OF THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT. 15 
a very important one, and well worthy of the care and considera- 
tion of the State. Much has been done during the last ten years 
to establish this industry upon a permanent basis. A central 
office in New Haven is open every week day of the year, and the 
Clerk of Shell-fisheries is there during business hours to attend 
to the duties of the office, and answer such questions as may be 
addressed to him by any one desiring information. On every 
Monday, at 10 A. M., the Shell-fish Commissioners meet to per- 
form the routine work of the week and hold consultations with 
such of the oyster-growers as may have matters to submit to 
them. There are in the office more or less complete maps of 
the oyster ground designations within the exclusive jurisdiction 
of the State, for every town in the State. These have been 
made by Mr. James P. Bogart, who has been in the employ of 
the State from the first appointment of a shell-fish commission, 
and is thoroughly conversant with their details. There are still 
many cases where adjoining owners are not agreed as to what 
should constitute the boundaries between them. Most of these 
are designations made many years since, when the surveyors did 
not seem to appreciate the necessity of accuracy, or had not in- 
struments of sufficient precision. They admit of two or more 
constructions, and therefore the boundaries can only be fixed by 
mutual agreement or by arbitration. In either case the maps 
are of the utmost importance, and the advice of the engineer 
naturally has great weight. After an agreement is reached, the 
lines are placed upon the map, buoys are set at the corners of 
the designations, and the number and location of each bucy are 
entered in the records of the office, so that at any future time 
any competent engineer can replace one that is lost or stolen 
with absolute precision. Not only are records of designations 
kept in the office, but transfers of deeds of oyster grounds are 
preserved in the same manner as the records of a town clerk’s 
office. All persons desiring information regarding any matters 
pertaining to the business come to the office as the proper place 
to obtain it. Most of the information wanted can only be fur- 
nished by a competent engineer, and your Commissioners would 
therefore reiterate what they have said in another place, that 
there should be a sufficient appropriation for the engineer to 
