280 ON OYSTER-CULTURE IX SCOTLAND. 



which paralyses the strongest men in any effort to grapple- 

 individually with the question, and which is partly owing to the 

 narrow views of the department as to the duty of a Government. 

 There is absolutely no possibility of obtaining any distinct 

 declaration as to the real owners of most parts of our foreshores, 

 as the Government and the proprietors on the one hand, and the 

 public on the other, are standing opposed in a state of tension. 

 Wherever and whenever the Government believe they will not 

 be seriously opposed, they will assert their claim, but never if 

 possible press it to a legal decision. Most proprietors are 

 equally unwilling, single-handed, to push the question to 

 extremity ; so that at present it mostly means that the Govern- 

 ment claim is tacitly admitted wdierever a proprietor is too weak 

 to fight, or not bold enough to rebel. The Government will 

 guardedly sell *•' what rights they themselves possess "; the pro- 

 prietors will sometimes knowingly exact rental for what they do 

 not legally possess ; the outside public will occasionally suddenly 

 u]3set the calculations of either party whenever the interests are 

 sufficiently important to stimulate them to try "conclusions. We 

 have more than once been turned aside from intended operations 

 by discovering the real weakness of apparent rights ; and, after 

 a considerable experience, we have come to the conclusion that 

 the whole matter as it stands is a hopeless muddle, that can only 

 be attacked by a strong public body. 



If the Highland and Agricultural Society can ventilate the 

 subject, and stimulate the proprietors to combine to force the 

 hands of the department, so that a clear declaration of owner- 

 ship be made, they w^ould do more to open the way for the 

 utilisation of vast tracts of our cultivable seashore, than could 

 otherwise be managed by any amount of private enterprize. 



The first thincj is to know wdio is the owner of the around to 

 be cultivated. We would suggest that the elucidation of this,, 

 for the benefit of all concerned, is a worthy goal for a powerful 

 Society, in combination with the Scottish proprietary. 



In the meantime, we do not believe that the heavy fee 

 demanded will prove injurious or prohibitory to hona fide cul- 

 tivators demanding important grants, but we do think it is 

 high time that the poorer cultivator be considered. It is not 

 perhaps necessary to grant leases if the Government would 

 simply treat the unoccupied aud unutilised foreshores as wilder- 

 ness land ; and, like an American homestead, if the man who 

 cleared and planted any given portion of such foreshore were 

 secured therein. It is always necessary to remember that access 

 to such ground and any required buildings connected with the 

 business, must be through and upon the land of the ex adverso 

 proprietor; and consequently their reasonable claims of juris- 

 diction should be considered, so long as they did not uuneces- 



