328 GEOGKAPHICAL REVIEW OP THE FISHERIES. 



next season. It was not long, however, before the old-fashioned large oysters, 'as big as a shoe- 

 horn,' were all gone, and most of those caught were too small for market. Attention was therefore 

 turned to the cultivation of oysters, and as the Chesapeake trade declined this subject began to 

 receive more and more earnest attention and to arouse an unexpected opposition upon all sides. 



"ALLOTMENT OF GROUNDS; ORIGIN OF OYSTER-PLANTING. The laws of the State provided 

 for the setting apart of tracts of land under water for the planting or cultivating of oysters. The 

 position and amount of these tracts that were to be set apart were left to the judgment of the 

 people of each town, who chose a committee of three to five electors, termed the ' oyster-ground 

 committee,' to act iu such matters. Two restrictions, however, were always jealously insisted upon : 

 First, that no 'natural oyster-beds' should be set apart or 'designated' (the legal term) for pur- 

 poses of planting or cultivation; second, that no more than two acres should be allotted to each 

 applicant. All the early designations made in New Haven harbor, therefore, were in the shallow 

 districts near and below the mouth of the Quinepiac, where no natural beds existed, and the allot- 

 ments were of various sizes. They were owned by women and minors as well as by voters, and 

 thus it was possible for a citizen who cared to do so to acquire for his use several acres, being 

 those taken out in the name of his wife, his sons, and even of his relatives of remote degrees. 

 Moreover, it was permitted to assign these rights and privileges; but any one who applied for 

 grants of land 'for the purpose of speculation,' was guilty of a misdemeanor. It was thus an 

 >easy matter for a man who desired to cultivate native oysters extensively to get under his control 

 a large amount of land through assignments from family and friends ; nor, in the great majority 

 of cases, was any money consideration given for such assignments. It soon became common, 

 indeed, for an application to be made by 'A, B, and others,' a score or more, perhaps, everybody 

 understanding that while the 'others' were actual inhabitants of the town they had no intention 

 of making any personal use whatever of the privileges. This, of course, was an evasion of the 

 law, which practically amounted to its annulment, yet no one objected, for the spirit of the statute 

 was not considered to have been broken; perhaps it ought to be said, no one objected at first, for 

 within the last few years there has been loud murmuring against the largest dealers, who have 

 obtained the control of hundreds of acres, and who have found it necessary to secure amendments 

 and additions to the laws in order to make their titles sure and strong. 



"It will be understood by this that the business of catching and cultivating native, home- 

 bred oysters at New Haven had grown, out of the old haphazard condition, into a definite and 

 profitable organization by the time the last decade began. It was not long before all the available 

 inshore bottom was occupied, and the lower river and harbor looked like a submerged forest, so 

 thickly were planted the boundary stakes of the various beds. Encroachments naturally followed 

 into deeper water, and this proceeded, until finally some adventurous spirits went below the light- 

 house and invaded Long Island Sound. 



" Who was the originator and pioneer in this bold move is undecided ; the honor is claimed by 

 several with about equal right. At any rate, Mr. H. C. Eowe first showed the courage of his 

 opinions enough to take up some hundreds of acres outside, in water from 25 to 40 feet in depth, 

 and to begin there the cultivation of native oysters. 



"Incessantly swept by the steady and rapid outflow of the Quinepiac and Housatonic (whose 

 currents flow eastward), the hard sandy bottom of Long Island Sound, off New Haven and Mil- 

 ford, is kept clean throughout a considerable area, beyond which is soft, thick mud. There are 

 reefs and rocks scattered about, to be sure, and now and then patches of mud; but over large 

 areas extends only a smooth, uniucumbered bottom of sand or gravel. This makes this region 

 peculiarly adapted to oyster-culture. 



