OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. 77! 



estate, making it his for ever, so that he can dispose of it, 

 or mortgage it, to obtain the necessary capital for culti- 

 vating it, and that the nominal fee of one dollar per acre 

 be charged for the lease. We believe that it would be wise 



O 



to grant this privilege to all persons, residents or non-resi- 

 dents ; but we leave this subject for future consideration, as 

 well as the question whether it is wise to permit one person 

 to hold more than five acres, by purchase from other holders. 

 The title should be made as absolute and unqualified as a 

 title to real estate, but we have not made it so in the bill 

 which accompanies this report, since many points can be dis- 

 cussed and settled at some future time. We believe and 

 recommend, however, that the law should be amended in 

 such a way as to permit any resident of the State to 

 appropriate his five acres, whether it contains natural 

 oysters or not. 



THE OYSTER FISHERY OF CONNECTICUT. 

 The methods employed in this State are of the greatest 

 interest, for Connecticut has been able, by the adoption of 

 a wise plan, to build up a great oyster industry in a very 

 short time, and to place the business upon a sound and 

 substantial foundation. The natural resources of this State 

 are as nothing compared with the resources of our own 

 waters, for, upon the most liberal estimate, her natural 

 beds do not exceed 5000 acres, all told, . . . (which) 

 furnish few marketable oysters, and are chiefly valuable as 

 a supply of seed oysters for planting ; . . . . Three 

 years of efficient protection, under wise oyster laws, have 

 produced such a change that the State, which was so 

 recently compelled to purchase oysters for planting, has, 

 as we are informed by good authority, this year furnished 

 seed inconsiderable amounts to New York, Rhode Island, 

 and New Jersey, besides sending an immense supply to 



