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. 
