IIl6 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



nourish what food resources we may have independent of 

 the foreigner, and among these resources fish and shell-fish 

 take a front place. 



Yet in England and Scotland, instead of a payment of 

 thirty or forty francs, we have to pay as many pounds sterling 

 at the very least for a Protection order ; and as the visit of 

 the inspector deputed by the government to report on the 

 application and the fitness of the place has also to be paid 

 for, the British oyster-planter must, as a rule, pay ^50 to 

 60 at the least before he begins his useful work. 



To obtain a " Provisional Order" the Board of Trade 

 demand ^70. Of this ^35 is retained as a fee. The 

 remaining ^35 is retained in case of an Inquiry being 

 made; if there is no Inquiry the ^"35 are returned. The 

 average cost of an Inquiry is ,15. Besides the payment 

 of these sums the applicant has to advertise in the Times, 

 the Shipping Gazette, and all local newspapers, in addition 

 to which he has also to affix as many large posters as 

 possible in places contiguous to the grounds ; and, finally, 

 large posters again to notify that the sanction of the Board 

 of Trade has been given. With regard to the fee, the size 

 of the grounds is no object, the same charge being made 

 for i acre as for 100. 



employed for three years or longer in a registered decked fishing vessel 

 may be reckoned A.B. if, in addition, they serve for one year only in a 

 trading vessel. The proof of service consists in certificates of discharge, 

 whilst, in order to cast no pecuniary impediment in the way of fisher- 

 men, the fee for a certificate, if the proof has to be supplied by the 

 Registrar-General of Shipping, must not in any case exceed sixpence. 

 The above is a practical recognition of the fact that our fisheries are a 

 " fruitful nursery of able seamen " for the Navy and Mercantile Marine. 

 "Relations of the State with Fishermen and Fisheries, &c." pp. 

 34 and 35. See also Chapter 39. 



