THE OYSTER FISHERY OF CONNECTICUT. 
469 
used for the cultivation of any kind of useful shellfish, yet oysters alone have so far 
received special attention. These privileges were not obtained without bitter opposi- 
tion on the part of the “ natural-growthers,” as those persons are called who obtain 
oysters from the natural oyster grounds. 
From this planting of small oysters it was learned a “set”* could be obtained 
on shells or on oysters placed on grounds other than natural beds. This knowledge 
led to an extension of deep-water planting, and was the source of the i)reseut pros- 
perity of the oyster fishery of Connecticut. 
Planting was at first confined entirely to shallow water, and it was not until about 
10 years later (18G5 and subsequently) that men were bold enough to put out oysters 
in as much as 20 feet of water. This was first done off Norotou Point, in the town of 
Norwalk. Steam-power was soon after (1874) introduced for dredging oysters both 
on public and private beds, and by means of this agency the depth was gradually 
increased on private grounds at Norwalk to 30 feet and more, and this was soon fol- 
lowed by deep-water planting in the vicinity of New Haven, and later in other parts 
of the State. 
But experience soon showed that, to engage in the cultivation of oysters in deep 
water, much additional and costly apparatus was required, and it was not profitable 
to farm so small an area as 2 acres. Consequently, the “ 2-acre ” law was evaded, 
and many additional acres were obtained by some oystermeu, who induced their 
neighbors and friends to aid them by each making application for 2 acres, at the 
same time signing a quitclaim in favor of the person for whom the action was really 
taken. Large areas were obtained in this manner by some individuals.^ indeed, there 
is on record a deed or quitclaim transferring to one man the ground rights of 224 men. 
Much of the ground, however, was held solely by “squatter” rights. 
The manner in which the ground was at that time designated was so loose and 
unmethodical as to cause much litigation. There were numerous conflicting claims 
among the owners of private grounds and between them and the “ natural-growthers.’? 
These difficulties led to important legislation. In 1881 the State legislature recognized 
the necessity of placing the designation of the oyster grounds under systematic and 
authoritative control ; therefore it enacted a law establishing the State Shellfish Com- 
mission, and invested it with the right of granting ijerpetual franchises “ in such un- 
designated grounds within said area as are not and for ten years have not been natural 
clam or oyster beds.” 
The “ said area” alluded to was “ bounded westerly and southerly by the State of 
New York, easterly by the State of Ehode Island, and northerly by a line following 
the coast of the State at high water, which shall cross all its bays, rivers, creeks, and 
inlets at such places nearest Long Island Sound as are within and between points on 
the opposite shores from one of which objects and what is done on the opposite shore 
can be discerned with the naked eye, or could be discerned but for intervening 
* There is no word in the Northern States for infant oysters, except the terms “set,” “spat,” 
“spawn,” etc., all of which belong originally to the eggs or spawn of the oyster, and not to the young, 
but are frequently and confusedly applied as well to the half-grown mollusks. In the South the name 
“blister” (referring to its smooth, puffed-up appearance) is given to the infant oysters, and serves to 
distinguish them from “seed,” “ cullens,” and “oysters,” which represent the successively larger sizes 
and stages of growth. — The Oyster Industry of the United States, by Ernest Ingersoll, p. 95. 
