$2 a day or more when they
can work on the public beds. This last clause is significant. It is
stated that the men expect to work most of September, October and
November; one-half of December and January; one-third of February; any
time in March is clear gain and all of April. According to a careful
study[8] of the oyster industry it was found that the oystermen, _i. e._,
those who dig the oysters from the rocks, make about $8 a month, while
families occupied in shucking oysters earn up to $400 a year,
three-fourths of them gaining less than $250. The public beds yield less
than formerly and the business is gradually going into the hands of
firms maintaining their own beds, with a corresponding reduction in
possible earnings for the oystermen.

The effect of this industry is twofold; a considerable sum of money is
brought into the county and much of this has been invested in homes and
small farms. This is the bright side; but there is a dark side. The boys
are drawn out of the schools by the age of 12 to work at shucking
oysters, and during the winter months near the rivers the boys will
attend only on stormy days. The men are also taken away from the farms
too early in the fall to gather crops, and return too late in the spring
to get the best results from the farm work. The irregular character of
the employment reacts on the men and they tend to drift to the cities
during the summer, although many find employment in berry picking about
Norfolk. Another result has been to make farm labor very scarce. This
naturally causes some complaint. I do not say that the bad results
outweigh the good, but believe they must be considered.

The population is scattered over the county, there being no towns of any
size, and is denser along the rivers than inland. The relations between
the two races are most friendly, although less satisfactory between the
younger generation. The Negroes make no complaints of ill treatment. In
the last ten years there have been only four Negroes sentenced to the
state prison, while in the twelve months prior to May 1, 1903, I was
told that there was but one trial for misdemeanor. It may be that the
absence of many of the young men for several months a year accounts in
part for the small amount of crime. The jail stands empty most of the
time. The chief offenses are against the fish and oyster laws of the
state. Whites and blacks both claim that illegitimate children are much
rarer than formerly. I was