478 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



(pushed with a pole) sidewise for a short distance. When necessary 

 the anchors are shifted by the use of a small boat. Thus the scow is 

 guided back and forth across the lot, cutting the grass with equal 

 facility in both the forward and backward movements. When the grass 

 is cut, it floats to the surface of the water and is carried away by the 

 current. The knives are set in motion by a vertical iron shaft which 

 passes through a horizontal cogged wheel. This wheel is geared to a 

 pulley which is run by a belt from the engine. The vertical shaft is so 

 arranged as to slip uj) or down in order to gauge the machine to any 

 depth of water within the range of its capacity. The extreme depth of 

 water in which mowing can be successfully done, as it is now adjusted, 

 is about 8 feet. It could doubtless be so arranged as to operate in 

 deeper water. 



If there are no obstacles in the way the grass can be cut within 1 

 inch of the bottom. If there are oysters on the ground some allowance 

 for that fact has to be made, and while the grass can not be sheared so 

 close to the bottom, it can be mowed sufficientl}' close to the oysters to 

 answer all practical purposes. The only thing requisite is to mow it 

 short enough to preclude the possibility of any large quantity of sedi- 

 ment settling in it and choking the oysters. This object is easily 

 attained, as grass a few inches long will not injure the oyster crop. It 

 is when its length is measured by feet, and it is filled with sediment, 

 that it becomes dangerous. 



In the locality where this machine is used the Avater is about 6 feet 

 deep. It has been customary to mow the oyster beds quite frequently, 

 five or six times perhaps during the growing season, from the first of 

 May to the last of October. The result has been that tracts of bottom 

 that w^ould have otherwise been worthless for oyster-growing purjioses 

 have been converted into beds as productive as any in the river. The 

 cost of building a similar machine is estimated by Mr. Allen to be from 

 $150 to $500. 



Persons, tcages, etc. — The planters, as a rule, are also prosperous farm- 

 ers, having comfortable homes jileasantly located in the various small 

 towns and villages on the banks of the rivers, the more important of 

 which are Eed Bank, Fair Haven, and Oceanic on the southwesterly, 

 and Middletown on the northwesterly side of the Navesink; Little 

 Silver on the northwesterly, and Oceanport and Branchport on the 

 southwesterly side of the Shrewsbury. 



The men hired to work in connection Avith the oyster business are, 

 in inany instances, primarily employed on the farms and are transferred 

 from one branch of labor to the other as occasion may require. The 

 rate of wages paid to men while engaged in the oyster fishery is usually 

 $2 per day. The planters furnish them with boats, tongs, and other 

 apparatus. The total number of men engaged in the business is 92, 

 including proprietors or planters. Eight at Pleasure Bay are employed 

 as shoresmen, two of whom are colored; the remainder are white men, 

 and all are American citizens. 



