58 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
one and his neighbor, and laws for the rational protection of 
the fishery have been imperfect or provided no means for 
their own enforcement.* There is bylaw a close season, from 
June 1st to the 15th of September, but is only partially 
observed. The true condition of affairs has been repeatedly 
pointed out by the Fishery Inspectors, and remedies suggested 
by them. Mr_ W. H. Venning, Inspector for New Brunswick, 
has urged year after year the necessity for government inter- 
ference, and Mr. J. H. Duvar, Inspector for Prince Edward 
Island, in his very full reports for 1880-87 has repeatedly 
summarized the whole matter. To the easily accessible reports 
of these two Inspectors,! and to that of Mr. Whiteaves, all 
(mentioned below, those interested in the subject should turn. 
In Prince Edward Island, and to a certain extent in the 
other Provinces, the value of Oysters as food is rivalled by the 
value of their shells as a fertilizer. In the estuaries are im- 
mense deposits of dead shells, the remains of old beds killed 
by silt or other causes. These are mingled with fine rich 
-mud and decomposing animal and vegetable matter, forming 
a muck of the richest character. Before the plough the shells 
break up and give the land the lime in which Prince Edward 
Island is very deficient. This mud is known as Mussel- 
mud, though in most cases it consists almost entirely of Oyster- 
shells. It is taken by large machines worked on the ice by 
horses. As to its value, Mr. J. Hunter Duvar, in his report 
for 1879, says: — “The digging of Mussel-mud for manure — 
Mussel-mud being the shells of old Oyster-beds — is very harm- 
ful to the live beds, but it is scarcely to be doubted that the 
benefit to the country is of more absolute value than the pre- 
servation of the Oyster ; ” again in 1880, “It is not saying 
too much to assert that the product of grass and grain has 
* Mr. J. H. Duvar writes, — “ In the present unsatisfactory and muddled state of 
-the Oyster-law in Prince Edward Island, nobody will risk private Oyster-beds, but 
I have on file over thirty applications for sites for culture so soon as the Department 
will decide on places.” 
tThose of Mr. Duvar, especially, are admirable expositions o* the state and 
needs of the Canadian Oyster-fishery, and have been much consulted in the pre- 
paration of this paper. They are written by one personally familiar with the 
subject. 
