[39] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 223 



or Long Islan 1 Sound, are laid down on the flats in the summer to fat- 

 ten. They will not live through the winter, and usually are not allowed 

 an opportunity to attempt the experiment. 



New Hampshire. — There was, until lately, a large natural bed in this 

 State, in the Piscataqua River, but over-fishing has caused its practical 

 extinction. Oysters are supplied the market by importation from other 

 localities, either directly, in kegs or tubs, or in the shell by the cargo. 

 In the latter case, the animals are "laid down" for the summer months 

 in the Piscataqua. 



Massachusetts. — North of Cape Cod, no natural oyster-beds of any im- 

 portance occur; though at the mouths of the various rivers and at 

 Wellfleet, on Cape Cod, they have existed in the past. The extinction 

 is supposed to be due to climatic changes and over-fishing. A few oys- 

 ters from other localities are "bedded" or "laid down" in the spring 

 and summer months, but most of the market supply is derived from 

 direct importations, either in the shell or opened. Quite an important 

 trade in the latter class is carried on between Boston and Norfolk, Va., 

 amounting in 1880 to 250,000 gallons. South of Cape Cod, in Buzzard's 

 Bay, are many natural beds, and quite a flourishing business is carried 

 on in their vicinity ; but this is owing in a large degree to the system 

 of cultivation of private beds. The general practice is to take the 

 oysters from the natural banks and deposit them on the private ones, 

 to grow and fatten; shells are also deposited to catch the drifting spat, 

 but the success of the latter method has not been so great as elsewhere. 

 Oysters are also imported from other localities for "bedding" or "lay- 

 ing down," but unless from adjacent States, they do not do well or out- 

 line the winter. The laws regulating oyster planting and farming, per- 

 mit town and city authorities to grant licenses to work tracts of bottom 

 for twenty years. The extent of tracts is not limited, except that they 

 shall not include any natural bed. Night fishing is not permitted, and 

 infringement of the rights of the person holding the license is punished 

 by a fine of not more than $100 and imprisonment of from thirty days 

 to six months. 



Rhode Island. — The natural beds of this State are neither extensive 

 nor exceedingly prolific. They lie principally in the Seekonk Biver, a 

 branch of the Providence Biver, and in Cole's and Kickamuit Bivers. 

 The "natural growth" are rarely used in the markets, but are taken in 

 great numbers when young and placed on the private artificial beds, 

 located, for the most part, in the Providence Biver. The Seekonk fur- 

 nishes between five and ten thousand bushels of " seed " annually, and 

 two years' growth on an artificial bed makes them marketable. A large 

 number of oysters are also imported from Long Island Sound and the 

 south shore of Long Island for the purpose of "seeding" beds. This 

 process is simply to purchase young oysters, about a year old, and spread 

 the cargo as evenly as possible over the area to be "seeded." This is 

 frequently supplemented by spreading shells of oysters or scallops over 

 and about the area during the early summer months, and with them a 



