82 OYSTER BEDS OF JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA. 



bottoms in severalty. The value of this objection is mainly senti- 

 mental, but is not less real on that account. 



3. The third course mentioned, the retention of the actually pro- 

 ductive bottom for the use of the public and the opening of all barren 

 bottom practicable for leasehold from the State, is essentially a 

 compromise between the other two and presents fewer difficulties 

 than either. The valid objections to it are mainly concerned with 

 administration. By retaining the present natural beds intact the 

 tongers would be left in possession of everything of value to which 

 they now have access, while the opening of the barren bottoms for 

 lease would make productive considerable acres now valueless to all. 

 The tongers would still have the option of independent work on the 

 natural rocks; they would have increased opportunities of employ- 

 ment by the planters; and some of them could themselves lease 

 bottoms for their own use. In every way it would appear to be 

 economically advantageous to the industry and the State. 



In considering the subject, however, it should be borne in mind 

 that, while this report shows a preponderance of barren bottom 

 within the public grounds, much of it, owing to its location, is prac- 

 tically incapable of separation from the natural rocks. An inspec- 

 tion of the chart will show that many of the barren bottoms are 

 between or in the midst of naturally productive bottoms. To 

 exclude them would make necessary an undue multiplication of the 

 public grounds, with an attendant difficulty in policing. 



Effectually to prevent depredations on the natural rocks under 

 the guise of work on adjoining planted grounds, which is a diffi- 

 culty with which the oyster police will have to contend, the public 

 areas should be as few and as compact as possible, and the boundary 

 lines should be straight and easily defined. For this reason the 

 public grounds to be established must, for very practical considera- 

 tions, necessarily include a considerable proportion of barren bottom. 

 Any readjustment of the lines of the Baylor survey should be based 

 on reasonable compromise and adopted only after careful considera- 

 tion by the State. It is believed that the foregoing descriptions and 

 the accompanying charts will furnish a reliable basis for a revision, 

 should the State deem it wise to undertake it. 



