OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. 759 



force shall issue an order to all officers to overhaul all 

 vessels which exhibit this number, and to examine their 

 license. 



ON THE ADVISABILITY OF DIVIDING OUR OYSTER AREA 

 INTO OPEN AND CLOSED DISTRICTS. 



We have shown, in a preceding section, that we cannot 

 hope for any marked improvement in the condition of our 

 oyster beds through the enforcement of laws closing them 

 for certain months in the year. 



. the effect of a closed season is simply to 

 gather the oystermen upon the beds in greater numbers 



than ever, at the end of the season If our 



waters, or any part of them, should be closed to the public 

 for a term of years, the oysters would increase and multiply, 

 and finally restock the beds. It is difficult to state exactly 

 how long a time would be required, as this depends upon 

 the condition of the beds. When there are plenty of 

 mature oysters to supply the spat, and plenty of clean 

 shells for the young to fasten upon, a few years will suffice 

 to restore the bed ; but after an oyster bed is thoroughly 

 exhausted, there is no reason why another natural bed 

 should ever grow up in the same spot rather than anywhere 

 else, and in any case the closure of certain districts cannot 

 increase the supply beyond its natural limits. 



. . . . Even if the waters are loaded with spat 

 from adjacent beds, there is no reason why the young 

 should gain a foothold on the site of the exterminated bed. 

 Between the natural beds there are areas where the bottom 

 is perfectly adapted for oysters, except that there is nothing 

 for the spat to fasten to, and an exterminated natural bed 

 is in the same condition. The regrowth of such a bed is, 

 therefore, exactly like the original formation of a natural 



