THE OYSTER. 219 



avail ourselves of our natural advantages and to enjoy 

 the rich harvest which lies within our reach, nothing 

 can be accomplished. 



There is no fear that the market will ever be over- 

 stocked with an article of food so cheap and dainty 

 and nutritious as the oyster ; and as improvements 

 in the method of packing and transporting oysters are 

 introduced, the demand for oysters to supply the rap- 

 idly increasing population of our country will fully tax 

 all the resources of our waters. This great business 

 can be secured just as soon as we are prepared to 

 demand opportunities to develop our resources. - 



Since all efforts to engage in oyster culture in our 

 State at present, even on the smallest scale, are frus- 

 trated by the claim that they are growing upon natural 

 beds, the first step in dealing with the matter must be 

 an actual, careful survey of the waters of the State, for 

 the purpose of designating, first, the natural beds, or 

 those areas over which the oysters are now so abund- 

 ant as to furnish steady production, and employment 

 for the men engaged in gathering oysters for the mar- 

 ket; and, secondly, those areas which are now under 

 cultivation as planting grounds; and, thirdly, the area 

 which now produces no oysters for the market, but 

 where oyster culture can be carried on. 



After this is provided for, the next step is to decide 

 what shall be done for the encouragement of each 

 one of the chief subdivisions of the oyster industry. 



It will be most convenient to discuss, first, the 

 measures which should be adopted to promote the in- 

 terest of the tongmen and dredgers who now earn 

 their living by fishing the public beds to supply the 



