122 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



year rental to the State would ha\'e been a real hardship, and to some extent an 

 injustice. I propose the coming season to finish the survey of Sheepshead Bay and 

 the lands under water adjacent thereto, and shall sell leases for such territory. 



As I stated in the opening of this report, but little work was done in Raritan Bay 

 or Long Island Sound during the past season. A number of applications are pending, 

 and I hope to complete their surveys and sell the leases at as early a date as possible 

 next spring. 



In addition, I shall cause the survey of Long Island Sound, finished at present to 

 a point east of Mount Sinai Harbor, continued to Orient. This survey is rendered 

 especially necessary by the discovery of a large bed of oysters of natural growth off 

 Horton's Point. It is my duty under the law at once to cause this bed to be accu- 

 rately mapped and to preserve it. To do this, I shall be obliged to complete our 

 system of signals as far east as Orient, which I shall do at the earliest opportunit)-. 



The amendment made last winter to the oyster law providing that leases should be 

 advertised in the town clerk's office, instead of in the newspapers, has materially aided 

 in lessening the expense of my department. The cost of the work will be shown in 

 my financial statement, and is a great reduction over the cost of this branch of the 

 work in previous years. During the year seventy-nine applications for leases for one 

 to three acres of lands under water were received. One hundred and nine lots were 

 surveyed and 109 leases were sold, the proceeds of which amounted to $304.29, and 

 were turned over to the State Treasurer. Mr. Charles Wyeth. who has been recently 

 transferred to the State Engineer's office, has been in immediate charge of this work. 

 Duplicate copies of all our maps are being prepared by him, and when completed 

 will be placed on file with the State Engineer. 



The second branch of my work — the protection and preservation of the beds of 

 oysters of natural growth located in the waters of the State — has been more par- 

 ticularly under my direction assisted by State Oyster Protector, PLdgar I-". Hicks. 

 I have caused the beds to be carefully watched, and by constant patrolling have pre- 

 vented the use of illegal devices for taking oysters or other shellfish on these beds. 

 The beds themselves are in only ordinary condition, and but two of them are very 

 thoroughly worked. The bed in Staten Island Sound has produced the largest crop 

 of seed during the past year of any bed in the State, and has afforded an excellent 

 means of livelihood to from 500 to 750 oyritermen. The seed found a ready sale, the 

 larger portion of it having been purchased for the San P"rancisco trade. This bed, 

 which occupies the bottom of the channel between Staten Island and New Jersey, is 

 about eight miles long, and varies in width from 800 to 3,000 feet. It is a never failing 

 source of supply of seed oysters, and has produced to the people of the State a sum 

 aggregating hundreds of thousands of dollars. It should always be carefully preserved 



