228 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1129 



cultural interests have accorded to their de- 

 partment, this territory can be made as pro- 

 ductive as the best farming and grazing lands 

 of the nation. 



We are but pioneers in this field, and, like 

 our forefathers, may never see the realization 

 of our dreams, but just as they pictured in 

 prophecy the boundless fields of wheat, corn 

 and cotton, so we may picture the development 

 of aquatic farming, where even now hand 

 labor is being replaced by machinery, and by 

 more efficient methods of distribution. The 

 great problem is how best to replace destruc- 

 tive exploitation by constructive methods of 

 increasing production through annual crops. 



To this end instruction in economic biology 

 is needed. The federal commissioner, Dr. 

 Smith, has ably pointed out the need of such 

 educational facilities, and until such develop- 

 ment can be secured the necessary safeguards 

 for time and capital invested in this work are 

 lacking, and progress must be as of the halt 

 and of the blind. 



As a practical matter it is exceedingly diffi- 

 cult for either state or federal departments to 

 draw from a reluctant committee on appro- 

 priations money to be used upon projects of 

 which they have no first-hand information and 

 which are exploited by relatively few people. 

 In Massachusetts the problem has resolved 

 itself to a dilemma, whether the fisheries and 

 the shell fisheries shall be maintained from 

 the public treasury and freely open to the 

 public, or whether the fishing rights on the 

 tidal flats shall be leased to individuals and the 

 maintenance and enforcement of the law be 

 provided from the money secured from the 

 leases or licenses and the balance used for re- 

 ducing the state tax, thus regarding the lands 

 under water and the public fishing rights as a 

 state asset for the benefit of all the people. 

 Consideration of the first proposition clearly 

 leads to the result that if the community 

 plants and cares for the annual crops for the 

 benefit of the fishermen, why should it not do 

 the same for the farmer? And just as the 

 communistic growing of corn and potatoes has 

 proved an economic failure, so must appro- 

 priations of money by the town or county for 



planting clams to be turned into cash by a few 

 people whose interests or necessities impel, be 

 futile unless it is frankly regarded as eleemo- 

 synary. The history of nations and of the 

 ages proves that for increased production in- 

 dividual initiative and responsibility is neces- 

 sary, and the time is not far distant when we 

 must revise our practises and our laws so that 

 all the suitable land below high-water mark 

 may be utilized. No longer will obtain the 

 anomalous condition where, as in Maine, 

 Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other states, 

 oysters may be artificially propagated, but 

 not all other varieties of food and bait mol- 

 lusks. The several state governments and the 

 federal Bureau of Fisheries are now taking 

 up the plan advocated in 1892, which evoked 

 little response in this country, but which was 

 reprinted in English and German current pub- 

 lications, wherein the writer advocated these 

 practises and pointed out the similarity be- 

 tween the possibilities of agriculture and aqui- 

 culture for increasing the yield of food per 

 acre. 



It is a deplorable characteristic of human 

 psychology that it is relatively easy to inter- 

 est people in what is readily seen. The propa- 

 gation of aquatic forms must overcome the 

 handicap of lack of popular knowledge of the 

 processes involved. It is comparatively simple 

 to secure money to raise black foxes, dena- 

 tured skunks, or guinea-pigs; but it is still 

 difficult to interest people in commercial utili- 

 zation of waters for growing fish and shell 

 fish. Our methods of disposal of sewage and 

 waste have militated against this type of in- 

 vestment and development of potentialities. 

 Those who have been accustomed to exploit 

 free goods and still scent opportunities for 

 personal gain at public cost, have learned 

 methods of putting pressure upon public offi- 

 cials and there are relatively few state or fed- 

 eral departments which are not to some extent 

 hampered by some degree of political, personal 

 or local pressure. The situation in Massachu- 

 setts is peculiar in that the town is still a 

 dominant community unit, and town and 

 county politicians recognize the advantage of 

 political manipulation of such public assets as 



