306 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



when the water is lowest. The soil is formed of sand and mud, mingled 

 with sea-weed, and the stratum of mud, upon which the oysters rest, is 

 about three inches thick. 



The spectacle presented on entering the harbor is most curious. As 

 far as the eye can see, the bay is covered with myriads of branches, 

 waving in the wind, or swayed by the force of the currents. It looks 

 as if a forest were submerged, the tops of the trees only rising above 

 the surface of the water.* 



At certain distances on the plantations, large boats are anchored or 

 moored to posts, having a small house built upon them for the accom- 

 modation of the men appointed to watch the grounds. They are four 

 in number. The wages of these guardians of the property amount to 

 about $30 a month, and are paid by the association of planters. This 

 system of surveillance is indispensable, since most of the plantations 

 are at a distance from the harbor, and might be invaded with impunity, 

 especially at night. 



The oysters cultivated in the bay remain, for the most part, upon the 

 ground until autumn, when the work of transporting them proceeds on 

 a grand scale. They are also consumed at that time in great numbers 

 by the planters, so that when frost commences there is not a single one 

 left upon the banks. This course is necessitated by the severity of the 

 winter weather, and also by the little depth at which the oysters are 



cultivated^ 



About five hundred men are employed in planting oysters in the 

 spring, and in gathering them in the proper season to supply the neces- 

 sities of commerce. 



As the fishermen must visit the banks at all states of the tide, they 

 have boats of very peculiar construction, called " sharps," which draw 

 only a few inches of water, and yet are very swift. Entirely fiat on the 

 bottom, the prow is sharply pointed and the stern greatly inclined. 

 They have a rudder and can carry a sail. These sails are extremely 

 simple, consisting of one or two triangular pieces fastened to a mast, 

 the top of which is somewhat flexible and terminates in a point. Light 

 poles, arranged as with the shoulder-of-mutton sail, serve to extend the 

 sails of the " sharp," so that they are entirely flat. The result is that 

 when the boat, sailing too near the wind, is thrown upon its side, the 

 wind glides over the sail, and the boat rights itself. This system of 



* As in most places ■where oysters are cultivated, the plantations here, also, are indi- 

 cated by poles or branches, dividing the ground into regular portions. Although very 

 slight, these poles are fastened so firmly in the ground that they cannot be readily 

 displaced ; and they are so flexible that they are not easily broken. When I visited 

 the plantations, the boat which carried mo was in full sail, and pressed upon them, first 

 on one side, then on the other, and yet not one was injured. The boat, I ought to Bay, 

 however, was managed with great skill in passing these obstacles. 



tAlthough many of these oysters come from a warm climate, they could probably be 

 preserved during the winter in the bay of New Haven, if they were planted at a 

 greater depth. 



