60 SHELL-FISH COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. [Jan., 
York’ and Connecticut, whereby the limits of the State 
grounds for deep-water planting, and the exclusive juris- 
diction of the State over them, were permanently estab- 
lished. 
Under town management, until quite recently, oyster 
beds were usually designated in the bays, harbors, rivers, 
and other places where the water was not too deep, and 
the bottom was not too soft, and where was some shelter 
from storms. For many years the attention of Connecti- 
cut oystermen was given almost exclusively to grounds 
so designated; and the great oyster business of the State 
was built up and maintained by the judicious planting and 
cultivation of oysters in comparatively shallow waters— 
from feur to fourteen feet in depth. A Little more than a 
generation ago the oyster business was small. It gave irreg- 
ular employment to an insignificant number of persons 
along the shore, who depended principally on natural beds 
for their supplies. A few beds of southern oysters were 
cultivated by persons more enterprising and intelligent 
than the majority; but their success was variable, and the 
business proved of little account, as compared with its 
present magnitude. ‘The few laws for regulating the bus- 
iness were generally disregarded; so that with reckless 
fishing and indifference to the havoc of the periwinkle and 
star-fish, and other water enemies of the oyster, many natu- 
ral beds disappeared. As long as the demand was limited, 
the oystermen met it by transplanting from natural beds 
for growth and fattening on their prepared beds. In time 
the supply of the natural beds proved insufficient; and 
then resort was had to New York, New Jersey, Maryland, 
and Virginia. An immense trade rapidly sprang up with 
these States, which was carried on for many years, espe- 
cially with Virginia. Many thousands of bushels of oys- 
ters were brought into Connecticut for further growing and 
fattening for the market. The demand was increased as 
the facilities of transportation increased, and the uses of ice 
became better known. The trade extended far beyond the 
neighborhood, and the oyster finally became a common 
