784 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



of $600 for each offence ; half the penalty goes to the 

 informer. 



In Suffolk county any five or more persons who hold 

 oyster lots may form a company or corporation, for the 

 promotion of oyster culture in these lots. 



The towns of Babylon and Islip, in Suffolk county, have 

 a special law, which is substantially as follows : 



" Any person who is of age, and who has been an inha- 

 bitant of the county for a year, may appropriate four acres, 

 ' where the taking of clams cannot be profitably followed 

 as a business,' and upon the payment of $i per acre annual 

 rent and the costs of surveying, he has the exclusive use 

 of the land for the cultivation of oysters, so long as he 

 keeps it marked out and remains an inhabitant of the 

 county ; but he is required to pay his annual rent on or 

 before the first day of April, and to plant at least 100 

 bushels of oysters v and shells on the ground, within one 

 year of the date of his certificate, and in case of failure, 

 the Oyster Commissioners have the power to terminate the 

 lease." 



"Any person may sell and assign his interest in private 

 oyster ground to any inhabitant of the county for one year, 

 but no person can at one time hold more than four acres." 



There are three commissioners appointed by the town 

 auditors, with power to determine what grounds shall be 

 appropriated, to make surveys and maps, to settle disputes 

 regarding boundaries, and to receive money. 



The unlawful taking or disturbance of oysters on pri- 

 vate grounds is punished by a fine of not less than $100, or 

 by imprisonment for not more than sixty days, or both. 



There is no oyster police, but the planters have formed 

 a protective association, and employ private watchmen. 



