174 



THE OYSTER. 



oyster culture ; the owners of any land bordering on 

 any landlocked water should have the exclusive right 

 to use it for oyster culture above the line where it first 

 ceases to be one hundred yards wide at low water ; 

 any one who shall construct an artificial pond for the 

 culture of oysters on any land of which he is the 

 owner shall own the pond and its contents ; any 

 owner of land in which there may be any landlocked 

 water which might be converted into a pond for the 

 cultivation of oysters without injury to navigation, 

 should be permitted to construct dams or gates in order 

 to convert it into an oyster-pond, and should have the 

 exclusive right to cultivate oysters upon its bottom. 

 In addition to these provisions, any riparian owner 

 should be permitted to purchase from the State, at a 

 nominal price, the right to cultivate oysters upon the 

 bottoms of his own water-front, to a specified dis- 

 tance say one hundred yards beyond low-water 

 mark ; and any citizen of Maryland should be permitted 

 to purchase from the State, at a nominal price, the 

 right to cultivate oysters upon an area not to exceed 

 fifteen acres, on any bottom not already appropriated 

 or set apart as public ground. 



In all these cases the right to cultivate oysters 

 should be made as much like a title to real estate as 

 possible, and the State treasury should look for its in- 

 come from future taxation of the property rather than 

 from the price of the franchise. After the planting in- 

 dustry has become well established it will be able to 

 bear its proper share of the burden of taxation, but an 



