14 REPORT OF THE SHELL-FISH COMMISSIONERS 
missioners would suggest that at least two thousand dollars 
($2,000) be appropriated for this purpose for the next two years. 
If it is not needed, it can be returned to the Treasury at the 
end of the period. 
PRESERVATION OF LANDMARKS. 
The signal stations (called in the appropriation bill “ land- 
marks”) are structures erected upon prominent portions of the 
shore, and serve as triangulation points in the hydrographic 
work of the engineer. It is by means of these that the location 
of designations is fixed, and the places to set buoys determined. 
It is absolutely necessary that these signals should be suitable 
for the purpose, and that they should be maintained in good con- 
dition. Section 2412 of the General Statutes authorizes the 
Commissioners to lease grounds for this purpose for a period not 
exceeding ten years. Some of these leases will soon expire, 
and it is desirable to renew them for as long a time as possible. 
Occasionally it has happened that the point occupied by one 
these stations has been bought by some gentleman, whose inten- 
tions were to erect a fine summer residence in its immediate 
vicinity. 
In such cases, the signals are only allowed to remain on con- 
dition that they shall be made ornamental to the surrounding 
property. Generally, the Commissioners have no difficulty in 
agreeing upon the form and appearance of the new signal, and 
one is erected which proves satisfactory to all interested. 
The small appropriation for the preservation of landmarks 
should be included among the others to be accounted for by the 
Shell-fish Commissioners. 
THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 
According to the report of the Commissioner of Labor Sta- 
tistics, for the year ending May 1, 1889, the amount of capital 
invested in the oyster business in the State of Connecticut was 
$3,822,311, the receipts (value of catch and product) were 
$1,232,146, the wages paid to employees were $263,562, the 
number of men employed was 1,024, and the number of vessels 
engaged 453. These figures indicate that the oyster industry * 
