OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. II 
man cultivators are experimenting with Connecticut seed in 
German waters, but the prospects of success do not seem to be 
encouraging. 
The foreign trade, however, does not compare with the domes- 
tic trade. This is continually expanding wherever facilities of 
transportation open the way. 
The facts gathered incidentally in the discharge of their duties 
by the Commissioners, indicate that if the oyster cultivators of 
the State could be persuaded to report the extent of their foreign 
shipments as well as their domestic trade, the aggregate sum 
would prove to beenormous. Accurate statistics of the oyster in- 
dustry of Maryland warrant this conclusion. 
‘“‘ Nearly 200 square miles of water are devoted to oyster fisheries. 
Over 10,000,000 oysters of the legal marketable size—300 to the 
bushel—are yearly taken. The average annual value is $5,000,- 
ooo, of which amount $2,000,000 represents the earnings of the 
55,000 people directly and indirectly engaged in the industry. So 
that Maryland gets out of the salt water around its shores an 
annual crop equal in value to about 125,000 bales of cotton, for 
which there is always a sure market.”’ 
Notwithstanding all the drawbacks which the Connecticut cul- 
tivator has to contend with, there is abundant evidence that the 
oyster industry continues to grow, and business is prosperous all 
along the Sound. 
TAXES. 
The continued destruction of oysters by the starfish has so im- 
paired the value of many grounds, that the Commissioners have 
deemed it their duty to greatly reduce their appraisals; hence, the 
aggregate amount of the taxes laid the past year has been much 
less than that of any previous year. The list of 1886-7 was 
$7,087.75; the list for the current year, 1887-8, is $6,832.54. The 
amount collected from taxes for the year ending with June 30, 
1888, was $5,843.44. 
DUMPING. 
The dumping of waste material in the Sound has been under 
the supervision of the inspectors appointed by the Commissioners, 
and they have been paid for 213 days’ inspection, as against 210 
days the previous year. The compensation paid the Inspector is 
$2.50 per day. It is believed that the law regulating dumping is 
generally respected by the people along the shore of the State, as 
no complaints have reached the Commissioners. 
