220 THE OYSTER. 



for the purpose of replanting or bedding in the waters 

 of said counties, between the I5th day of April and 

 the ist day of September." 



A special act of the Legislature is needed to explain 

 what the ambiguous wording of this section is intended 

 to prohibit or permit; but Sec. 13, of the Act of 1874, 

 for which the words above quoted were substituted in 

 1880, forbids the taking of oysters during the closed 

 season, except for private use, or for the purpose of 

 replanting, or for sale to the citizens of the county 

 next adjoining. It is, therefore, probable that the 

 framers of the present law wished to permit by it the 

 taking between April 15 and September ist of oysters 

 to be sold to residents of the neighborhood for food, or 

 to citizens of the county for planting, and also to per- 

 mit the taking of five bushels a day for private use. 



Almost the only thing which the prohibitory laws of 

 the different States have in common is the prohibition 

 of oyster-fishing in the summer months, and to this 

 there are exceptions, as some of the Rhode Island beds 

 are open only in the summer, while those of Connec- 

 ticut are open at all times. This provision, which is 

 borrowed from the laws for the protection of game, is 

 based upon the fact that this time is the spawning 

 season. Game birds soon desert a region where they 

 are disturbed in the breeding season, and as they lay 

 few eggs and care for their helpless young, the de- 

 struction of an old bird at this time may result in the 

 death of the whole brood. The provision of the game 

 law which forbids the capture of game during the 



