CoNSEBVATION COMMISSION. 19 



to be worth from $500 to $5,0-00 per acre, depending on productiv- 

 ity. Uplands planted to corn under favorable cultivation yield a 

 hundred fold. Shell-fish lands cultivated under modern methods 

 are capable of producing twelve hundred fold. There is of course 

 as much difference in the relative value of oyster lands as exists 

 in the value of agricultural lands. 



In view of this plain fact the levy of a tax of twenty-five cents 

 per acre upon all lands without respect to value is upon its face 

 unwise and unjust. Various States have given consideration to 

 this problem and without going into details of their experience it 

 is established that the most practical and fair method of taxation 

 is the one which provides for the appraisal of all shellfish lands 

 and a determination of their value upon the basis of productivity 

 and the imposition of a small amount per centum of tax upon the 

 determined value. The methods used can easily follow the present 

 methods for the appraisal and taxation of real estate values under 

 our general tax laws. The result would be a revenue of at least 

 $100,000 to the State, which might be available to the bureau for 

 extending its system of protection of oyster lands, the establish- 

 ment of experimental stations for the scientific study of shell and 

 marine fish protection. Some idea of the possibilities of develop- 

 ment with the added revenue derived from the proposed system 

 of taxation may be had when attention is called to the fact that the 

 total output of marine species at the Cold Spring Harbor station 

 for the period ending June 30, 1911, was 338,600,000. This total 

 represents food fish exclusively and includes about 45,000,000 of 

 lobsters alone, a species which five years ago was all but extinct 

 in our waters, but the artificial propagation of which under great 

 difficulties has been successfully carried on under the direction of 

 the State Fish Culturist. 



The most serious problem with which the Conservation Commis- 

 sion is called upon to deal in the administration of this bureau is 

 that of pollution of our public waters by the untreated sewage of 

 municipalities and the waste of manufacturing plants. Thousands 

 of acres of shellfish lands have been destroyed by the deposits of 

 contaminating substances. Public health is jeopardized and the 

 migratory food fish supply reduced by the destruction of great 

 numbers of fish in waters polluted by various manufactur- 

 ing waste. It is estimated that in the Hudson river alone over 



