THE CONSERVATION OF OUR OYSTER SUPPLT. j 



is as constantly replenished by the bountiful hand of Nature." I 

 have already shown how this same greed and ignorance of the 

 Chesapeake oystermen have jeopardized not only their oyster 

 supply but also their means of livelihood. 



As a matter of fact it is in this erroneous assumption that lie 

 the truth and reason for the apparent diminution of not only 

 the oyster supply, but also the supplies of other fish food in our 

 waters. Nature distinctly claims her rights when she demands 

 that we must sow where we have reaped ; and in this lies the 

 true axis for the more satisfactory revolution of our fish and 

 other food products. 



I shall now pass to the third oyster ground which I have 

 mentioned, and shall more pleasurably outline the prosperous 

 conditions existing in Connecticut. Prior to 1784 no restrictions 

 were placed upon the oyster fishery of this State ; it was perfectly 

 free, and as a consequence the beds soon became depleted. In 

 that year the Legislature passed an enactment empowering every 

 town of the State " to make rules and ordinances for regulating 

 the fisheries of clams and oysters within their respective limits." 

 This, however, did not materially aid in rehabilitating the beds ; 

 but the law continued in operation for seventy-one years 1855 

 when, the condition of the oyster grounds was so poor, a law was 

 passed enabling private individuals to obtain two acres of ground 

 for the cultivation of oysters. This was the first step in the right 

 direction. The private owners discovered that, instead of plant- 

 ing small oysters, they could collect spat artificially on shells and 

 other objects ; this discovery " led to an extension of deep-water 

 planting," and it was undeniably the source of the present pros- 

 perity of the Connecticut oyster fisheries. 



Captain Collins says that at first the planting was confined 

 to shallow waters; but, in 1865, many beds were planted "in as 

 much as twenty feet of water." And so the development in- 

 creased until 1874, when steam was introduced for dredging. In 

 1881 additional legislation became necessary, in order to enable 

 the owners of private grounds to enlarge their territories, as they 

 complained that the cultivation of oysters in deep waters re- 

 quired much additional and costly apparatus. And since that 

 time the number of acres of oyster grounds owned by individuals 

 according to the Connecticut State Shellfish Commission has 

 increased from 33,987 acres in 1881 to 70,132 in 1889, of which 

 15,400 were planted. Apart from this calculation there are 

 19,911 acres of public oyster grounds which, however, can not 

 be dredged by steam. 



In 1889 the value of oysters from natural beds amounted to 

 only $31,305, whereas the yield of the cultivated beds was sold for 

 $1,040,372. So that, if Connecticut relied upon her natural beds, 



