774 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



named the ' William H. Lockwood,' and is comparatively 

 new, and cost between six and seven thousand dollars. 

 The dimensions of this boat are : length, 63 feet ; beam, 

 1 6 feet; draught, 5^ feet. Her boiler is larger and her 

 engine more powerful than usual, in a boat of her size, and 

 she can therefore be used for towing, and can force her 

 way through heavy ice in the winter ; so that her owner is 

 sure of a supply of oysters for his customers when other 

 dealers may be unable, with sailing vessels, to get them. 

 Besides her regular propeller, she has a double engine for 

 hauling dredges, which hauls all four dredges full of 

 oysters at once, and lands them on deck, two on each 

 side, at the rate of 800 bushels a day, if needed. This 

 employs a crew of ten men, who are protected from the 

 weather by a housing which covers in the whole deck." 



THE PRIVATE OYSTER GROUNDS OF THE STATE OF 

 CONNECTICUT, WITHIN THE AREA WHICH is UNDER 

 LOCAL MANAGEMENT. 



No person can appropriate more than two 

 acres. The lands which are thus appropriated are taxed 

 like real estate. And they may be attached or executed 

 upon like real estate. The oyster committee of each town 

 has power to decide upon the sum which is to be paid for 

 the grounds, and the term of years for which they are to be 

 leased. No person can gather any oysters upon private 

 grounds unless they are properly staked or buoyed out, and 

 marked at each corner with the owner's name. 



The removal of oysters from private grounds, without 

 authority from the owner, is punished by a fine of from 

 $300 to $500, or by imprisonment for one year ; and the 

 injury or destruction of the stakes or buoys, or the grounds, 

 or the oysters upon them, is punished by a fine of from 



