266 Our Food Mollusks 



As might be expected, their success has been very 

 great. In two years after the appointment of the Com- 

 mission, the number of leased acres increased from 2,820 

 to 23,303, and since then has steadily grown. Produc- 

 tion, also, is now increasing rapidly, and new packing 

 houses are being established. The oyster laws are being 

 enforced, lessees are being protected, and the commission 

 reports that there is " a notable absence of any disposi- 

 tion to violate the oyster law or the regulations of this 

 Commission." This is all so unusual and so refreshing 

 that it might well be commended to the attention of stu- 

 dents of popular government. There is much to be 

 learned from the practical wisdom of Louisiana. 



It should be interesting to those who make the laws of 

 some other states to witness in Louisiana the subsidence 

 of the fear of an oyster monopoly. This at one time 

 was acute, but since even corporations — Louisiana cor- 

 porations, it is true — have been allowed to lease a thou- 

 sand acres, and leases have been made heritable and 

 transferable, no indication of a monopoly has appeared. 

 The •" poor man " with ten acres, benefits by the improved 

 markets as he does in Connecticut. The fear of an 

 " oyster trust " is so nearly dead that the time will prob- 

 ably come when outside capital will be invited, and the 

 limit on leases extended or removed altogether. 



Leases are made at a dollar an acre each year for fif- 

 teen years. For the ten years following, the rental is 

 two dollars an acre annually. After that, the value of 

 the property shall be assessed, and such rental shall be 

 paid " as conditions shall warrant." There is a tax of 

 three cents a bushel on oysters produced on leased 

 ground. 



There is no close season on the leased grounds, and no 



