THE OYSTER. 209 



It would not, however, cause any increase in the 

 wages of tongmen or in the price of oysters, unless 

 the importation of oysters from States where dredging 

 is permitted were forbidden, and this would require 

 an amendment to one of the most important clauses 

 of the Constitution of the United States. The beds 

 in deep water would escape, but they would then be, 

 like many of the deep-water beds of Virginia, of no 

 use to any one except pirates, and all the beds which 

 could be reached by tongs would be as badly off as 

 ever. 



In order to show that this is the case, and that the 

 excessive working of beds with tongs soon causes their 

 destruction, when dredges are not used, we must note 

 a number of cases where beds have been exterminated 

 with tongs alone. 



In 1874 the officers of the United States Coast Sur- 

 vey found a number of fine beds of valuable oysters 

 near Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Many fine beds 

 were found in this region by the earlier settlers, but 

 they were destroyed so long ago that none of the 

 natives had any knowledge of oyster-fishing or any 

 instruments for taking the oysters ; but it happened 

 that an old oysterman from the Chesapeake Bay was 

 living near-by, and he sent to Providence for oyster- 

 tongs and began tonging upon the newly discovered 

 beds. His example was imitated so effectively that 

 in five years the beds were exhausted and ceased to 

 be productive. 



Ingersoll tells us that from the earliest times the 



