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tion has already been duly made, and which is located more than 1,000 feet distant from any 

 shore line at ordinary mean low tide, upon which to cultivate oysters, or propagate the same 

 by artificial methods, which said application shall particularly describe the territory desired, 

 said County Commissioners or said Ordinary, shall require the applicant to advertise in the 

 newspaper which is the official paper of the county in which the said territory is located, for 

 thirty days, a notice of said application, particularly describing the territory desired, and its 

 location in reference to the nearest lands and upon the expiration of said advertisement the 

 said County Commissioners or said Ordinary shall, unless satisfactory proof is made to them, 

 on a hearing duly had, that said territory prior to the filing of said application has been 

 resorted to by the public for the purpose of procuring oysters by the use of tongs for con- 

 sumption or sale, grant, in the name of, and in behalf of the State, to such person or persons, 

 by written instrument, a lease of such territory for fifty years, for the purpose of cultivating 

 and propagating oysters ; and thereupon the person or persons to whom the same may be 

 leased shall, under the direction of the County Surveyor, distinctly stake or buoy the same, 

 and shall cause a survey of said territory to be made and placed on file in the office of the 

 Clerk of the Superior Court for record with said lease; provided, that no applicant shall be 

 entitled to receive from said authority a lease for more than five hundred acres within said 

 waters; and provided further, that the planting, cultivating, and dredging of oysters therein 

 shall in nowise interfere with navigation. 



Section io. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That each person applying for and 

 receiving a lease of five hundred acres or less under Section 9 of this Act, shall plant at least 

 one-tenth of said leased territory, at the rate of not less than one hundred bushels of oysters 

 or shells per acre in each and every year, beginning with the planting season next after a 

 lease therefor has been executed; and for a failure thereof, the lessee of said territory shall 

 forfeit to the State so much of said territory as is not so cultivated as prescribed by this 

 section; and if said lessee shall at any time during the term of his lease, abandon said terri- 

 tory and cease to cultivate oysters thereon for one year, said lease shall be void, and said 

 territory revert to the State. Oysters shall not be taken from said territory for sale or for 

 consumption until at least one year after oysters or shells have been planted thereon. 



Section ii. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That all leases under the provisions 

 of this Act, and all transfers thereof shall be recorded by the person or persons to whom such 

 leases or transfers are made in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court, in like manner as 

 deeds of real estate are required to be recorded, in a separate book to be kept for that purpose, 

 but no lessee of tracts larger than five acres shall be authorized to sublet or assign his lease, 

 or any portion of the territory conveyed thereby, until he shall have reduced to cultivation at 

 least one-tenth of the territory leased by him. 



Section 12. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That for all the leases provided for 

 by this Act the person or persons to whom such leases are made shall pay to the proper 

 authority making such leases the sum of one dollar for each and eveiy acre so leased, and all 

 the money so paid shall be appropriated to the school fund of the State, and in addition to 

 said sum a fee of fifty cents for leases of five-acre tracts or less; and for all leases of territory 

 beyond said limit of 1,000 feet, a fee of two and a half per cent., estimated upon the amount 

 paid for the territory thus leased, shall be paid to the authority making the lease. 



Section 13. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the application and leases 

 hereinbefore provided for shall be in like manner and form as shall be approved by the Attor- 

 ney General of this State. 



Section 14. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall not be lawful without 

 authority from the owner or owners for any person to take or catch any oysters from any 

 private bed, nor to remove nor deface any oyster marks; and any person violating this section 

 shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as prescribed in Sec- 

 tion 4310 of the Code. 



