OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. 751 



tion is usually attributed to their neglect of their duty ; but 

 the well known fact that Virginia, which maintains no 

 oyster police, suffers very much more than Maryland, 

 shows that our navy does afford some protection, and no 

 one who is familiar with the subject can wonder that the 

 service is not more efficiently done. 



. . . . The complexity and indefiniteness of the 

 boundary line is in itself a strong temptation to the 

 dredgers to trespass beyond it ; and while the organization 

 of the oyster navy is a pressing necessity, the establishment 

 of a well-defined boundary is a matter of even greater 

 importance. We have shown again and again in this 

 report that private cultivation of oysters is the true solution 

 of most of our difficulties ; but no one cares to engage 

 extensively in the planting of oysters which may at any 

 time be stolen by dredgers, and no great growth of the 

 planting industry can be hoped for until the boundary of 

 the bottoms reserved for tonging and planting, and closed 

 to the dredgers, is simplified. 



. . . . We also recommend certain changes in 

 the law relating to tongmen. At present the tonging 

 license only permits the taking of oysters within the 

 county where the license is granted ; but as the public 

 oyster beds are the property of the whole State, and not of 

 any particular county, we recommend that such a change 

 be made that any holder of a tonging licence may take 

 oysters in any waters which are open to the public. As 

 the State bears the expenses of protecting the rights of the 

 tongmen, we recommend that all money received for tong- 

 ing licenses shall be paid into the State Treasury, to the 

 credit of the oyster fund. 



