OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. 777 



The deep-water cultivators, increasing in numbers and 

 in influence, were able, in 1875, to secure the passage of a 

 law declaring that in a considerable area of the State there 

 are no legally " natural beds," and the possibility of suc- 

 cessfully propagating oysters in great numbers, in deep 

 water, was soon proven, and the business continued to 

 grow and to increase in importance, in spite of opposition ; 

 but so much discontent existed that the following resolu- 

 tion was passed by the Legislature of 1879. (Want of space 

 has compelled me to omit this resolution.) 



. . . . The following account of the method of 

 laying out and stocking a deep-water oyster farm in Con- 

 necticut, and the statement of the attendant expenses, is 

 copied from Ingersoll's " Report on the Oyster Industry of 

 the United States." 



" The process by which a man secures a large quantity 

 of land outside has been described. It is thought hardly 

 worth trying unless at least 50 acres are obtained, and 

 many of the oyster farmers have more than 100 acres. 

 These large tracts, however, are not always in one piece, 

 though the effort is to get as much together as possible. 

 He obtains the position of the ground, as near as he can, 

 by ranges on the neighbouring shores, as described in his 

 leases, and places buoys to mark his boundaries. Then 

 he places other buoys within, so as to divide his property 

 up into squares, an acre or so in size. In this way he 

 knows where he is as he proceeds in his labours. Having 

 done this, he is ready to begin his active preparations to 

 found an oyster colony." 



. Preparation of a Deep-water Oyster Farm. 

 " When a cultivator begins the preparation of a deep-water 

 farm, his first act is to scatter over it, in the spring (about 

 May), a quantity of full-sized, healthy native oysters, which 



