort. Among the other educational homes should be mentioned the Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded of the State of Maryland. This is a State institution, opened in 1888, and located upon a large farm at Owings' Mills. Kindergarten methods are used for brightening the intellects of these unfortunate children, and those who are capable receive instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic and various industrial pursuits. A much-needed institution for epileptics will probably be built upon the same farm in the near future. The Font Hill Private Institution for Feeble-Minded and Epileptic Children reports thirty inmates now in attendance. Excellent training is given, but only pay pupils are received. This is said to be the only educational institution in the South which admits epileptics. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 461 The Maryland Schools for the Blind and the Maryland School for the Deaf have been described in the chapter devoted to educational institutions. In the counties of Maryland are five local homes for children, of which the oldest is that of the Female Orphan Asylum of Annapolis, which was incorporated in 1828. Over one hundred destitute children have been received in this little cottage home, and no death nor serious casualty has occurred among the children in the home during the whole sixty-five years that it has been open. Four inmates are reported at present. The Home for Friendless Children of the Eastern Shore of Maryland reports fourteen inmates, all girls. This institution was established at Easton, Talbot County, in 1871. It is under the management of the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of Easton, and receives annual subscriptions from the different parishes of the Eastern Shore. Older girls are some- times placed out at service, the wages being kept for them until they are of age. Two well-kept orphanages, supported by endowments, are located at Frederick. The Protestant Episcopal Orphan House and B\ee School of All Saint's Parish, FredericMown, is an organization which began work in a log-house in 1833. The institution started as a free school, but the assistance of female orphans soon became a leading object and finally supplanted the day school when that form of charity became unnecessary. An endowment fund, amounting to $32,428, has been gradually accumulated and now supports twelve orphans. Like the Annapolis society, this institution reports that no death, nor even serious illness, has occurred in the home during its whole history. The Loots Fem.ale Orphan Asylum was opened at Frederick in 1882, through a generous bequest by Mr. John Loats. The endowment with the building amounts to $40,000. It is managed under the auspices of the Lutheran Church by a self-perpetuating board of trustees. The Home for Orphan and Friendless Children at Hagerstown is a semi-public institution, receiving most of its income from an annual appropriation of $1,500 by Washington county. It was established in 1883, through the efforts of charitable people, for the purpose especially of rescuing destitute children from the demoralizing influences of the almshouse. An endowment of $10,000 was given by Mr. B. F. Newcomer. The children attend a public school, which is conducted in the same building with the Home, and as soon as practicable they are placed out in private families, though remaining under the supervision of the Home till the age of eighteen. 462 MARYLAND. PLACING OUT CHILDREN. A good institution is better than no home or a vicious home ; but it is generally recognized that the artificial, restricted life of the orphan asylum cannot fully take the place of the natural and free home life as the preparation for an active and useful career in the world. In accordance with this idea we find the managers of many of our orphan asylums eager to have their children adopted into suitable families. The Home of the Friendless, St. Vincent's Infant Asylum, the Nursery and Child's Hospital, and St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum, place out many children by adoption, while older children, who are able to pay their way, are frequently placed at service, with certain stipulations in regard to education and general treatment. In addition to the Home of the Friendless and St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, this form of placing out is employed especially by the German Orphan Asylums, the Manual Labor School, Baltimore Orphan Asylum, the Washington County Home, and all the institutions for colored children. Much attention is now given to the oversight of placed-out children, though more could well be done in that direction. The laws of Maryland allow no contract to interfere with the manifest interests of the child. But the chief agency for placing destitute children in private families is the Henry Watson Children's Aid Society. This organiza- tion was incorporated in 1862 as the Children's Aid Society, and assumed its present appellation in 1872, after receiving an endowment of $100,000 from Henry Watson. As reported to the National Prison Congress by Mr. Griffith, this society has received 2,518 children, and secured for them 2,147 country homes, mostly in the counties of Maryland. During the last year forty-eight were placed in country homes and ten in other institutions. Much care is taken in the selection of homes; but the fact that of those placed out last year, twenty-three had been out before, indicates that it is not always easy to satisfy both the child and its patron. Those receiving children are required to educate them, surround them with Christian influences, support and clothe them well, and give them, on reaching the age of eighteen, fifty dollars as freedom dues. Semi-annual correspondence is maintained with the children, and much care is taken not to lose sight of them; though if the income of the Society would admit of frequent visitation, this important part of the work could doubtless be done more efficiently. Mr. Griffith states the belief "that ninety-five per cent, of the children placed out by this Society in the country homes turn out well," and that "nearly ninety per cent, of those attaining the age of eighteen years, when they are 'free' from this Society, remain in the country." CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 463 Granting that the child pays its way in the country home by the increased enjoyment which it brings, if not by the work which it does, the economy of the placing-out system becomes very apparent when we consider that, at $150 each, the yearly cost of maintaining one hundred and seventy-five children in orphan asylums would be $26,250, while that number of placed-out children are now cared for, and several other branches of work are conducted by the Henry Watson Society, with a total annual expense of about six thousand dollars. In addition to this work of placing out and overseeing children in country homes, the Henry Watson Society provides in its large building on north Calvert street, a temporary home for children, a home for working girls and those seeking employment, and an industrial school for teaching girls to sew and make dresses. The method of boarding-out children has not been tried system- atically in Maryland. HOMES FOE WORKING BOYS AND WORKING GIRLS. To supplement these homes for the support and education of children, Baltimore is provided with a number of charitable institutions which supply a home with favorable surroundings to boys or girls who are at work for wages. Temporary maintenance is often given to those seeking employment, but the regular inmates pay for their board at a low rate. The most notable institution of this kind is the Boys' Home, on Calvert street. During the last year a monthly average of ninety-nine boys made this institution their home. Homeless boys, between nine and eighteen years of age, are received, and a number are committed to the institution by the city magistrates. Positions paying from one to seven dollars per week are found for the boys, and a charge is made for board varying from $1.75* to $2.50 per week, according to the wages which the boy receives. The payments for board cover a little more than one-half the expense of the institution. Clothing is bought at wholesale and supplied to the boys at cost, while all the sewing and mending is done for them through a Ladies' Aid Society. A free night school is in session for seven months of the year, and free instruction in vocal music is also given for the sake of its refining influence. Among the recent improvements may be mentioned the infirmary, and a well-equipped bath-room which provides private bathing apartments for ten boys at a time. Another institution, similar in design to the Boys' Home, but under Catholic management, is St. James' Home for Boys, at the corner of High and Low streets. This home is controlled by the same corporation as St. Mary's Industrial School, and about one-fourth of the inmates are *If a boy cannot pay this amount a debt is allowed to accumulate. 464 MARYLAND. from that institution. Aside from the payments made by the boys the chief support of the Home comes from a society organized for that purpose and known as the Immaculate Conception Union. The Guild House of St. Paul's Parish also provides a home at low rates for boys and young men whose wages are small. For working girls we have the Girls' Home of the Henry Watson Children's Aid Society, where about twenty inmates are given board, lodging and medical attendance in return for one-half their wages ; St. Vincent's Home for Working Girls, under the care of the Sisters of Mercy; and several homes for self-supporting young women, in which from $2.50 to $3.00 per week is paid for board and the other benefits of the house. Such homes are St. Paul's House, 309 Cathedral street; the Home for Working Girls, 25 South High street, under the care of the All Saints' Sisters of the Poor; the Female Christian Home, 416 North Greene street; and the Home of the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation, at 128 West Franklin street. In the year 1892 the last-named home provided for twenty-nine permanent and one hundred and fifty- seven transient boarders. MEDICAL AND SANITARY RELIEF FOR CHILDREN. Several important institutions have been recently established in Baltimore for the relief of sick children. They include two special hospitaks four dispensaries and two sanitariums. The Nursery and Child's Hospital, with its free dispensary, has already been mentioned. The Garrett Free Hospital and Dispensary for Children on Carey street is a well conducted institution supported entirely by Mrs. Robert Garrett. During the year ending in October 1892, ninety-nine cases were treated in the hospital and about two thousand cases were prescribed for in the dispensary. Five nurses are employed and a course of special training in the care of children is given, on the completion of which certificates are awarded. During the summer months the hospital is closed, and the Garrett Sanitarium for Children is opened at Mount Airy in Carroll county. Free transportation is supplied to sick children and the mothers or nurses who bring them. Two large cottages, with adjoining buildings, furnish accommoda- tions for twenty-five children, and a resident physician, five nurses, a matron, and seven servants are employed to care for them. Since these institutions were opened in 1888, 266 children have been admitted to the Hospital and 339 to the Sanitarium, 321 surgical operations have been performed, 13,771 cases have been treated in the dispensary, and 833 visits have been paid to the homes of patients. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 465 The Thomas Wilson Sanitarium for the benefit of children suffer- ing from complaints peculiar to summer, was opened at Mount Wilson, Baltimore county, in 1884. The institution cost over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars, and derives its support from an endowment of five hundred thousand. During the summer months a special train left Hi lien Station five mornings each week to convey the sick children, with their mothers or nurses, to the Sanitarium. On the first four days of the week white people were accommodated, while Friday was assigned to the colored applicants. The benefit of pure air, suitable food and special medical treatment were given for the day, and a return passage by special train at evening. Five thousand eight hundred and fifty-one people took advantage of this charity during the last season. Children who were very ill were allowed to remain at the Sanitarium over night, or, if need be, for several days, and when the mothers were not able to remain with them such children were placed in the charge of trained nurses. A longer stay is found to be needed by so many that increased accommodations are called for, and several additional cottages are being erected for use a« hospital pavilions. It is announced that during the coming season five trained nurses will be employed in the different sections of the city, each to visit and care for the sick children at their homes within her district, while only those children who need continued treatment will be taken to the Sanitarium, and they will be allowed to remain two weeks. The other hospitals of Baltimore receive children as well as adults, and some of the hospitals, as the Church Home and Infirmary, provide special wards for them; but the advantages thus offered are not fully utilized because poor mothers, even when unable to care properly for their children, are especially reluctant about placing them in other hands when they are sick. Another special dispensary for children is located at the corner of Druid Hill avenue and Preston street, and at 407 west Hoffman street is Miss Barnwell's Dispensary for Plaster of Paris Jackets and Free School for Deformed Children. This is a unique charity for the benefit of spinal cripples. The method of applying the plaster jackets has been developed from that of Professor Sayre, of New York. Miss Barnwell devotes her time and skill to the work without remuneration, and through the voluntary contributions of friends and patients, an assistant, a teacher, and an examining physician are employed. The day school for children who are so deformed as to prevent them from attend- ing the public schools, was opened in 1889. During the year 1892, sixty-six patients were treated in the dispensary, and twenty-one deformed children were taught in the schools. 30 466 MARYLAND. At this point of our study, mention should he made of the Children's Country Home, the Children's Summer Home, and the CJiildren's Fresh Air Society, each of which is an agency for giving children of poor people the benefit of two weeks in the country during the heated season. The Country Home is located at Orange Grove, Baltimore County, where about two hundred children were cared for last summer. A new building which accommodates one hundred children at a time has been opened for the summer of 1893. The Children's Summer Home, at Catonsville, is managed by an organization of young women of the Friends' Park Avenue Meeting. The work began last year, and arrangements have been made to accommodate twenty children at a time during the present summer. The Fresh Air Society scatters its beneficiaries among charita- ble families in country districts. During the two years of its existence, seventy-nine children have been sent out, and plans have been made for extending the charity to one hundred little ones in the coming season. EDUCATIONAL CHARITIES. Aside from the purely educational institutions, and the free kinder- gartens and homes already mentioned, we find in Baltimore a large number of private charities which aim to relieve want and prevent evil by teaching young people to care for themselves. Under this head come the numer- ous sewing schools which are supported by the different church societies of the city. Fifty-eight of them are mentioned in the list of churches appended to the directory of Baltimore charities. Sewing is now taught in all the grammar schools of the city, but these church schools are doing an important supplementary work. In addition to these local church schools, mention should be made of a few societies whose work covers a broader field and enlists more general interest. The work of the Henry Watson Children's -Aid Society in securing homes for children has been described above, but this society is also doing an important service to Baltimore in the line of industrial educa- tion through its two branches known as the Sewing Machine Department and the Cutting and Fitting Department. According to the report of the agent, about one hundred girls are in daily attendance at these two schools. The hours are from 9 to 12 and 2 to 4. Only needy girls are received and each pupil retains the garments which she has made. St. Joseph's Guild is a new Roman Catholic community organized in Baltimore five years ago and now numbering sixteen sisters. The purpose of the Guild is to work entirely among the colored people, relieving distress, strengthening the inefficient, rescuing the wayward, and spreading the influence of the Catholic Church. Eight sewing schools have been established by the Guild in different parts of the city, CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 467 and about three hundred and twenty-five colored girls are being instructed In them. The work for the most part is rudimentary, but those who care for more technical instruction are encouraged to continue work in a graduate class. The Deaconess Home, on East Pratt street, is the centre of missionary and charitable work on the part of three deaconesses of the Methodist Church. Three industrial schools for girls are maintained, and during the first eight months (February 2 to September 28, 1892) two thousand six hundred and ninety-seven visits were made among the poor and needy. Two deaconesses devote their time largely to visiting the poor while one makes a specialty of nursing the sick. A temporary home for immigrant girls was opened at Locust Point in December. The Daughters in Israel is the name of a society of young Hebrew women organized here in 1890 for work among the Russian refugees. There are a number of separate bands under the general organization. Two industrial schools are in operation, a sewing-school for children and a class in dressmaking for older girls. The latter class is composed entirely of Jewish girls who are actively employed during the day, but are so eager to improve themselves that they attend this class at least three evenings in every week. A working girls' club has also proved to be an important factor in the work of organizing this foreign element. In this as in its other lines of work the society aims to render its beneficiaries self-supporting, self-respecting and independent. The use of any language other than English is discouraged, and the necessity of an American education is strongly impressed upon parents and children. Two Night Schools under Hebrew management are doing an im- portant work in teaching English to immigrants, and various other organizations offer evening instruction to young men and women who are employed during the day. One of the most interesting of the educational charities is the Cooking School connected with the Friends' Mission on Federal Hill. During the past winter a class of forty-five girls has been receiving free instruction in culinary art and many applicants had to be refused. Next year it is proposed to offer these advantages to one hundred school girls, with the hope of interesting the public school board in that line of education. Its importance cannot be doubted when one thinks of the amount of social and economic evil which arises from the lack of skill in cooking. Hope Institute, on Hillen street, with its night school for boys, and classes in cooking, dressmaking and singing, should be mentioned here, as well as the educational work of the Young Men's Christian Associa- tion and the Young Women's Christian Association, though in these 468 MARYLAND. societies the co-operative element is combined with the charitable, and a small fee is usually charged for the benefit of the class work. Another educational charity is to be found in the Electric Sewing Machine Rooms, opened in May, 1891, and now located at 312 St. Paul street. This is a unique institution, and has proved to be an important factor in solving the problems which poverty and inefficiency are con- stantly presenting to charitable societies. The equipment consists of twenty-six machines run by electric power, a supply of coarse sewing from contractors, and a competent teacher with an assistant. Any indigent woman who wishes to become self-supporting has an opportunity here of earning something at once and of receiving instruction which will, in most cases, enable her to earn living wages in the field of competitive industry. Those who are able pay fifty cents a week for the use of the machines and power, while some who are in especial need are supported through the Charity Organization Society until able to earn their living by their own work. Eighty women have already been made entirely self-supporting through the benefit derived from this charity. An employment agency has been opened recently, and now a nursery is provided for the care of small children while their mothers are at work. Another room for teaching hand sewing, and lodging apartments for homeless women, are among the additions contemplated by the managers of this growing institution. In this connection mention should be made of the educational indus- tries carried on in the shops of the Schools for the Blind. At the North avenue school, in addition to the industrial training given to the regular students, bliud men, are taught to make brooms, and at the Saratoga street school blind colored men are taught chair-caning and mattress making, and are afterwa.rd allowed the use of the shops without charge. St. Mary's Colored Industrial ScJiool at Charlotte Hall, St. Mary's county, is doing an important work in teaching cooking, needlework, dressmaking, shoemaking and farming, as well as the usual school studies. THE REFORMATION OF DELINQUENTS. In Maryland, as in other States, the last few decades have brought notable improvements in the treatment of those who, through depravity or misfortune, have become amenable to public discipline. JUVENILE REFORMATORIES. The evident harmfulness of confining juvenile offenders with hardened criminals led to the incorporation of the House of Refuge as early as 1831, but nothing definite was accomplished until 1849, when CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 469 the Baltimore City Council made an appropriation for the erection of a building. Private citizens, comprising the corporation, gave $67,000, and finally, in 1855, the House of Refuge was opened for the separate care and education of juvenile delinquents. Both hoys and girls were received at this institution until after the Maryland Industrial School for Girls (incorporated 1870) was opened at Orange Grove. In 1880, the latter corporation changed its name to the Female House of Refuge, and was soon after moved to its present location within the city. In the mean time homeless or wayward girls, and especially fallen women, who desired to reform, had been cared for in the House of the Good Shepherd since its establishment in 1864, and in 1878 additional powers were given by the General Assembly of Maryland for the com- mitment of wayward girls to this institution, and an annual appropria- tion was granted for its support. Thus reformatories for girls, under both Protestant and Catholic influence, were established; and simulta- neously a Catholic reformatory for boys was organized, through the efforts of Archbishop Spaulding, to supplement the work of the House of Refuge, and especially to provide good moral and industrial training for boys who were without proper home influence. This institution, St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, was opened in 1866, and placed under the care of the Xaverian Brothers. It was conducted for eight years as a private charity, aided irregularly by public appropriations, but in 1874 a new charter was granted wbich provided for the commitment to this institution as to the House of Refuge, of boys convicted of petty offences. At the same time representatives of the State and Baltimore city were added to the board of managers and regular appropriations were assured. Thus provision was made for the care of juvenile delinquents of both sexes, under either Protestant or Catholic management, but the fact that neither of these institutions received colored people left a large class of young offenders still exposed to the baneful influences of the common jails. However, public sentiment, aroused especially through the efforts of the Prisoners' Aid Association, was too conscious of the evils arising from such conditions to tolerate them long. The House of Reformation for Colored Boys was incorporated in 1870, and opened at Cheltenham, Prince George's county, in 1873; and the Industrial Home for Colored Girls was opened in Baltimore in 1883, and moved to its present location at Melvale, Baltimore county, in 1888. The division has been carried still further by the establishment in September, 1892, of a new branch of the House of the Good Shepherd, for the care of colored girls. All these six reformatories are controlled by private corporations, though all are supported chiefly by public appropriation. The House of the Good Shepherd is entirely under the control of the Sisters of the 470 MARYLAND. Good Shepherd, and receives aid from the State only, while the other institutions receive about equal appropriations from the State and city, and recognize public authority in their management through the appoint- ment by the Governor and Mayor of a few of the trustees. In the case of the House of Refuge, a majority of the trustees are so appointed. All the reformatories receive occasional delinquents, who are sentenced for a definite term, though the most of their inmates are committed to the institutions until of age, the colored girls, at present, becoming free at eighteen, the others at twenty-one. Excepting the House of Eeformation for Colored Boys and St. Mary's Industrial- School, which admit none over sixteen years of age, boys and girls are received by the reformatories up to the age of majority ; but children committed when under eight are usually transferred to institutions for orphans. The total number of inmates of these reformatories upon the 30th of June, 1892, was reported as 1,239, but this number included the inmates of the House of the Good Shepherd, most of whom, either on account of their innocence upon the one hand or their age upon the other, do not strictly belong to the class of juvenile delinquents. With the exception of three-fourths of the inmates of the House of the Good Shepherd, a half-dozen boarders at the House of Eef uge and a somewhat larger number at St. Mary's Industrial School, it appears that all the inmates of these institutions have been sentenced or committed by process of law. About one-half of these were committed on the charge of incorrigibility brought against them usually by their parents or guardians. Of the other half the larger part were committed for vagrancy. A number have been convicted of larceny and various offences of a more serious nature, while a few have been committed to the care of the reform school on account of the cruelty of their parents or guardians. Although commitments may be caused by the fault of the parent as well as of the child, the moral restraint of home life even among the delinquent class is evidenced by the large proportion of orphans among the juvenile offenders. Only three institutions publish statistics upon this point — the House of Eef uge, the House of Eeformation, and the Female House of Eef uge. The last printed reports of these reformatories indicate respectively that 38, 63, and 68 per cent, of the committed youths had lost one or both parents. In the management of all the juvenile reformatories, the idea of punishment is entirely subordinated to that of education and the estab- lishment of moral character. About equal time is usually given to school work and manual labor — the latter being utilized for the partial CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 471 support of the institution through contract work. Industrial training is also given to some extent in all the institutions. When sufficient training has been received and the inmate is deemed trustworthy, he is usually released on a ticket of leave or apprenticed with a suitable family under the oversight of the institution. Of these outside wards, still under the jurisdiction of the reformatories, the House of Eefuge reports two hundred and sixty-one ; St. Mary's Industrial School seven hundred and forty-five ; Female House of Eefuge fifteen, and the Industrial Home for Colored Girls sixty. After this general outline of the history and management of the juvenile reformatories, a few words will be added concerning the individual features of each institution. The House of Refuge occupies a massive stone building near the western limits of the city. The surrounding wall and the jail-like cells remind one of a prison, though the management of the institution is not punitive but thoroughly educational. The forenoon is occupied with work in the overall shops and else- where, while the afternoon is devoted to studies. The common English branches, including history and elementary physiology, are taught, and a good supply of current literature is provided for evening reading. Through a special appropriation of $10,000 by the Baltimore City Council, a Manual Training School was established in 1891, and an equipment provided for teaching wood work, metal work and printing. The interest shown by the boys in the manual training can leave no doubt of its value as a factor in reformatory work, and it is to be hoped that it will be sustained by regular appropriations. No boy is dismissed from the institution until a good home and suitable employment has been secured for him, and a special visiting agent is employed to look after the interests of the outside wards. St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys is located upon a fruitful farm of one hundred acres about a mile to the south from the House of Refuge. Compared with the House of Refuge, we find in this institution a larger number of boys, with a lower average age, many boys being committed because destitute rather than delinquent. A large five-story stone building provides dormitories, school-rooms and chapel, while the adjoining shops and green-house supplement the farm in furnishing manual employment for the boys. Knitting hose, tailoring, printing, carpentering and shoemaking are the industries in progress, in addition to the care of the farm and buildings. Much industrial training is thus secured, and the educational element in the manual labor is developed as far as the income of the institution will admit. Among the branches taught in the school-rooms we find history, physiology and book-keeping, and instruction in drawing is given to all the inmates. Vocal music is ■172 MARYLAND. taught to a limited class and a large band is in training. When a boy is thought to be prepared to leave the school he is usually returned to his parents or provided with a suitable home in a private family, but many boys for whom such homes are not at hand continue under the care of the Xaverian Brothers in the St. James' Home for Boys, which has been mentioned as one of the homes for working boys. The House of Reformation for Colored, Boys is an interesting institution peculiar to the State of Maryland. A farm of eight hundred acres, forty-three miles to the south from Baltimore, forms the material environment of the reformatory and furnishes a large part of instructive employment which is needed. The most distinctive feature of this institution is the arrangement of buildings upon the family plan. In the place of one large dormitory five family buildings furnish accommoda- tions for fifty boys each. Each building contains a separate school- room, hospital, and play-room, and is under the immediate care of a teacher who resides in it. This plan permits of gradation, and the boys are stimulated by promotion from one building to another as they advance in proficiency. In addition to these brick family buildings, are several shops and a large administration building, one wing of which is occupied by the superintendent, while the other furnishes large dining- rooms where all the inmates of the institution take their meals. Four and one-half hours of the day are devoted to school work and the same length of time to manual labor. A stocking factory furnishes employ- ment for about one hundred and twenty of the younger boys, while carpentering, blacksmithing, baking, painting, tailoring, and shoemaking are some of the industries which occupy the older boys. Although none are received over sixteen years of age, the buildings are always crowded, and the lack of room often necessitates the dismissal of boys earlier than would otherwise be thought best. The Female House of Refuge, on Carey and Baker streets, shelters about seventy girls. Industry is the chief factor in the work of reforma- tion, and thirty-six sewing machines are kept busy all day making underwear for contractors. The net proceeds of the sewing-room amounted last year to nearly three thousand five hundred dollars. A record is kept of the work done by each inmate, and one-half of its proceeds is placed to her credit in a savings bank. The work of so large a household gives an opportunity for valuable industrial training, and a sewing teacher, as well as a school teacher, is employed. Girls who are considered trust- worthy are often placed out at service, though remaining under the control of the institution till of age. An auxiliary board of fifteen women assists in the management of the reformatory. The Industrial Home for Colored Girls is similar to the Female House of Refuge in purpose and methods. A new building has just been CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 473 erected, which increases the capacity of the institution to one hundred and twenty-five and adds much to the comfort of the inmates. Making overalls is the chief remunerative industry. During the last year the girls earned about $5,000, of which $238 was placed to their credit for over-time work. Many of them, after receiving some training, are apprenticed out with good families on condition that they be well cared for and given twenty- five dollars and an outfit on reaching the age of eighteen. Such careful training is given the girls in all branches of housework that their services are always in demand in good homes as soon as they leave the institution. Whatever methods may be employed, the efficiency of a reformatory in really elevating the character of its inmates must depend largely upon the personal qualifications of those who are placed in charge, and the managers of the Industrial Home seem to have been fortunate in securing an unusually capable superintendent. The House of the Good Shepherd occupies a whole block in the western part of Baltimore, and, like many of the older Catholic institu- tions, is secluded from the outside world by a high brick wall. It is in part co-ordinate with the other reformatories for girls, though quite different in some of its features. There are three distinct departments — ■ the preservation department, the reformatory, and a community of Sister Magdalens. In the preservation department are about one hundred girls of all ages from four or five years to twenty or over. The preservation of innocence seems to be the leading purpose of this department. Most of the girls are brought here by their guardians or friends, though many are committed by the magistrates for vagrancy, destitution, or the want of proper home influences. The day is devoted chiefly to housework and sewing, while school work occupies the evening. The reformatory department is for girls and women who have committed some misdemeanor. A few girls are committed to this deparment, as to the other reformatories, till they reach the age of majority, but the most of the inmates are fallen women who are brought in by parents or friends, or who come voluntarily with the purpose of reforming. There is no age limit and many of the inmates are mature women. Sewing is the regular occupation. The Community of Magdalens is a sisterhood of thoroughly repent- ant women, who have chosen to spend the remainder of their lives in industry and religious devotion within the walls of the institution. The total income from the work of inmates of the institution for the last year was $18,748.43. The House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Girls is a branch of the older institution recently opened at Calverton Heights, near the western limits of the city. About thirty incorrigible colored girls have 474 MARYLAND. been left under the charge of the sisters there, and the next Legislature is expected to recognize the institution as a public reformatory. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd, who control these reformatories and similar institutions in all parts of the world, form a sisterhood which was organized for this purpose in 1642, and has its " mother house " at Angers, France. Another institution, which may be mentioned in connection with the House of the Good Shepherd, is The Home for fallen women, on Exeter street, where seventy unfortunate women have found shelter and religious influences during the past year. Residence in the home is entirely voluntary, and is often brief, but many are helped to a higher life. Industrial training is given, and honest employment is found for those who are ready to leave the home. The Helping-up Mission at Arch and Baltimore streets is doing reformatory work among the same class of women in West Baltimore. Continuing from the juvenile and voluntary reformatories we come to a class of institutions which have but recently taken on the character of charities, and are still commonly regarded as means for vengeance rather than for charitable effort. For the true position of prisons does not appear till we come to recognize on the one hand that it is truer charity to upbuild men than to indulge them, and on the other hand that the most efficient punishment is that which reforms the offender. In Maryland, as in other States, the treatment of adult offenders is far behind this conception of the purpose of punishment, for it is the character of the past crime, instead of the progress of the reformation, that determines the time when the prisoner shall be released. Yet while much remains to be accomplished in the improvement of criminal law and practice, the principle of reformation, as applied to adults, as well as to minors, has been recognized in the general laws of Maryland, as well as in the management of the individual prisons. Especially a law passed in 1876 allowing a commutation for good behavior of four days from each month of a sentenced term of imprisonment is said to have given excellent results. In the treatment of criminals while enduring confinement, their reformation is constantly held in view. There are now three prisons that receive adult criminals from the courts of Baltimore- — the Baltimore City Jail, the House of Correction and the Maryland Penitentiary. The first is supported and controlled by the city, while the two others are State institutions. Of the fourteen hundred prisoners confined in these three institutions almost one-half are colored (though the colored population of the State is only one- fourth of the white) ; and about ten per cent, are women. The white race CHAEITIES AND CORRECTION. 475 predominates in the jail, while a large majority of the penitentiary convicts and of the female inmates of all the prisons are colored. Among these prisoners are always a number of minors, who have been committed to these institutions because they were deemed unsuitable for the juvenile reformatories, or because the reformatories were too full to receive them. All these prisons are under capable and progressive management. The management of the Penitentiary especially, receives very high praise from recognized authorities upon the subject of penology. Indus- try everywhere prevails, cruelty or neglect is not tolerated, and all gross abuses have been removed. Except at the House of Correction, the women are confined in buildings by themselves. Moral and religious influences are brought to bear upon the prisoners, and the officers in charge make reformation the object of their efforts. In the way of economic management little more could be asked, for the total expense per capita for the last year was but $114.22 for the Jail, $105 for the House of Correction, and $119.08 for the Penitentiary, and a large part of this expense was met by the work of the inmates. Although an abund- ance of good nourishing food is given, the average daily cost for food is reported at seven and two- third cents for the Jail, five and one-fourth cents for the House of Correction and seven and one-fourth cents for the Penitentiary. The Jail of Baltimore City is an imposing stone building lying to the east of Jones' Falls. From ten to eleven thousand men and women are committed to this institution each year; about three-fourths of them are imprisoned for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. The average daily population for the year 1891 was four .hundred and ninety-seven ; for the year 1892, four hundred and sixty-seven. This decrease is assigned by the Warden to the action of a new law respecting the "drunk and disorderly" cases which commits them, in default of the payment of fine, for only seven days for the first offence, with an increasing term for subsequent commitments within a period of sixty days. Since 1889, one hundred of the prisoners have been employed under contract in a basket factory, while the others are utilized to a large extent in making repairs and doing the routine work of the institution. The House of Correction is a State prison for short-term offenders where the idleness of the county jails is replaced by hard work. The recognized need of such a prison led to an appropriation in 1874, of $250,000 for its establishment, and the institution was opened at Jessup's, Anne Arundel county, in 1879. The average population of the prison is about two hundred and seventy-five. The brevity of the terms of imprisonment interferes with the best results from the labor of the convicts, but an income of about $9,000 from contract work is reported for last year. Chair-caning and covering demijohns are the present 476 MARYLAND. employments, but it is expected that more important industries will soon be introduced. The Maryland Penitentiary is the State prison for long-term offenders. It is located in the heart of the city, adjoining the Baltimore Jail. Little of it can be seen from the street except a high wall with pavilions for watchmen. Within we find a well-organized industrial establishment, in which each inmate is assigned a place suited to his strength and capacity. Out of an average population of 652 about eighty are assigned to the various tasks which the maintenance of so large an institution requires, while an average of 569 are employed by contractors. In order to suit the varying capacity of the different convicts three lines of manufacturing are conducted within the prison walls, comprising a hollow- ware foundry, marble works and a boot and shoe manufactory. The prisoners remain under the supervision of the warden, and the best discipline prevails. The proceeds from the contract labor amounted last year to over seventy-nine thousand dollars, and more than paid the entire expense of maintaining the prison. After the regular day's labor of eight hours has been completed an opportunity is given for over-time work, and the earnings are placed to the credit of the prisoner. The amount thus gained by the prisoners during the year ending November 30, 1892, was $10,208.51. Prisoners may draw upon their earnings for the support of families outside or may allow the account to accumulate till they are discharged. The Bertillon system of measurements for the identification of criminals has been recently introduced. COUNTY JAILS. It may be doubted whether the county jails should be treated under the heading of '' Reformation of Delinquents," for it must be acknowl- edged that but few criminals are freed from their evil purposes by confinement in the jails. Yet the county jails have felt the wave of reform, and none of the gross abuses which were common fifteen years ago are now tolerated. The sexes are completely separated, the insane are removed to asylums, and children are sent to reformatories. Each of the twenty-three counties has a jail located at the county seat. The aggregate cost of these jails as reported for the World's Fair charts was $351,968. The aggregate average number of inmates was reported at 249. The jails at Cumberland, Easton, Frederick and Elkton, may be mentioned as especially well constructed and managed. The management of the jails is vested in the sheriffs of the respective counties, though in about one-half the counties the sheriff appoints a warden to have immediate control of the building and prisoners. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 477 AID FOE PRISONERS. As stated at the opening of the chapter, a large share of the advance- ment which Maryland has made in penal and reformatory methods has been due to the influence of the Maryland Prisoners' Aid Association, a private association supported by annual subscriptions, but recognized by law and given full powers of visitation in respect to all the penal institutions of the State. But, while much is done in behalf of prison reform, the work of the association is primarily with the prisoner rather than with the prison. Its objects are concisely stated in a circular as follows : " To afford prisoners moral and religious instruction. " To furnish them with Bibles and other elevating literature. " To teach the illiterate how to read and write. " To furnish discharged prisoners with necessary clothing and tools, and, when possible, with employment. " To send those living out of the city to their homes. " To visit the sick or impoverished families of prisoners and to supply their immediate needs." The agent of the Association, an ordained minister, is constantly engaged in this work of reclamation. One or more of the prisons is visited every day for personal interviews with prisoners, and religious services are conducted every Sunday. Frequent visits are made to the reformatories also, and to the county jails and almshouses. But it is at the critical time when a man regains his freedom that the friendly help of the Prisoners' Aid Association is most needed. The acquaintance which has been gained during the term of imprisonment gives mutual confidence, and very many ex-convicts have thus been started in an honest course, which they have followed for the remainder of their lives. THE PREVENTION OF VICE AND CRIME. Another chapter has described the chief factor in the suppression of evil through the cultivation of higher motives — the Christian Church. The Police Department also, which may be regarded as the chief out- ward factor in the prevention of crime, does not come within the scope of this chapter, and the work of the Society for the Protection of Children, of the orphanages, and of the reformatories and prisons, which aim to be preventive as well as curative, is spoken of elsewhere, yet a few other societies remain for our consideration under this head. The Society for the Suppression of Vice of Baltimore City has been actively at work since 1888 in securing better laws for the promo- tion of the moral well-being of the community, and especially in gaining the enforcement of existing laws respecting the liquor traffic, gambling, and indecent writings and pictures. 478 MARYLAND. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union in Maryland is carry- ing on the same warfare with social evils, which characterizes its activity in other States and countries. The State building, costing about $30,000, is located at No. 8 South Gay street, where a free kindergarten, mothers' meetings, and other lines of social work are carried on. A branch of this organization, known as the Memorial Union for Preventive and Rescue WorTc, was formed in 1890 for the protection of homeless girls. Such girls are provided with a temporary home, and employment is found for them. In pursuit of the rescue work members of the Union visit the railway stations, police stations and the city jail, and a com- mittee is appointed for visiting the homes of the very poor in the interests of destitute children. The temporary Home for Immigrant Girls, recently opened at Locust Point by the Methodist deaconesses, should be mentioned here, as well as the work of the Daughters in Israel, already described. The Hebrew Friendly Inn, on East Lombard street, also provides a free temporary home for large numbers of immigrants, both men and women, and the Port Mission Home for Seamen, opened in 1892 on Thames street, offers religious surroundings to sailors while in port. The Home is supported in part by charity, though the payment of board is expected. Several other religious societies are combating the evil influences of the city by purely religious work combined with more concrete forms of charity. The Baltimore Female City Mission has been actively at work since 1865. Five agents are employed who visit destitute homes, distribute food and clothing, and secure employment for some who are out of work. The annual report speaks of closing five saloons and houses of ill-fame. The Rescue Association of Baltimore City, formerly known as the Free Sunday Breakfast Association, is continuing the work among home- less men, which was begun by its president, Mr. Blackburn, in 1890. During the winter coffee was served every evening in the chapel of the old Associate Beformed Church, on Fayette street. Following this refreshment was a religious meeting, with an average attendance of about one hundred destitute men, and during the cold weather large numbers took advantage of the privilege granted them of sleeping upon the bare floor of the hall. In order to keep the converts under helpful influence, Bescue Home was opened for their accommodation at No. 109 Marsh Market Space. The inmates of this Home, from thirty to forty in number, either pay their board or obtain tickets which are paid for by others. Plans have been formed for moving the mission work to Market Space, and introducing an industrial feature as a help toward the redemp- CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 479 tion of those who are looking upward, and also as a work test for trying the motives of applicants for relief. A building has been leased (June, 1893,) for this purpose at the corner of Market Space and Hawk street. An organization has been formed recently for maintaining an Industrial Rome for Women, with a view to placing vagrants in the way of self-support. The home has been opened at No. 706 West Lombard street. Important factors in lessening the influences of saloons are the numerous Free Reading Rooms and Club Rooms conducted by religious societies. Seven of these are supported by the Young Men's Christian Association. Among the others mention may be made of Hope Institute, already spoken of, the People's Institute, managed by the Memorial Presbyterian Church; the Port Mission Reading Room for sailors, at 815 south Broadway; another reading room, similar in purpose, recently opened on Aliceanna street, by the Seamen's Union Bethel Society; the Newsboys' and Bootblacks' Club Rooms at No. 218 East Baltimore street, and Emmanuel House, recently opened, (April 4, 1893), on Calvert street, where, in connection with the free reading rooms, meals and lodgings are furnished at a low rate. The most recent movement for the improvement of social conditions in Baltimore resulted in the organization, on the 19th of June, 1893, of The Union for Public Good, having for its purpose " to promote the good government, health and prosperity of the City of Baltimore, to secure useful and prevent injurious legislation affecting its interests, to correct public scandals, grievances and abuses, to restrain all forms of vice and immorality, and to encourage the co-operation of individuals and existing societies aiming to advance these ends." It is organized as a union of societies, and every congregation or society having for its object the moral or social improvement of the community, is invited to become affiliated to the Union, and to be represented at its meetings. THE MANAGEMENT OF TRAMPS AND BEGGARS. Short-sighted generosity has interfered somewhat with the successful treatment of these social parasites, though stringent laws have been passed for the suppression of vagrancy. However, begging in public places is now confined for the most part to the blind or crippled who offer pencils or matches for sale, or present some other form of exchange. Tramps in large numbers spend the winter months in the city alms- houses, where about one-fourth the inmates are people who, according to their own report, had lived in Baltimore less than six months. At the station houses of the police department 20,611 free lodgings were given to tramps in 1892 ; and throughout the State, but especially in the northern counties, many of these vagrants find free accommodations at the alms- 480 MARYLAND. houses and jails. During the past winter, however, this evil has been greatly relieved in Carroll, Frederick, and some other counties by requiring all tramps to earn their maintenance by working on the roads. "Within the city the Free Sunday Breakfast Association, as already stated, has been trying to restore this class of men to useful lives through charity and religious conversion, while the Friendly Inn, on South Sharp street, aims to remove the necessity of free lodgings, with their pauper- izing tendencies, by granting meals and lodgings in return for work in a wood yard. Fifteen cents in cash, or an order from some subscriber who pays the bill, is accepted in place of the labor. During the last fiscal year 18,669 lodgings were furnished, of which 10,235 were worked out. Though contrary to the designs of the institution, some forty or fifty men have hitherto made this their home for the winter. The others usually remain but a few days, and in the summer the building is nearly empty. A laundry and free shower baths secure outward cleanliness for the inmates, and religious meetings are held for their spiritual regenera- tion. The management of the institution has been improving for some time, and it seems destined to become the chief factor in the solution of the tramp question for the city. THE RELIEF OF WANT AND PREVENTION OF PAUPERISM. The idle and shiftless pauper, who has given up all effort toward self-support, and is watchful only for largesses, is everywhere recognized as a menace to the welfare of society. If he does not himself fall into dissipation and crime, his children are pretty sure to do so, and the total effect of his life is to place a brake upon social progress. It is not with- out justification, then, that the prevention of pauperism is made co-ordinate with the relief of immediate distress as a leading object of charitable effort. The rendering of aid to the needy may be prompted simply by the spirit of humanity, but it is ultimately justified by its effect in giving strength and courage for renewed effort and higher attainment. The problem of pure relief, however, is made difficult by the fact that alms, when carelessly given, do not always strengthen the recipient, but are quite as likely to weaken his moral nature and induce him to exchange self-help for parasitism. This difficulty is now recognized to some extent by all the relief- giving societies of Maryland, and, while many distributing agencies are doubtless too careless in their methods, all are at least striving to prevent pauperism by giving the aid that will be truly helpful. A leading motive in much of the work already described is the prevention of pauperism. This is especially true of the Electric Sewing Machine Rooms, and the other educational charities. The charities which remain to be treated under this heading fall, for the most part CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 481 into three groups, having for their main purpose respectively, the secur- ing of work for the unemployed, the encouragement of provident habits, and the granting of needed relief. This classification leaves the Charity Organization Society for treatment by it self. In the first group belongs the Women's Industrial Exchange, on Charles street, where any needy woman may enter her work for sale, subject to the rules of the Exchange. A large business is done in all kinds of sewing, but the most lucrative branch of work is the cooking. A lunch room is connected with the exchange, from which the receipts amounted last year to $6,489, while the receipts in the store exceeded nineteen thousand dollars. The Decorative Art Society offers similar advantages for the sale of meritorious work in the line of painting, designing, and embroidery. Instruction is given in these branches of art, and a number of free scholar- ships are granted. Among the important helps in the prevention of pauperism are the Employment Bureaus. The private bureaus, which are managed for profit, deal successfully with applicants who are efficient and have good recommendations, but the indigent, the inefficient, and the wayward need more personal attention than the commercial bureaus find profit- able to bestow, and, as a result, many fees are paid in vain by those who are most in need. Only charitable effort can meet this difficulty fully, and a large number of the societies described in this chapter devote some attention to finding employment for their beneficiaries. This feature has been recently introduced by the " Poor Association," and the Electric Sewing Machine Rooms. The German Society, the Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association have regular employment bureaus, the last-named society charging fifty cents to employers only. But the chief agency for finding employment for the needy is the Charity Organization Society, whose work will be considered later. Among the agencies for encouraging provident habits among the poor, mention should be made of the Thomas Wilson Fuel-Saving Society, an endowed charity, having for its object: "To encourage those who have but little money, to lay by small sums during the summer for the purchase of coal in the winter at reduced rates, and to aid women in the purchase of sewing machines upon easy terms of payment." Payments of any amount above five cents are accepted from eligible applicants, and when full payment has been made for coal it will be delivered in loads of one-quarter ton or more, at the rate of five dollars a ton. Sewing machines are delivered before full payment has been made, but are subject to recall. 31 482 MARYLAND. The Provident Savings Bank, though organized upon a paying basis, was started by charitable people and designed to better the condition of the poor. The stamp-card system is in use, through which deposits may be made in amounts as low as five cents. In order to extend the benefits of the institution, some fifty agencies for the sale of the deposit stamps have been established, mostly at drug stores; and eleven branch offices, nine in the city, one at Sparrow's Point, and one in Cecil county, are opened at least once a week for withdrawals and the reception of the larger deposits. At the Central Office, on the corner of Howard and Franklin streets, a regular savings bank business is done. Public Outdoor Relief is confined in Baltimore to an appropriation of $1,000 for the transportation of indigent people to their homes or friends in other places. Only about three-fourths of this appropriation was expended last year. Outside of the city, however, an extensive system of outdoor relief prevails in the form of Pensions from the County Treasuries. The rule, in some of the counties at least, is to grant a pension to anyone who gets five freeholders to certify that he is not able fully to support himself by his own efforts. According to the reports received from county officers nearly 2,800 people are receiving these pensions, varying much in amount, but averaging $17.20 each. Allegany county alone grants no pensions. Aside from the free transportation, the nearest approach to public out-door relief in Baltimore is found in the private contributions dis- tributed to the poor through the Police Department. Two-thirds (in value) of the contributions are in cash, but all are distributed in the form of provisions, fuel and clothing, or of orders upon the dealers in those supplies. The supplies are dealt out at the police stations on the orders of the patrolmen, the guaranty against harmful subsidies being the personal acquaintance of the patrolmen with the poor people upon their respective beats. During the year 1892, distributions were made in this way to the amount of $4,516. But during the brief period from January 1 to March 3, 1893, no less than $16,297 was given out through this agency. The exceptionally severe weather of the past winter interrupted many of the industries, especially the oyster dredging, which usually employ thousands of men during the winter months. Destitute men flocked to the city in great numbers, and the resulting distress called forth an unprecedented wave of charity. In addition to the relief given through the Police Department and extra work done by all the relief- giving societies of the city, eight or nine stations were opened for serving free soup to the hungry poor. For this purpose the Winter Relief Association was organized. Eight two-barrel soup caldrons were pur- CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 483 chased and located at five stations, where, within the month from January 16 to February 16, nearly 25,000 gallons of soup were made with a total cost of $1,316. The soup was served once a day, and during a part of the month as many as 6,000 persons were supplied. The number of applicants was reduced by instituting an investigation of each case, and gradually fell away to one hundred and sixty-five on the 16th of February, when the distribution ceased. Returning from this special flood of relief to the permanent stream of charitable effort, we find in Baltimore as many as twenty societies which, in addition to the church charities, are supplying poor people with food, fuel and clothing by an annual expenditure of about eighty thousand dollars. Of these societies the leading one is the Baltimore Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor, whose origin and purpose have already been described. The chief work of this association is, at present, the direct relief of the poor by supplying them with fuel and groceries. Of the $18,600 thus expended during the last fiscal year, about $7,400 was spent for fuel, distributed in the winter only, $6,300 for groceries provisions, etc., and $4,900 for operating expenses. The association is .supported chiefly and managed by annual subscribers under a thorough organization. For the better administration of the charity the city is divided into four districts, in each of which is an office of the association and a paid agent, who investigates all cases of want reported within his district, and attends to the distribution of the relief. The agents become acquainted with the recipients of their charity, and thus not only avoid much wasteful and harmful giving, but also, to some extent, uplift the poor by their personal influence. In order to increase this element of personal contact, a system of friendly visiting like that of the Charity Organization Society was introduced last year; or, rather revived, for in former years the entire work since intrusted to paid agents was done by volunteer visitors. The visitors for each district are appointed by the President. The new system proved especially successful in the northeastern district, where about twenty visitors, mostly women, are at work, each having about a dozen families assigned to her care. As in the German system of poor relief, all the families of a given locality are assigned to one visitor. The other relief-giving societies must be passed with but few' words concerning each. Nearly all of the first group are religious societies and many are denominational, though their charity usually extends beyond the bounds of the denomination which supports them. A second group of societies observe the lines of nationality and grant relief to those who are bound by the ties of a common fatherland or a common ancestry. i 484 MARYLAND. The Young Catholics' Friend Society assists several hundred Catholic children with clothing and instruction, and manages the Dolan Children's Aid Asylum. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, of Baltimore, is a branch of a general Roman Catholic organization having its centre in Paris. The primary object of the society, as stated by its president, is the sanctifi- cation of its members through sympathetic work in behalf of the needy. Thirteen conferences of the society are connected with the Catholic churches of the city, and are actively engaged in visiting and relieving the poor, and extending the influence of religion over the lives of the destitute and wayward. One conference is located at Cumberland, Md., and under the central council of Baltimore are thirty-three other confer- ences located at Washington and in the other South Atlantic States. The Ladies' Special Belief Association of South Baltimore is doing an important work in its locality. The poor are visited and given general relief. The Order of the King's Daughters has over one hundred circles in Baltimore and the counties, and nearly all are engaged in some charitable work. The Friends' Lombard Street Benevolent Society, an incorporated society connected with the Park Avenue Meeting, has a visiting committee of twenty members who work among the poor, giving clothing and other relief which the Society supplies. Many similar societies are connected with the different churches in Baltimore and all parts of the State. The Society for the Belief of Widows and Orphans of Seamen, organized in 1827 and incorporated in 1893, is connected with the Sea- men's Union Bethel. Twenty-five or thirty needy widows of seamen are pensioned during the winter months. The Charitable Marine Society, incorporated in 1796, pensions needy widows and orphans of deceased members, and relieves members who have suffered from shipwreck or otherwise. The Beneficial Association of the Maryland Line grants relief to ex-Confederate soldiers, according to the discretion of the visiting committee. The funds for this purpose are derived principally from annuities purchased with the proceeds of " The Confederate Bazaar," held some ten or twelve years ago.* Many other beneficial societies grant relief to members and their families. Intermediate between the religious and the national societies are the Hebrew organizations. *The fund derived from this bazaar, amounting- at the time to $31,000, is administered by the Army and Navy Soc, ' 1 the C. S. A., in the State of Maryland. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 485 The Hebrew Benevolent Society has a membership of seven or eight hundred annual subscribers, and during the last year expended $2L,411 in various forms of relief for the poor. The city is divided into six districts, in each of which are three managers who investigate the appli- cations from their respective neighborhoods. A banquet is held every year at which large sums are contributed, in addition to the regular membership dues. The Hebrew Ladies' Sewing Society is associated with the preceding organization, though under entirely distinct management. Clothing, shoes, and provisions are given in large quantities. Since July, 1890, over eighteen thousand dollars have been expended by the Baltimore committee of the Baron de Hirsch Fund for the relief of Hebrew immigrants. The report of this committee for the ten months from July, 1892, to May, 1893, is as follows : 32 Taught trades and established in business $ 631 50 11 Supplied with tools 160 46 40 Supplied with furniture and goods 533 06 389 Transported 2,379 32 To the English night schools 970 00 Agent's salary, sundries, and office expenses 681 84 Total - $5,356 18 The German Society of Maryland is the most distinctively chari- table as well as the largest of the national societies. Over five thousand dollars are annually expended in the relief of the poor, and an experienced agent is employed to administer the charity and investigate all applica- tions for aid. Relief is given chiefly in the form of money, medical treatment, or employment. Work was found for three hundred and thirty-three persons during the last year. The founders of St. Andrew's Society, which was organized in 1806, expressed the motive of the organization in the following language* : " When people fall into misfortune in any part of the world, remote from the place of their nativity, it is natural for them to make their distress known to those originally from the same country ; the presump- tion in this case is, that the love of the native soil, which is inseparable from every human breast, will make their countrymen more ready than others to administer to their relief, and that possibly some maybe found among them with whom they are connected by blood, or who know something of their relatives. " For these reasons the natives of Scotland and those descended of Scotch parentage, in the city of Baltimore, have formed themselves into a charitable society, the principal design of which is to raise and keep a sum of money in readiness for the above benevolent purpose." * Report of St. Andrew's Society for 1892. 486 MARYLAND. The same motive, together with, the desire to promote social inter- course, led to the formation of St. George's Society of Baltimore, for the relief of indigent natives of England, Wales and the British colonies; the Hibernian Society of Baltimore, for the assistance of emigrants from Ireland; and the Societe Francaise de Bienfaisance de Baltimore, for the relief of needy French people who may be in the city. St. Andrew's Society has permanent investments valued at $35,616, and the Hibernian Society, which was founded as early as 1803, has charge of a fund of $25,000, bequeathed by John Oliver in 1826 for the support of a free school. The fund is used in maintaining an evening school for boys. The long list of independent charities working in the same field, each with but partial regard to the work of the others, suggested the need of a central organizing bureau where the work of the different societies might be recorded, duplications and deficiencies revealed, and the efficacy of all increased. Such was the leading motive in the estab- lishment, twelve years ago, of the Charity Organization Society ; but, like the associations bearing the same name in other cities, the Charity Organization Society of Baltimore has developed many lines of beneficent activity in addition to the work of co-ordinating charities. Under the head of "objects" we find the following statement in the last annual report : The specific objects arid methods of the Charity Organization Society shall include: 1. The promotion of cordial co-operation between the municipal authorities, benevo- lent societies, churches and individuals, thus effectually checking the evils of overlapping of relief caused by simultaneous but independent action. 2. Such a system of visiting and inquiry as shall insure an accurate knowledge of the condition of each applicant for relief. 3. A careful system of registration that shall make the results of these inquiries available to all. 4. The application of correctional influences to all able but unwilling to work ; the placing of all unable to work in institutions or homes ; and the counteraction of hereditary pauperism by wholesome educational influences for the young. 5. The prevention of imposture by duplication or otherwise, and the exposure of habitual beggars and frauds. 6. Employment or other suitable relief for all deserving applicants. 7. The organization of a body of friendly visitors, who shall, by faithful personal interest and sympathy, gradually build up habits of industry, saving, and self-control among the less fortunate, thus preserving and elevating the home. 8. The provision of temporary employment as a work-test, and the promotion of industrial education. 9. The collection and diffusion of knowledge on all subjects connected with the administration of charity, and the maintenance of a free library of information on these subjects. The equipment for the accomplishment of these objects consists in ( 1) a central office, where the general secretary and several assistants are engaged in the general management of the society, keeping complete records of all the cases helped by the society or reported from other societies, and attending to transient applicants for relief ; and (2) seven CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 487 branch offices, each, of which is a centre of organized personal work in behalf of the poor within its district. In each district is a paid agent, who may be found at the district office for consultation during certain hours, but who spends rnost of the day in investigating new cases, visiting old ones and doing whatever he can to secure the true welfare of the poor. As assistants to the agents there are in all two hundred and forty-three volunteer visitors, to each of whom is assigned at least one needy family for his continued personal care. The visitors of each district meet weekly for discussing the varied questions which arise, and deciding what action should be taken in individual cases. This board of visitors, especially its chairman and case committee, oversees the work of the agent as well as that of the volunteers. Realizing that careless almsgiving does no more than mollify, and often even aggravates the evil which it aims to relieve, the Charity Organization Society asks the co-operation of all charitable people, so that, after careful investigation, the relief may be made efficient and adequate. The causes and conditions of distress are found to be so variable that the form of relief best adapted to the conditions must be separately decided for each case. Any pressing want, such as the lack of food, is at once relieved on the first visit of the agent, and then the more difficult task of removing the cause of the distress is undertaken. In many cases employment is all that is needed, but more often some weakness in the character, perhaps merely laziness, has to be contended with. Others need industrial training, hospital treatment, legal advice, or sometimes simply encouragement and sympathy. For supplying the most of these and countless other needs the personal, active friendship of the agent and the visitor is the main reliance.* The Charity Organization Society does not aim to give direct relief in money or commodities, but a small fund is provided for emergencies, loans and other cases. When continued financial aid is thought advisable it is obtained by interesting some charitable individual, church, or society in the case. Something of the scope of the Society's work, as well as its recent increase, is indicated by the following statistics : Six months Twelve mouths Ending April 1, 1893. Ending Nov. 1, 1893. Total applications 7,164 7,769 Aid procured for ...2,260 2,004 Employment found for 1,055 1,047 Loans made to 47 56 Transportation obtained for 51 77 Placed in institutions 76 125 Impostors exposed 175 311 False addresses discovered 191 290 Visits made to the homes of the poor by friendly visitors and agents 8,239 10,935 ♦Both men and women act as volunteer visitors. All but one of the agents are women. 488 MARYLAND. A new quarterly publication — the Charities Record — -is published by the Society as an exponent of the charitable work uf Baltimore.* Among the relief-giving societies in the counties of Maryland mention may be made of the Charity Organization Society of Cumber- land, which has been established during the past year for the more efficient treatment of dependents and mendicants in that city, and the Charity Society of Annapolis, which is dealing with the same problems at the Capital of the State. MEDICAL AND SANITARY RELIEF. The special medical and sanitary relief for children has already been described. Public activity for the prevention of sickness and disease is chiefly manifested in the Health Department of the city government. The principal lines of work undertaken are : (1) the collection of vital statistics; (2) investigating and abating nuisances dangerous to health; (3) the removal of filth; (4) the inspection of plumbing and drains ; (5) the maintenance of a quarantine station and hospital ; (6) vaccination against small-pox; (7) the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases through isolation and disinfection, and (8) the maintenance of a morgue and two public cemeteries. Through the activity of the Baltimore News, aided by the chemists of Johns Hopkins University, public attention has been called (May, 1893,) to the deficient quality of much of the milk sold in the city, and the Health Department has undertaken the inspection of milk and dairies within the city limits. With this exception the inspection of food products is left to the State Board of Health. This board is doing valuable work throughout the State in exposing unsanitary conditions and suggesting the proper remedies. The inspection of dairies in the suburbs of Baltimore is now being carried on with vigor. A number of charitable societies are also aiming to improve the general health of their beneficiaries rather than to cure diseases. For this purpose the Free Summer Excursion Society was organized in 1875. Picnic grounds are owned at Chesterwood, on the Patapsco river, to which about 15,000 women and children are taken each year upon day excursions. Free bathing privileges and two free meals are supplied. St. Lukeland is the name of a summer sanitarium near Catonsville, owned and managed by the Hospital Relief Association. During the last season seventy-two women and girls were given the advantage of two weeks of needed rest and recuperation. *The first number is for May, 1893. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 489 The Fresh Air Fund of the Young Women's Christian Association assisted one hundred and sixty-nine working girls to a fortnight's vaca- tion in the country, or at the seashore, by paying transportation or board ; and an association of young women, known as the Co-operative Workers, have provided a summer home where self-supporting girls may enjoy a two-weeks' vacation in the mountains at small expense. Vacation Lodge, the new home owned by this Society, was opened at Blue Kidge Summit June 8, 1893. DISPENSARIES AND HOSPITALS. For the treatment of the sick and injured Baltimore is provided with twenty-four hospitals and as many dispensaries, and one hospital is located in Cumberland. The dispensaries are for the most part simply free out-patient departments of the hospitals, and need not be mentioned separately. A number, however, are independent, deriving their support jointly from contributions, small investments, and city appropriations. To this class belong the Baltimore General Dispensary, established in 1801, the Eastern, Northeastern and Southern Dispensaries. The Homceopathic Dispensary, on Greene street, has been one of the most active, but is now (June, 1893,) closed. Perhaps the most progressive of these agencies of relief is the Evening Dispensary for Working Women and Girls, on South Charles street, organized and conducted by women physicians. At nearly all the dispensaries treatment is given free of charge, though, nominally, at least, to those only who are unable to pay. To avoid the pauperizing tendency of free treatment the Johns Hopkins Dispensary and the Evening Dispensary for Women usually make a charge of ten cents for treatment, or, as respects the Evening Dispensary, of twenty-five cents for treatment and prescription. As a rule, treatment is given at the dispensaries only, though a number of the organizations extend their services also to the homes of the indigent sick. Three of these hospitals are under public control — the United States Marine Hospital, supported by the federal government for the care of American seamen ; the Quarantine Hospital, supported by the city at the quarantine station, twelve miles down the bay; and the old quarantine, or Pest Hospital, which occupies a valuable piece of land four miles from the city*. The City Council has appropriated $8,000 for the erection of a steam disinfecting plant at the quarantine station, and also $45,000 ($10,000 for the site), for a more available Hospital for the Treatment of Infectious Diseases. *The medical and surgical department of the Bay View Almshouse constitutes another free hospital under city control. 490 MARYLAND. The otlier hospitals are under private control, though eight of them are aided by the support of two hundred and seventy-five beds at $3.25 :per week on the part of the city, and six of them receive appropriations from the State. Two are special hospitals for lying-in women, and two are for the treatment of the eye, ear, and throat only. All the general hospitals receive both pay and free patients, usually in about equal numbers. To pay patients the charge, including board, medical attendance and nursing, ranges from three to thirty-five dollars per week. Seven of these are connected with the seven medical schools of Baltimore. The Hospital of Baltimore University and the Maryland HomcBopatliic Hospital are explained by their names. The Hospital of the Good Samaritan is connected with the Woman's Medical College, and the Maryland General Hospital with the Baltimore Medical College. The Maryland University Hospital, on Lombard street, was estab- lished in 1823, and has maintained a training school for nurses since 1889. Under the same university is a free lying-in hospital, with a training school for nurses in obstetrics. The City Hospital, on Calvert street, is connected with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, though it is owned and managed by the Sisters of Mercy. One hundred free beds are supported by the city, and they, with about as many others, are always full. Many accident cases are received from the railways and factories, and the dispensary is open day and night for their treatment. Much more might well be said concerning the good work of these hospitals, but a wider interest attaches to the one which we come to next — the Jolms Hopkins Hospital, doubtless, upon the whole, the leading institution of the kind in America. Mr. Henry C. Burdett, in his great work upon the Hospitals and Asylums of the "World,* introduces a detailed description of this institution with the following words : " Seldom, if ever, has a hospital been started on its career of usefulness with such deliberate care, such wise forethought, such self-sacrificing search after the best way, as have been devoted to the institution now to be described." The income from the endowment (the endowment now amounts to about three and one-third millions of dollars) was placed at the disposal of the trustees in 1873, and their activity began at once. Several years were devoted to perfecting the plan, and the utmost care was given to every detail of the construction, so that when the institution was opened in 1889 Dr. J. S. Billings, of the United States Army, who had made a special study of European hospitals, was able to affirm that in regard to construction these were "the best built buildings of their kind in the world.'" The hospital occupies four squares, covering about * London, 1893, vol. IV, page 150. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 491 fourteen acres, upon an elevated site in the eastern part of the city. It is built upon the pavilion system, the complete plan calling for twenty- five buildings, of which nineteen have been completed. The system of ventilating and heating is especially perfect, and something of its mag- nitude is shown by the total length of the piping in the buildings, which is said to be over sixty miles. The heating is done by warm water radiators, through which the incoming air passes, so that the temperature of this air may be regulated at will without changing its volume. A constant flow of fresh air to the amount of about one cubic foot per second for each individual occupying a ward is maintained in all conditions of the weather. The registers are so arranged that the current of air never passes from one bed to another, but directly from each bed to a ventilator located underneath or in a central shaft. An account of the special features of the construction, many of which have been worked out with great care, fills many pages of the large quarto description published by the trustees of the hospital, and constitutes a valuable guide to those who are preparing plans for such buildings. The fifty-eight private rooms for pay patients are nearly always occupied, and the free wards contain an average of about one hundred and twelve patients. The total number under treatment in the hospital last year was 1,970, while the out-patient department prescribed for 41,114 others. The nursing is well organized, with a superintendent, eleven head nurses and forty-four pupils. The training-school for nurses is especially efficient. The instruction extends over a period of two years, and embraces a course of six weeks in the art of cooking. The Johns Hopkins Hospital, though upon an independent foundation, is closely connected with the Johns Hopkins University, and fosters the same spirit of research and maintains the same high standard of attain- ment for which the University is noted. No pains have been spared in securing an able staff of physicians, and the advancement of medical science is an object constantly held in view. The educational work of the hospital will soon be greatly increased by the opening of the Medical School of the Johns Hopkins University, of which it was designed to become a part. The other hospitals of Baltimore are not connected with educational institutions, direct medical relief being the motive for their establish- ment. The largest hospitals of this class are the St. Agnes' Sanitarium, just outside the city to the southwest, where patients suffering from alcoholism, as well as from other complaints, are treated; and St. Joseph's Hospital, on Caroline street. Both are owned and managed by Catholic Sisters, the former by the Sisters of Charity, the latter by the Third Order of the Sisters of St. Francis. 492 MARYLAND. The Hospital for the Women of Maryland was established in 1882 by an association of women, which continues in control with an active membership of thirty-three. Skilled surgeons are in charge, ana" much good work has been done in alleviating the sufferings of women. A free dispensary is connected with the hospital. The Union Protestant Infirmary is also managed by a board of charitable women, and derives its support from investments, board of pay patients, and annual subscriptions. The remaining hospitals supply a home for incurables as well as temporary treatment for acute cases. The Church Home and Infirmary, on Broadway, occupies a commanding position, overlooking the harbor and city. The interior is nicely fitted up with many memorial rooms and beds supported by individual churches of the Protestant Episcopal denomination. Upon the first of February there were seventy-seven inmates, of whom forty -four were supported by the church, twenty-eight were pay patients, and five were free. According to the last printed report forty-four remained in the hospital during the entire year. The Hebrew Hospital and Asylum, situated opposite the Johns Hopkins Hospital, is a well conducted institution reporting, upon the first of January, twenty-two inmates in the Hospital and the same number in the asylum. The Hebrew population of the city are careful to support their own poor, and the asylum department of this institution constitute the Hebrew home for the aged and infirm. At the Home for Incurables, on Twenty-first street, only women who are without hope of recovery are received. It is conducted like a home for the aged, an admission fee of two hundred dollars being charged. The Home and Infirmary of Western Maryland, located at Cumber- land, has nine permanent inmates under the regulations of a home for the aged. The work of the hospital department is increasing. At the time reported ten patients were in the infirmary for treatment. In October, 1892, a new building was opened, toward which the State Legis- lature appropriated $10,000. OTHER RELIEF FOR THE SICK. Several societies have been organized as aids to the work of the hospitals. The Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association, by means of special collections in churches and business places, raises about $2,000 annually for the support of free beds in hospitals. The Hospital Relief Association, of Maryland, carries on a varied work, with the general purpose of making life more agreeable to the unfortunate inmates of the hospitals. The seven standing committees are on books, pictures, visit- ing and delicacies, flowers, first aid to injured, the press, and music, respectively. To the activity of this Association are due the Home for CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 493 Incurables, the Hospital Saturday and Sunday Association, and the St. Lukeland Sanitai'ium. The Hospital Clothing Club is composed of about fifty members who contribute their services and money for supplying needed garments to the indigent sick in hospitals. For work outside of hospitals the Indigent Sick Society was organ- ized, according to the Baltimore Charities Directory, some seventy years ago, and in 1890, four hundred and seven sick persons were relieved, with small sums of money or otherwise. The Hebrew Young Men's Sick Relief Association is explained by its name. Relief is given mainly by gifts and loans. The Mothers' Branch of the Young Women's Christian Association provides assistance, including nursing and medical attendance, for needy women in confinement. Free nursing, outside of institutions, is also done by the sisters of the Convent of Bon Secours, the deaconesses of the Methodist Deaconess Home, a nurse connected with the Evening Dispen- sary for Women, and, during the summer, the nurses employed by the Thomas Wilson Sanitarium, as well as by other agencies less generally known. Outside of Baltimore, and aside from the Home and Infirmary of Western Maryland, the most thoroughly organized association for the relief of the sick, is the Hospital Club, of Annapolis, composed of women, organized under the direction of the Rector of St. Anne's Parish. Bedding, clothing, invalid chairs and other appliances for the sick-room are kept in store, and supplied to those in need, together with medical attendance, nursing, and other forms of relief. HOSPITALS FOR THE INSANE. For the care of the insane, Maryland at present has but one State institution, but public opinion favors State care for the insane, and the crowded condition of the existing institutions, especially of the city asylum, lends an added force which will probably soon result in the building of more State hospitals. Of the 1,816 insane patients reported in the institutions of Maryland on the 30th of June,* 1892, 427 were in the State hospital, 371 in the city hospital (Bayview), 249 in county hospitals, including Montevue and Bellevue, 139 in county almshouses, and 630 in private institutions. Each public patient, even those in the State hospital, is maintained at the expense of the county (or city, in case of Baltimore), from which the patient comes. Many of these county patients are treated in the private asylum at Mount Hope, while others are cared for in the four county institutions which have been granted licenses by the Lunacy * In some oases other more recent dates had to be taken instead of June 30. 494 MARYLAND. Commission permitting them to receive pay patients. The uniform rate paid for public patients is one hundred and fifty dollars per year. General supervision of all institutions which care for the insane is vested in a State Lunacy Commission appointed by the Governor. Every almshouse or hospital in which the insane are kept must be visited at least once every sis months. The commission has full power of examina- tion, and all cases of supposed cruelty, neglect, or unjustifiable detention are investigated and acted upon. A statute requires that every inmate of an asylum have full liberty to correspond with the Lunacy Commis- sion once each month. The annual report of the commission gives a brief account of the condition of each institution, together with statistical tables from the principal hospitals. The Maryland Hospital for the Insane grew out of a general hospital which was founded before the close of the last century, occupying the present site of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. It has been devoted to the care of the insane since 1840, and has occupied the present location, known as Spring Grove, near Catonsville, since 1872. The building is a handsome, well arranged structure of Maryland granite. The eighteen wards permit classification and promotion. Careful attendance takes the place of physical restraint, and employment is given to divert the mind. The last report of the Board of Managers states that " After the contemplated improvements have been completed, for which the last session of the Legislature made appropriations, we doubt if there will be any better equipped institution in the country." Of the four hundred and twenty-seven patients under treatment upon the 31st of October, 1892, twenty-nine were private patients, one hundred and forty-seven were supported by Baltimore City, and two hundred and fifty-one by the various counties. The managers of the hospital are appointed by the State governor, and an annual appropriation on the part of the State supplements the fee of one hundred and fifty dollars a patient paid by the counties and city. The largest of the hospitals for the insane, Mount Hope Retreat, is under private management, being owned and conducted by the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's. The five-story brick building occupies a beautiful eminence five or six miles northwest of Baltimore. The institution is highly praised for its general management, and especially for the care taken to divert the minds of the patients by agreeable employments and amusements. That the Retreat has a national reputation is indicated by the fact that about one-third the inmates come from outside the State. About one-half are public patients committed, for the most part, from Baltimore city. In addition to the insane patients, some ten or twelve persons are usually under treatment for inebriety. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 495 Another notable institution for the insane is the Sheppard Asylum, excepting the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the most costly charitable insti- tution in the State, and unique among American Hospitals for the Insane in being founded and endowed by the charity of one individual. Moses Sheppard organized the board of trustees in 1853, and at his death, in 1857, bequeathed to them his estate, amounting to $567,632. From the income of this fund the asylum has been built at a total expense of over a million dollars, while the endowment itself has increased to $669,154. The founder "expressed the wish that the experiment might be tried to ascertain how much good would result from an unlimited amount of attention to everything that could possibly alleviate the condition of the insane."* The trustees proceeded with care, and it was not till November, 1891, that the hospital was opened for the reception of patients. Fifty- three were treated during the first year, all but two of whom were charged for board in full or in part. Advancement in the treatment of the insane is the central purpose in the management of the institution. As in Mount Hope Retreat, a training-school, with regular lectures and demonstrations, is provided for the instruction of the nurses. Two other private hospitals may be mentioned here as treating the insane, though they are not managed as charities — the Matley Hill Sanitarium, at Relay Station, reporting twenty-four inmates, and the Richard Gundry Home, with seventeen inmates, at Catonsville. Two of the counties support hospitals for the insane, independent of the almshouses in respect to their accounts and superintendency, though managed by the same board of county commissioners. Sylvan Retreat, near Cumberland, reports sixty inmates. In addition to the indigent insane of Allegany county, a number of pay patients are under treatment, and a few inmates are supported by other counties. The Cecil County Insane Asylum is located at Cherry Hill, two and a-half miles from Elkton, and, like Sylvan Retreat, is built upon the county poor farm. Twenty-seven inmates are reported. The Baltimore City Insane Hospital, and two other county hospitals for the insane, are constituent departments of the almshouses, and will be considered in the following section : ALMSHOUSES. In spite of the many lines of effort in their behalf, large numbers of incapable people fall back upon the State for support and find shelter in the public almshouses. The aggregate average number of inmates of these institutions in Maryland, according to the reports received last year, is two thousand one hundred and eleven. 'Announcement of the Sheppard Asylum, 1891. 496 MARYLAND. Of this number, one thousand two hundred and eighty-eight must be assigned to the great city almshouse, known as Baymew Asylum, the largest institution that comes within the scope of this chapter. The buildings and farm have a favorable location just outside the city to the east. The institution is composite in its nature, comprising a large hospital for the insane, a home for the infirm and aged, a hospital for medical and surgical cases, and a shelter for vagrants. Admissions to the almshouse are obtained from the purveyor,* who has an office at the City Hall. Every day brings its allotment of needy and afflicted applicants. During the busy season of the year, medical treatment is most often required, and for this, applicants are assigned to the city beds in the subsidized hospitals as well as to the almshouse; but when the cold weather renders it more difficult to obtain an independent living, great numbers of incompetent and improvident men apply for protection from cold and hunger. The number of inmates is at present increasing from year to year. In 1876 the daily average population in all departments was seven hundred and ninety-three; in 1883, seven hundred and ninety-seven; in 1884, seven hundred and twenty-, in 1885, eight hundred and seventy-three; in 1889, one thousand and sixty- eight; in 1891, one thousand one hundred and forty-one; in 1892, one thousand two hundred and eighty-eight. The largest number ever sheltered in the almshouse at one time was during the past winter. On the 30th of January, 1893, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four inmates were reported, of whom one thousand two hundred and ninety- seven were white men ; three hundred and thirty-two white women ; one hundred and twelve colored men ; ninety-eight colored women, and fifteen were children (imbeciles, epileptics, and infants). Out of this number one thousand five hundred and eighty-one were reported as "under medical treatment," two hundred and sixty-three were employed in the various departments of the household, and ten were boarders. The report for May 8, 1893, shows that the number of white men in the almshouse was 697 less than it was upon the 30th of January, while all the other numbers remained about the same. The regulations of the institution require that all inmates " who may be in a condition to labor shall be kept at some suitable employment." This rule is fairly well enforced in the summer and autumn, but with the present equipment it is not found feasible to give employment to the men who throng the house during the winter months. Of the permanent inmates about 400f are over sixty years of age, and about 375 are insane. During the last year 1,864 medical cases and 1,127 surgical cases were treated in the hospital wards, * People arrested for vagrancy are sometimes committed to the Almshouse lor a definite time, but no means are provided for the prevention of escape. t Estimated by the superintendent. CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 497 wlrile many others were prescribed for in a dispensary connected with the institution. The medical and surgical department is under the control of the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Maryland University, and the medical treatment in the department for the insane is under the management of the Medical School of Johns Hopkins University. It is apparent to the trustees of the poor, as well as to others who have taken an interest in the matter, that the hospital for the treatment of the insane should be entirely distinct from the almshouse in order that the whole system of management may be founded upon different principles in the two institutions. Some change in this direction will doubtless be brought about in the near future, but whether the State or the city will take the initiative is not yet apparent. Meanwhile the department for the insane is being managed as well as the meagre equipment allows. The whole institution is kept in good order, and aside from the lack of work for the winter residents, the management receives quite general praise. The annual cost of maintaining the institution is from seventy-two dollars to eighty dollars per capita. All but three of the twenty-three counties of Maryland have pro- vided County Almshoitses for the care of the indigent, though, as already stated, a much larger number of poor people are given partial support through pensions from the county treasuries. In some counties the poor relief is managed directly by the Board of County Commissioners, while in others Trustees of the Poor are appointed. In all the almshouses good management is stimulated by the regular visits of the Grand Juries, the Lunacy Commission and the Prisoners' Aid Association. Though many features are still subject to improvement, the more gross abuses have been abolished, the sexes have been separated, the rooms are usually kept fairly neat and comfortable, and a State law, which is now well enforced, provides that no capable child over three years of age shall be kept in an almshouse for a longer period than ninety days. A few chronic cases of insanity are sheltered in nearly all the almshouses, but acute cases are taken to hospitals for curative treatment. As previously stated, two of the counties have provided separate institutions for the insane. Two others, while placing the insane under the same management as the paupers, have made special permission for their treatment, and have been licensed by the Lunacy Commission to receive insane persons from other counties for pay. Montevue Hospital, the Frederick County almshouse, is the leading county institution for the insane. The superintendent reports two hundred and twenty-eight inmates, of whom one hundred and twenty- four are insane. Fifty-eight are maintained at the expense of fourteen other counties, and five are detained for the State Penitentiary. 82 498 MARYLAND. The Washington County Almshouse, known as the Bellevue Asylum, returns seventy inmates, of whom thirty-eight are insane. The building is well constructed from a sanitary point of view, and the inmates, as in Montevue Hospital, are kept employed. Among the other almshouses which are especially well constructed and managed, mention may he made of those of Cecil, Harford, Talbot and Baltimore counties. In Kent county the large county farm of 300 acres is placed under separate management, so that the superintendent of the almshouse may give his entire attention to the buildings and inmates. HOMES FOR THE AGED. It is generally thought that shelters for paupers and tramps may be made too inviting, especially by the absence of compulsory labor, but all are glad to see the aged and infirm passing their last years amid the comforts of a pleasant home, though ill-fortune may have deprived them of property and of supporting relatives. For such people ten homes are provided by private charity, aided in many cases by public appropriations. Two of the homes included in this number have no age limit, and will, therefore, receive our attention first. The Maryland Line Confederate Soldiers' Home occupies a beautiful site at Pikesville, Baltimore county. The building was formerly a United States arsenal, donated by the federal government to the State, and by the State to the Association of the Maryland Line for the purpose of a home for needy, infii-m ex-Confederate soldiers. The inmates number seventy-five. Eleven aged women are given unusually pleasant surroundings in the Nome/or Confederate Widows and Mothers, on St. Paul street. In respect to the number provided for, the leading home for the aged of Maryland is that supported by the Little Sisters of the Poor, on Preston and Valley streets. It is a strictly charitable institution. Only those are received who are indigent, worthy and over sixty years of age, and no admission fee is required. The large buildings, accommodating three hundred inmates, are always full and applications are made some time in advance of admission. The rooms are kept in the best order and all the surroundings are comfortable. The support of the home is derived largely from the donation of supplies by dealers and others, from whom the sisters solicit help. The Little Sisters of the Poor were organized in France, about the year 1840. The Mother House, where all the sisters have resided for their novitiate, is at St. Servan, in Lower Brittany. Over four thousand CHARITIES AND CORRECTION. 499 sisters have been sent out to care for the aged poor in all parts of the world. The community in Baltimore numbers seventeen. The other Maryland homes for the aged are under Protestant manage- ment. All are well conducted and provide many of the advantages of family life. As a rule, each inmate has a room by himself. Only agreeable people sixty years or more of age are received, and an admis- sion fee is required, varying, in respect to the homes for white people, from three hundred dollars to one hundred and fifty dollars, according to the age of the applicant.* The homes for colored people receive a uniform fee of one hundred dollars. It is usually required also that any pension or further property belonging to the inmate, or falling to him, shall be given up to the home. Tn many cases the fees are paid by churches or friends of the applicants. The oldest institution of this kind is the Aged Women's Home, on west Lexington street. It is managed by the Baltimore Humane Impar- tial Society, which was organized for the care of widows and orphans, in 1802, though the home was not established till 1850.f In 1864, the building was enlarged, and the Aged Men's Home was opened by the same society. The Home of the Aged of the Methodist Episcopal Church, on Fulton avenue, provides a pleasant home for fifty-five inmates, all but five of whom are women. It was founded in 1867. The Allgemeine Deutsche Oreisenheimat occupies a fine, well-kept building on West Baltimore street. Both men and women are received, and one married couple is provided for. The Shelter for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, on west Biddle street, is managed by an association of white subscribers. Thirty-two colored women occupy the home. The Aged Men and Women's Home provides a comfortable shelter for fifteen colored people in South Baltimore. The management was reorganized last year and placed in the hands of the nine Colored Methodist Churches of Baltimore. Each church supports the home for one month at a time. The youngest and one of the most carefully organized of the Maryland institutions of this class is the Home for the Aged, opened at Frederick October 26, 1892. All fees and donations in sums exceeding one hundred dollars are added to the endowment fund, but inmates have for their own use the interest of all money donated by them in excess of their admission fees. Thus we have followed the wards of the public from the foundling hospital and the orphanage, through the many variations of dependency * The Lexington street homes make an extra charge for admissions from outside the city. t Baltimore Directory of Charities. 500 MARYLAND. and delinquency, to the institutions and homes which provide a shelter for their declining years, but charity has not completed its work even when death releases the soul from want. Something of the ancient fear of remaining unturned seems to survive in the modern aversion to the potter's field. This general sentiment causes many a hard-earned dollar to be stored away, but more often causes a debt to be contracted, which results in financial distress, or even pauperism, for the surviving widow or mother. Nearly all the charitable institutions make provision for the burial of inmates, private charity often supplies the bereaved with the needed funds, and the Hebrew Free Burial Association relieves the Jewish population from this form of distress. In a few cases where friends of a deceased person can only pay for a grave, the city gives free burial in any cemetery, yet each year from five to six hundred bodies are buried by the Health Department in the two public cemeteries — one upon the eastern and one upon the western outskirts of the city. A wooden slab marks the grave, and a carefully kept record preserves its identity. But while the relationship of Charity to the individual ends with this sad picture, let it not be imagined that her beneficiaries usually remain dependent to the end. At each stage of the earlier development children, men and women are being rescued from destitution and degra- dation, and restored to the ranks of happy, useful, independent life. Many preventive measures are still to be inaugurated, and better organiza- tion will render the curative work more effective ; but in the great fund of charitable effort and purpose, the manifestations of which have been partly portrayed in this chapter, lies the promise of indefinite social improvement. INDEX Pages . Academy of Sciences 428 Agricultural Colleges 428 Agriculture 154 Alleghany Mountains 17 Almshouses 495 Annapolis 7, 8, 9, 47, 356, 366, 441 Annapolis & Baltimore Short Line R. R. .321 Antimony 148 Appalachian Region 11, 12 Topography 16 AVater Power 53 Geology .67 Ark and Dove 2 Asbestos 147 Assembly 3, 5, 381 A valon 1 Baltimore 7, 314, 360 Defence of 9, 10 Industries 340 Water Supply 47 Climate 35, 164,220 Trade 313, 317, 321 Population 434 Baltimore & Lehigh R. R 321 Baltimore, Lords, see Calvert. Baltimore Medical College 425 Baltimore & Ohio R. R 10, 320, 353 Baltimore & Potomac R. R 321 Banking 342 Baptist Church 401 Barley 162 Battle Monument 10 Bay Mackerel 251 Belair 358 Bladensburg, Battle of 9 Blue Ridge 17 Botany 218 Boundaries 1 Boy's and Girl's Homes 462 Brass Founding 347 Brick 75, 143, 348, 353 Brunswick 355 Buckwheat 162 Pages. Calvert, Cecilius 1 Calvert, Charles 5, 6, 7 Calvert, Frederick 7 Calvert, George 1 Calvert, Leonard 2,3 Calvert, Philip 5 Cambridge 356, 375 Canning Industry 175, 178, 259, 308, 343 Canton 350 Catoctin Mountains 17 Catonsville 48,377 Cattle 180,216 Cement 139 Cemeteries 409 Centreville 48 Cereals 162 Charcoal Club . - 430 Charities and Correction 448 Charitable Associations 483, 492 Charter 1 Chesapeake Bay 14, 265 Chestertown 48,357,377 Children's Asylums 449 Children's Hospitals 464 Chrome 120 Churches and Religious Institutions. 393 Cities and Public Buildings 359 Clay 75, 143, 145, 353 Climate 18, 164,220 Clubs 365- Coal 91,352 Coastal Plain 12, 13 Geology 73 College of Dental Surgery 426 College of Pharmacy 426 College of Physicians and Surgeons 425 Commerce and Transportation 313 Commercial Organizations 351 Convention 8 Cotton Duck 349, 351 Council of Safety 8 Crabs : 255 Crisfield : 307, 308,358 Cumberland 49, 332, 352, 369, 441 502 INDEX. Tages. Curtis' Bay 350 Dairy Farming 179 Declaration of Independence 9 Diatornaceous Earth 81, 91, 148, 201 Dispensaries 425,489 District of Columbia 9 Drainage 14, 16, 18 Ducks, Wild 235 Eastern Shore 14 Farming 160 Soils 192,210 Trade 336 Population 436, 440 Easton 49, 356, 376 Education ...... 411 Educational Charities 466 Elkton 357, 377 Ellicott City 127, 358 Enoch Pratt Free Library 429 Fertilizers 345 Finance 383 Firebrick 144, 353 Fish and Fisheries 239 Flag and Seal ...391 Flint 146 Flora 218 Flour Mills 345 Forests 221 Fort McHenry 9 Fossils 75,77,79,81 Frederick City 7, 49, 355, 374, 441 Free Schools 7 Friends 400 Frostburg 49, 375 Fruits 171, 176, 177, 178 Furniture 346 Geological History 85 Geology 55 German Churches 400 Glass-sand 147, 149 Gneiss 128 Gold 122 Government 25, 380 Granite 124 Graphite 148 Hagerstown 49, 334, 354, 372, 441 Havre de Grace 49, 356, 375 Historical Sketch 1 Pages. Hogs 217 Homes for the Aged 498 Horses 213 Hospitals 489, 493 Immigrants 433, 444 Indians 3, 5 Infusorial Earth 81, 91, 148, 201 Insane Asylums , 493 Iron Industry 100, 344 Jews 401 Johns Hopkins University 415 Kent Island 2,3 Key, Francis Scott 10 Land Animals 235 Latrobe, B. H 247 Lead 147 Limestone 134 Live Stock 212 Loyola College 420 Lumber 346, 352 Manganese 148 Manufactures 339 Marble 134, 137 Market Gardening 172 Marl 149 Maryland Historical Society 428 Maryland Institute 427 Maryland Line 9 Maryland Seal and Flag 4, 391 Maryland Steel Company 110 Mason and Dixon's Line 8 Mechanicstown 50 Medical and Chirurgical Faculty 424 Medical and Sanitary Relief 488 Medical Climatology 40 Menhaden 247 Methodist Church 397 Mica 148 Mineral Waters 150 Mines and Minerals 89 Molybdenum 148 Mountains 17,18,57,68 Mount St. Mary's College 419 Mules 216 Native Plants 221 Natural History 218 Negroes 441 INDEX. 503 Paoes. New Mercantile Library 439 New Windsor College. 420 Nicholson, Francis 7,411 North Point, Battle of 10 Northern Central Maryland. Farming 158, 165 Soils 175,192,194 Northern Central Railway 320 Oats 102 Ochre 147 Orphanages 453 Out-door Relief , 482 Oyster and Oyster Industry 264 Paleontology 75, 77, 79 Peabody Institute Peaches ..." 176, 177, Pe'jgy Stewart, The Penn, William Phila., Wilmington & Baltimore R. R Physical Features Piedmont Plateau 11 Topograph)' Water Power. . . .' Geology Pocomoke, Fight at Political Institutions Population Porcelain Clays 146. Port Deposit 124. Pottery 95, 145. Presbyterian Church Prevention of Vice Prisons Private Schools Protestant Episcopal Church Public Buildings Public Departments Public Schools . . . Rainfall 34,164 Redemptorist College 424 Reformatories 468 Religious Associations ..406 " Communities 403 Publications 408 Rivers 14,15, 17, 18,51,52,53 Rock Hill College 420 Roman Catholic Church 395 Royal Government 6,7 Rye 162 Pages. Salisbury 50, 357, 376 Sand 75, 147, 149 Sandstone 120 Seal of Maryland 4 Serpentine 141 Severn, Battle at 5 Shad 239 Sharpe, Horatio 7 Sheep 216 Shipbuilding 345 Slate 133 Soapstone 143 Soils 181,186,193 Analyses 188, 192, 201, 202, 203, 208 Southern Homoeopathic College 425 Southern Maryland. Farming 159, 165, 200 Soils 188, 192, 199, 208 Population 487, 439, 440 Sparrow's Point Ho 377 St. Charles' College 403 St. John's College 4iy St. Mary's, Founded 2 St. Mary's Seminary 422 Stamp Tax y " Star-Spangled Banner" 10 State Government 9 3yo Strawberries 177 Straw Hats 343 Sunday Schools 403 Tea-burning y Temperature ly Terrapin 261 Tobacco.6, 159, 160, 164,109, 170,201, 204,209,344 Toleration Act 4 Tomatoes 173, 174, 206, 208 Topography n Trees 221 Truck Farming 171, 174, 185, 189, 206 Union Bridge 50 University of Maryland 414 University School of Medicine 425 Vegetables 173, 200, 208 Walters Art Gallery 431 Washington College 418 Water Power 50 Water Supply 47 Weather Service 19 504 INDEX. Pages. Western Maryland. Farming 157, 165 Soils 175, 181, 192, 194 Population 436 Western Maryland College 420 Western Maryland It. R 321 Westminster 50, 376 Westminster Theological Seminary 424 Wheat. 162, 165, 166, 184, 187, 201, 202,205,207 Wild-fowl 235 Winds 38 Pages. Woman's College 420 Woman's Medical College 425 Woodberry 351 Woodstock 125 Woodstock College 423 Young Men's Christian Association 430 Young Men's Hebrew Association 430 Zinc 147 Average Spring Temperature and Precipitation, PrlOWLITH SYA .HOE'i&C- d*i Average Summer Temperature and Precipitation. I/J/i [ aHT am. aaAWAjaa 3fl Average Autumn Temperature and Precipitation; J& Sf Harpers Ferrx. MAP — op — INCLUDING DELAWARE AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, SHOWING AVERAGE AUTUMN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION. SCALE OF SHADES. „»< £"*' #'*•- r/" '"V" A .6* r7 tzzi IMtKl'ARED BY MARYLAND STATE WEATHER SERVICE. ^W\ \^S r C V_#8ijU>ury ° J) \T V 57' \/ ** V^ ov«, » D<£ L A WAR yS 3 \ a a r 1 \ s..— V" '' / \_^.S^' E L A WA A A \ B A r tr^U 'y ■11 ts te n 'S PHOTO UTH. 8YA HOEN&C Average Annual Temperature and Precipitation THE GEOLOGICAL MAP. The Geological Map of Maryland which accompanies this volume has been compiled from all existing sources of imformation, and contains the results of much geological work within the confines of the State which has never before been published. The map is nevertheless of only a preliminary character, since no systematic survey of the State as a whole has ever been carried on. The amount of reliable information for different parts of the area is very unequal. In some portions — especially the Eastern Shore and Garrett County — very few observations have been made, while in others much detailed work has been done. The geologists who have been accepted as authorities for different parts of the State are indicated on the sketch map in the legend. Assistance has also been obtained from the publications of the Pennsylvania Geological Surveys and from Prof. W. B. Rogers' geological map of Virginia. The only other geological map of Maryland which has ever been issued is that contained in P. T. Tyson's first Annual Report as State Agricultural Chemist in 1860. While not yet complete, the present map will at once be recognized as a great advance over this earlier pub- lication. It thoroughly represents the present state of our knowledge, and will serve as a definite point of departure for future work by showing where the existing data is least satisfactory. The base of the geological map of Maryland is the outline of the State, including Delaware, carefully drawn by the U. S. Geological Survey for the Maryland State Weather Service in 1891. It is accurate for boundaries, drainage, and the location of towns, but has no topography or roads. Its scale is 1:500,000, or approximately eight miles to the inch. The remarkable completeness of the geological record found within Maryland's territory has rendered a large number of tints and colors necessary. Twenty-nine of these have been employed, although the THE GEOLOGICAL MAP. number of separate formations in reality is much greater. To avoid confusion, similar or unimportant horizons have, in many cases, been united. The indicated subdivisions fall naturally into three main series : eight pre-Paleozoic, thirteen Paleozoic and eight post-Paleozoic. Inas- much as these series also correspond quite closely to the three topo- graphic provinces of the State — Piedmont Plateau, Mountains and Coastal Plain — the colors have been so arranged as to express these great divi- sions in tints of the three primary colors : red, blue and yellow. Letter symbols have been used to designate the different formations, except In the case of the Paleozoic strata, where the old and well, estab- lished numbers of the Pennsylvania Surveys have been retained. No attempt has been made to apply the colors to the generalized section which runs across the top of the map, because of the difficulty in obtain- ing a perfect register in chromo-lithographing such minute areas. The vertical exaggeration (about eight times) of this section is believed to be justified because of the very low relief in the eastern part of the State. The practical value of this map is greatly enhanced by the agricul- tural designations which Professor Whitney has assigned to the various formations in the legend. These will enable the farmer to use it with reference to the crops for which his lands are best suited. Too much cannot be said in praise of the care and pains which Mr. A. B. Hoen, of the firm of Hoen & Co., has expended upon the artistic reproduction of this map. The successful preservation of sharp contrasts in its colors and their distribution in three main areas, without the least sacrifice of harmonious blending and pleasing general effect, is due entirely to his experience and skill. G. H. W.