854 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



shall forward all such written protests to the Board of 

 Shell-Fish Commissioners ; and in case such protests are 

 so filed and forwarded, the said Commissioners, or a majo- 

 rity of them, shall, upon fifteen days' notice in writing, 

 mail or personally deliver to all parties in interest, hear 

 and pass upon such protests or objections, in the county in 

 which the said public grounds are located ; and the said 

 Board of Commissioners of Shell-Fisheries, having fully 

 informed themselves of the facts in the case, shall make, 

 within twenty days of the hearing, a decision which shall 

 be final, and shall be so considered until reversed on appeal 

 to the Superior Court. And at all hearings authorized by 

 this Act the said Commissioners may, by themselves or 

 their clerk, subpoena witnesses and administer oaths as in 

 courts of law. 



Section 5. The Board of Commissioners of Shell- 

 Fisheries shall, upon making the said final decision as to 

 the location, limits, area, and designation of the several 

 Public Grounds in the county, publish the same in the 

 county in which the said Public Grounds are located, and 

 in two newspapers having a general circulation in the 

 State, and shall announce in the said publication that at 

 the expiration of twenty days from the first day of publica- 

 tion the territory within the said county, and embraced 

 within the provisions of this Act, will be open for entry in 

 manner and form as hereinafter provided ; and any person 

 or persons desiring to raise, plant, or cultivate shell-fish 

 upon any ground in the county which has not been desig- 

 nated as Public Ground by the Board of Shell-Fish Com- 

 missioners, may, at the expiration of the said period of 

 twenty days, make -an application in writing, in which shall 

 be stated, as nearly as may be, the area, limits, and loca- 

 tion of the ground desired to the entry-taker of the county 



