OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. , 727 



which had been reared on the Connecticut oyster farms, 

 and were used for planting on the Pacific coast. This 

 State is now able to sell seed oysters to the planters of 

 adjacent States, besides sending an immense supply to 

 Europe. 



. . . . There is no measure of public policy in 

 our State which is of greater importance to our people as a 

 whole, or which is capable of contributing more directly to 

 our growth and prosperity than this matter of oyster 

 farming. 



The only obstacle in the way of the development of 

 such an industry among us is the existence of the sentiment 

 that, since the oyster grounds belong to the whole people, 

 they are not a proper field for private labour and industry. 

 Sea fishes have always been regarded as common property, 

 because it is not within the power of individuals to im- 

 prove them, or increase their numbers or value ; but this is 

 not true of oysters. An oyster is as subject to improve- 

 ment by cultivation as a potato, and the cultivation of 

 oysters is, therefore, a perfectly proper and legitimate 

 employment for labour and capital, and the common right 

 to the beds must in time give way to private enterprise, 

 just as surely as the common right to the natural products 

 of the soil has given way before the progress of civilization. 



Such a change as this cannot be brought about rapidly 

 without causing great hardship, and it is therefore best that 

 it should come slowly ; but the common right of all our 

 people to the use of the oyster beds is a very different thing 

 from the right of a portion of our people to exterminate 

 the beds ; and since it is plain that the interest of the 

 whole people demands an immediate change in our oyster 

 policy, your Commissioners believe that steps should now 



