42 
OYSTEE CULTUBE COMMISSION—MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 
Mr.G.IIaiser. 1428. AVould it not be possible to save them and to plant them on good ground so as to muko them inarket- 
able oysters ? Yes. 
24 Nov., 1S7C. ]^^29. Then there is a great waste of young oysters ? Yes. , . . 
1430. Do you think it^is desirable in the public interest to lease these oyster-bearing rivers m such large 
blocks as are leased at the present time ? I should think not. 3 r i 
1431. Do you think that if persona were licensed to get oysters off the rocks and mangroves, and licrased 
also to dredge for oysters, that it would conduce to the public interest and provide employment for a 
largo number of jiersons ? Yes, it would give employment to a good many, and each man could lay down 
the small stuff and cultivate the oysters, which is not done at present. There are plenty of places where 
if this small stuff was laid down natural beds would bo formed, and that is what is wanted. 
1432. Do you think also it would be desirable that the Government should alienate suitable places for 
fattening purposes, where the young oysters could be laid down to grow and fatten? Yes, that is my 
view of it. . r j. Q T j-i * 1 
1433. You think that would be desirable, and that it would increase the production of oysters t I tliink so. 
1434. Do you think it would cheapen the price to the consumer ? Yes. . , . • n 
1435. And that it would give a great deal of employment to dredgers and others having layings suitable 
for young oysters, besides largely increasing the supply of wholesome food for the public? Yes, sir, that 
is my opinion. Some years ago when I used to work on the rivor.s and I had seven or eight men working 
for mo, I used to save the small stuff* and place it on nice shingly beach ; and after a certain time—about 
two years afterwards—I used to have nice little beds there that looked splendid, 
143G. What do you think would be a reasonable fee to charge oyster-dredgers and oyster-gatherers from 
the rocks and mangroves, and also for the use of licensed boats? Including them all? 
14*37. No, sepanitely; say the oyster-dredgers, for instance; do you think £2 or x3 would be too 
much ? No. 
1438. You think £3 a year would not bo too much for dredging ? No. 
1439. AYouhlj-ou suggest that the boats slmuld be numbered, so that no foreign boats could be used m 
the trade ? Yes. , 
1440. Would you suggest that a small fee should be charged for licensing each boat—say £1, £2, or £3 ? 
That would make it rather heavy. 
1441. Is it desirable, do you think, to take any notice of the boats at all for the protection of the trade ? 
Oh, yes ; by giving licenses and numbering the boats. 
1442. Then what do you suggest ns a reasonable fee for those who take oysters off the rocks and man¬ 
groves ? I think there should be no difference; I think one should be as much as the otlier. 
1443. You would have them each £3 a year? Yes. 
14ti. And you think they would make a comfortable living pa}inga license fee of £3 a year ? They would. 
1445. Do you think that fec should include tlicir families, their wives, and children up to a certain age ? 
Yes; sometimes it would be rather awkward if a man had big strapping sons. 
144G. 1 was merely speaking of the general principle. I may mention what I Iiad in viow.^ The rule in 
IVancc is tliat the wives, and unmarried daughters and sons under fifteen years of age, arc included. Do 
you think a .similar regulation would be suitable to this Colony, and that a license fee of £3 a year should 
comprise tlie wives, and unmarried daughters and sons under fifteen years ? I should not like to recom¬ 
mend it. . 1 • 
1447. What would you suggest then—it is only a matter of detail ? I think that every man haying a 
boat should pav a license fee; but if he has a man with him, it is a question wliether you should license 
the two men or the boat. 
1448. AVhat would you suggest? 1 would suggest that every man who goes in the boat sliould pay £3.' 
1449. And you tliink they would not object ? No. 
1450. And the effect of this would be to give additional employment to labouring men and their families, 
and also to clieapen the price of oysters ? it would. 
1451. Do you consider oysters wholesome food ? I do, sir. 
1452. Are they generally eaten as food to >'our knowledge by tlic labouring elasses ? Down our way 
where they cannot get meat plenty of families live on them ; but now the rivers are leased, they an; ])ro- 
hibited from using them. 'I'hey are threatened with the law, and of course they cannot get them unless 
they do it wlien they arc not seen. 
1453. Unless tlioysteal them in fact? Y'es. 
1454. Dut formerly thev almost lived upon oysters ? Yes, a good many families. 
1455. You have not had sufficient experience of large towns like Sydney to say whether they are a common 
article of food among labouring families ? No, I could not say. 
145G. Hon. J. B. Wihon.] Are any of the natural beds in the rivers you have mentioned still productive 
and in good condition ? Yes. 
1457. Are they in as good condition as they were formerly ? No. 
1458. Ts their deterioration produced by over-dredging? "Yes. 
1450. Do the lessees of these rivers take auy pains to return the young oysters or ware to the beds wlien 
they are taken out, or do they take all the oysters to the bank anil sort them and leave the young oysters 
to die ? That is the genenxl custom. They cull them on the bank ; sometimes they cull them in the boats. 
14G0. Do the lessees as a rule pay much attention to the oysters, or do tliey employ men to get them at 
so much a ba"? They employ blaekfellows and others to get them by.the bag. 
14G1. And they do not care wliere they get them or how ? No. 
14G2. I'cn have stated, in answer to the Chairman, that some .years ago you laid down young oysters iu 
certain localities, and that they grew and fattened in about two years ? Yes. 
14G3. AVhat was tlie nature of the soil on which you laid them ? It was a shingly beach close to the 
14G4. That is to sav, the banks were mud, although under water it was a shingly bcacli ? No, ilio banks 
were shingle, but a"little way from low-water-mark it was mud. 
14G5. AYere these voting oysters laid down in a locality where much fresh water mixes with the salt, or in 
purely salt water? Iu purely salt water. 
14GG. Have you ever known oysters to grow and fatten in the sea without an intermixture of fresh water ? 
Yes, I have seat oysters to market that came from outside the bar, which grew entirely in the open sea on 
the rocks among the buraborers. 14G7, 
