OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. 10 
other towns will be taken up in their order and no pains will be 
spared to complete them as soon as possible. 
STAR-FISH. 
The experience of the principal oyster cultivators with star-fish 
proves beyond question that with reasonable care and labor they 
may be so reduced in number that any injury they might do to 
the oyster beds would be of little consequence. If the star-fish 
could be dredged from the natural beds and from uncultivated 
grounds the work of protecting cultivated beds would be com- 
paratively easy. The greater the area of grounds thoroughly 
cultivated the less will the stars abound. ‘They seem to move in 
colonies or groups, and they appear suddenly and in large num- 
bers in different places at once. The beds in the western waters 
of the State suffered but little from their attacks last year, but 
this season they have proved very destructive. Neglected beds 
suffer the most, and it cannot be repeated too often, that the 
attacks of these pests can only be repelled by unceasing vigilance 
and industry. No work on an oyster bed pays better than 
dredging for star-fish. When proprietors realize this fact, and 
the State does what it ought to keep them from breeding on the 
natural beds, it is believed the losses will become insignificant 
throughout the State. 
What efficient dredging will do is shown by the following let- 
ter from a firm of the most intelligent and observing cultivators 
in the State : 
Captain Thomas A. Scott, the well-known submarine diver and wrecker, 
examined our oyster beds to-day to find star-fish. He walked over about one 
hundred acres where we have caught hundreds of bushels of the pests in the past 
three months, and could only find here and there one scattered over the oysters. 
We have not been able for the past week to find many with our dredges, and 
hope we have secured the bulk of the crop. Captain Scott will give another 
trial soon, then we will give you a full report of the knowledge we have gained 
of the habits of the star-fish and means of catching them. 
WILLIAM M. MERWIN & SONS. 
SPAWNING. 
At the time of writing this report spawning has not commenced. 
A large area of new ground has been spread over with shells, 
at different places along the shore, and a good set is looked for. 
The immense quantities of stock growing on cultivated beds 
