THIRTEENTH. ANNUAL MEETING. 245 
land, Delaware and Virginia are suffering from a rapid deple- 
tion of their oyster beds. Something must be done to stay the 
waste, and this Society believes that this resolution embod- 
ies a method which will meet the difficulty. The poor man will 
continue his wasteful ways of gathering oysters from the natural 
beds; while those who wish to pursue the better ways of private 
cultivation will have an opportunity to do so, and will be pro- 
tected by the law in the product of their labor. We have adopted 
this plan in Connecticut, and we find that both classes of oyster- 
men get along together harmoniously and prosperously. Indeed 
the poor oysterman finds his best customers in the cultivators. 
The result is that the oyster industry of Connecticut has grown 
beyond all anticipation, and we have ten-fold more oyster culti- 
vators to-day than we had ten years ago. This is the direct 
result of the system set forth in the resolution. Why; our Con- 
necticut growers are now shipping thousands of bushels of oysters 
every week to Baltimore. This may be exceptional. We do not 
expect to compete with the Southern growers, but we can see that 
our system is greatly improving our industry, and giving us un- 
usual advantages in the market. This Societycan safely recom- 
mend such a system to the States named. I advocate this on theo- 
retical and on practical grounds. I hope the resolution will be 
adopted. The poor men are not to be driven off the natural 
beds. They-can gather the products of the natural beds as here- 
tofore. The resolution simply proposes to encourage another 
class of oystermen who will cultivate private tracts. They will 
occupy but a very small part of the oyster grounds of these 
States—so small a part, indeed, that there can be no interference 
with the poor men, and there is not the slightest danger that they 
will be excluded from the natural beds. 
Mr. Roosevett: A year ago I sailed from Charleston, S. C.., 
through the inland waters to Florida, and was astonished at the 
oyster resources of that part of the country. For a thousand 
miles I sailed between masses of natural oyster beds that at low 
tide were six feet high. In our localities at the North we have 
to bear in mind that in establishing oyster beds it is necessary 
to supply them with seed, which can only be obtained from pub- 
