1882. ] SHELL-FISH COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. 73 
are about the size of a pea; by three months they are as 
large as a five-cent piece; by six months they grow as 
large as a twenty-five-cent piece, being a little longer than 
broad. During the winter months their shelis thicken up, 
and when they are a-year old they average about the size 
of.a half dollar. At the end of eighteen months they are 
three inches long by two inches wide; in two years and 
three months, or in three years, they are ready for market. 
Now the object of continuing the dredging after the spawn- 
ing season ends is not to catch the new set, but to gather 
a portion of what still remains of the last year’s seed, 
which by this time is, as already stated, as large as a half 
dollar, and the oystermen are unanimous in the opinion 
that, although large numbers of young spat are taken up 
with the seed and cultch during the autumn mouths, the 
most of them are saved and transplanted; and the value 
of the seed oysters so gathered more than compensates for 
the removal or destruction of the young spat, which can be 
of little consequence when compared with the immense 
numbers left on the beds. Besides, there is virtually a 
close time upon the natural beds from November to April. 
The winter storms, sometimes as early as October, sweep 
sand over the beds, and they are so covered as to render 
dredging unprofitable. Many of the young oysters are 
suffocated. By spring, however, abundance of oysters 
appear upon the surface of the bottom, having grown and 
worked their way out, or having been washed out by the 
currents. It is this partial burial in cold weather that 
protects and perpetuates these beds. 
As at present advised upon the subject the commission- 
ers hesitate to recommend any change in the law as it now 
stands. The foregoing discussion pertains only to natural 
beds within the commissioners’ jurisdiction; and not to 
those within the control of the towns. The latter are so 
numerous, and so different in character and environment 
from the deep-water beds and from each other, that uni- 
form laws of regulation might work harm rather than good ; 
and each town is the proper judge of what is best for its 
oyster-beds. The rights of the towns in this respect have 
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