OYSTER BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI EAST OF BILOXI. 41 



9. Oyster enemies are iio more destructive than are those of the 

 North, and some of the worst of the latter do not cause trouble on 

 the Gulf coast. Disaster from freshets is more Hkely to occur, but 

 can be, to a considerable extent, guarded against by judicious choice 

 of location. 



10. One of the most serious difficulties with which planters and 

 oystermen have to contend, the pollution of the public and private beds 

 by drainage and sewage discharges, is minimized by the absence of 

 large communities adjacent to the oyster bottoms. Private beds pro- 

 ducing oysters for the market should not be located in proximity to 

 sources of contamination, and floating or ''fattening" oysters by 

 immersion in fresh water should be discouraged and absolutely pro- 

 hibited if the water used be open to suspicion of pollution. The 

 future of the oyster industry everywhere depends in large measure 

 on the guarantee of its product in respect to cleanhness and whole- 

 someness, and not only the State oyster commissions and boards of 

 health but the oystermen themselves, for both moral and business 

 reasons, should require that the public health be safeguarded from 

 the acts of the careless and unscrupulous. 



11. Should a law be passed authorizing the leasing of the barren 

 bottoms, such leaseholds as are granted should be carefuUy surveyed 

 to determine their areas, the tracts should be regular in shape, and 

 the corners located by reference to the triangulation stations or land- 

 marks established by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. These are aU 

 carefully determined and are permanently marked, and a strict com- 

 pliance wdth this recommendation will guarantee accuracy in the 

 surveys, obviate disputes, and secure an honest and correct assessment 

 of rental. 



12. Legislation to secure these ends should be carefully drawn and 

 based on the experience of States in which oyster planting has been 

 successful from the standpoints of the planters and the State as a 

 whole. 



