424 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



grows on the spot, and many of the oysters were attached 

 to it. 



It is evident that the ground has not been properly 

 worked. I do not, however, attach blame to Mr. Robert- 

 son for the omission. He is entirely ignorant of oyster 

 culture, and applied for the Order, not with a view to pro- 

 fit by a speculation in oyster production, but in order to 

 protect the beds from denudation by the reckless fishing 

 which had for some time previously been carried on. 

 Having obtained the Order, he took the advice of an 

 oyster-culturist, whom he brought to view the ground, as 

 to the methods which he ought to adopt for bringing the 

 beds back to their former state. He was told to give them 

 rest and to lay down cultch, and was not told to clean 

 them. He accordingly left them alone, except that he has 

 put 10 boat-loads of mussel and cockle shells upon them. 

 Although not willing to spend any large sum of money in 

 cultivation, he professes himself anxious to do whatever is 

 necessary to give free scope to the natural capacities of the 

 banks ; and he has now undertaken to keep the ground 

 clean, to strew it with more shells, and to collect scattered 

 oysters into the best part of the ground. 



On the above facts, I consider that the fishery has not 

 hitherto been properly cultivated, but that there is reason 

 to expect it to be so attended to for the future, that the 

 beds will have the opportunity of recovering themselves if 

 they have not been too much exhausted for recovery to 

 take place without re-stocking. I am also inclined to 

 believe, from the number of oysters stated to be visible at 

 extreme low tides, that exhaustion has not reached the 

 point at which it is improbable that the beds will recover 

 by their own reproductive power. 



