8 REPORT 1865. 



son that there is but very little mud and dirt about, and that therefore it 

 cannot collect to a great extent upon the culch. 



In the case, however, of oyster-beds, -whether common or private, situated 

 in rivers or near the mouths of rivers, I should advise the dredging to be 

 continued with the greatest vigour up to the time that the first spat is seen 

 on the culch, and then, and not till then, should the beds be allowed to re- 

 main quiet. 



It has been proposed to stop the dredging during the months of May and 

 June. What would be the inevitable consequence ? It is during the months 

 of May and June that the sea flora is most luxuriant ; every stone and shell 

 would become coated with weed and slime-like- material of some kind or 

 another, and this vegetable varnish upon it would entirely prevent the young 

 oysters adhering to the culch, and they would inevitably perish. If, on the 

 contrary, the dredges are kept well going during these two months, the culch 

 will become thoroughly clean, and the spat will be able to adhere to the sur- 

 face thus prepared for them. 



The dredge in going over the ground would not, I feel convinced, do injury 

 cither to the spawning oyster or to the young spat. The former may be 

 knocked about without any injury to its constitution, and the latter are so 

 very minute that they would escape destruction by the dredge. Shoidd, 

 however, even the dredge destroy numbers of them, the mischief done would 

 be well compensated by the space of ground cleaned and got ready for others ; 

 for it must be recollected that when the oysters on a well-stocked bed are 

 at the height of spatting the water must be perfectly full of them. 



Some friends of mine, whose riving depends upon oysters, never think of 

 taking off the dredges from their best spatting-ground until they see the 

 spat fixed upon the culch. The theory that dredging during spatting-time 

 injures the spat, they know perfectly well ; they have therefore tried the 

 experiment of leaving certain portions of the ground untouched ; the conse- 

 quence has been that less spat was found upon this ground than upon the 

 neighbouring grounds where dredging was going on all the time ; the grounds, 

 in fact, which had been most dredged had most spat upon them. The case of 

 the flats outside Whitstable is very remarkable. Large numbers of boats from 

 "VVhitstable and other parts have for many years past been in the habit of 

 dredging these flats every day in the year, and all the year round ; it follows 

 to reason that, unless it paid the men to go there, they would resort to other 

 places. They, however, keep to the flats — a plain proof that oysters are there. 

 They are there; and the reason is, that perpetual dredging has kept the 

 ground clean, and that the spat floating about from the oysters on the neigh- 

 bouring beds, these flats, and other places find a place suited for them, and 

 adhere there. Could we look at the bottom of the sea at the mouth of the 

 Thames, we should find a well-marked spot covered with oysters more or less, 

 whereas all the ground surrounding it woidd be blank, containing no oysters 

 at all. In illustration of this fact, I woidd imagine a large number of corn 

 seeds thrown from the sky on to Salisbury Plain : should there happen to be 

 a ploughed field in the plain, the seed would fall into the earth prepared for 

 its reception, would germinate and grow ; whereas if it fell on the ground 

 not so prepared it must inevitably perish. 



This question of dredging very seriously affects the taking in of common 

 ground and applying it to private purposes. Two cases lately occurred — the 

 one where Parliament granted the Heme Bay Company a considerable tract 

 which had hitherto been common ground ; the other case is that of the Eoach 

 Eiver Fishery, where Parliament refused to give over the commons to a pri- 



