THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 49 



heat. If tlie temperature is too high, the shells are likely to turn 

 yellow, and if they are not sufficiently dried they may become soft. 

 If they have been sheltered from the weather and are thoroughly dry 

 the drying process may be dispensed with. After passing tlu'ough 

 the drier they are carried by a conveyer to the crusher and from 

 there to the screen, which is usually of the revolving type and made of 

 various-sized mesh to separate the crushed shells into several grades 

 or sizes. 



In Plate XXIX, figure 2, shells are being loaded on cars for road 

 making. In some cases the shells are partially crushed before being 

 put on the roads ; in other cases they are put on whole and are worn 

 down by the traffic. Plate V, figure 1, shows shells being loaded on 

 a scow for planting to catch set. 



The shell heaps are cleaned up amiually. Most of the shells are 

 used for one of the above purposes. The shell piles shown in the fig- 

 ures convey but a faint notion of the actual vast bulk of the oyster 

 crop taken annually from the waters of the United States. 



LEGAL REGULATIONS. 



In each State in which there is an 03'ster industr}^ tliere are certain 

 regulations for its conduct, provided by State law and administered 

 by officers and inspectors, appointed in nearh^ all cases by a State 

 fish or oyster commissioner or president of a State conservation com- 

 mission. 



The regulations, while necessaril}'' diff'ering widety to meet the 

 varying conditions, usually provide for a system of surveying and 

 staking off" with conspicuous buo3-s or markers tlie various' beds 

 leased or owin^d by the planteis and the "natural" beds, tho latter 

 being those which have giown up naturally and which are open to 

 tho public. In some States, wliore tliero are many leased or privately 

 owned beds, this surveying is very carefully attended to, and accu- 

 rate maps of tho oyst(^r beds are provided. In others, esj)ecially 

 those in wJiirli there are few or no leased beds, tlie surveys are j)oorl}^ 

 cared for, and no maj)s nni k((])t. 



Th(» h^^'al season in which oysters may bo taken for mai'ket is 

 usually restricted to tlio montlis of September to April, inclusive. 

 The oystcir is thus not interfered with during the spawning season, 

 which occui-s in tlie summer. 



A cull law is usually provided by which oystere under a (-(^-tain 

 size — 2h or 3 inch(»s generally— ma}' not be tnken except for s(hk1, 

 but must be thrown back on the beds from which lif t<^d. Some States 

 allow only sailboats and hand dredges to work on natural beds, 

 as in Long Island Sound; some forbid dredging of any sort, aU 

 oystere being taken with tongs; some allow dredging only on leased 

 b(Kls; some, oidy in water of a certain depth; and some allow 

 engine-driven dredges to be used on boats propelled by sails. 



In most States only a h^gal resident may take oysters from tho 

 waters, and a license fee must usually be paid. In somo cases oysters 

 can not be sliipped from the State in tlie slieU, except for svinl. This 

 compels tho estabhshment of oyster houses witliin tlie State and the 

 ret(mtion of capital in that State. In others, as Louisiana, the oys- 

 ters may be shipped out in the shell, but a tax per bushel must bo 



