754 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



of their young ; and while it is true that the removal of too 

 many mature oysters from a bed destroys its productive- 

 ness, the time when they are removed is a matter of no 

 consequence, and over-fishing in December is in this 

 respect as bad as over-fishing in May. 



One of your Commissioners has made a study of the 

 spawning time of our oysters, and has carried his observa- 

 tions over several years. He has found spawning oysters. 

 in our waters in every month in the year except December, 

 January, and February, and he has had no opportunity to 

 visit the beds during these three months. 



By far the greater number of these oysters, however, 

 are found to spawn between May zoth and July ist, and 

 although the temperature of our spring months causes 

 considerable variation, this period may properly be called 

 the spawning season. 



At any time before May 2oth the disturbance of the 

 beds can do little harm, and the experience of the Connec- 

 ticut oyster farmers shows that the thorough raking of the 

 beds, just before the spawning season, is a positive benefit. 

 The young oysters cannot attach themselves to dirty and 

 slimy shells, and if all the sponges, hydroids, and sea- 

 weeds could be dragged from our beds in April and May, 

 and if the old decayed and slimy shells could be ploughed 

 under, and covered with the cleaner shells from below the 

 surface, by dredging just before the spawning season, the 

 fertility of the beds would be greatly increased, and there 

 is, therefore, nothing in the nature of the oyster to demand 

 the closure of the beds in April and May. 



. . . . We show elsewhere that the States where 

 the oyster industry is most prosperous have found it neces- 

 sary, and to their advantage, to use the natural beds chiefly 

 as a supply of seed for planting, and we believe that when- 



