44 
OTSTEE CUITUEE COilillSSIOK—OF ETIDEKCE. 
Ill a very good state. 
Sixteen. 
3Ir.G.Haiscr.l515. Did YOU leave them for a month, or a year, Or two years? f T,.! will eomoL 
,-- expected this small stuff to grow much ; I simply threw them down to sec what they 'VouM come to. 
21 IfoT., 1876.They were the eullings of the oysters which you dredged from the natural beds ics.^ 
1517. Ancl you never expected them to grow large, or looked upon them a.s a soui'ce ot jirolit. ISo. 
1518. Are you engaged in dredging oysters now ? No. i „ 
1519. How came you to give up that occupation ? On account of the rivers being . - 
1520. Have you applied for a lease or sent iu a tender at any time ? i have applied at different times for 
four places. . , , i r o 
1521. Xow wliat state was that river in at the time you dredged it tor oysters . 
1522. What do you call good ? 1 call four bags a day good. 
1523. And how many bags could you get iu the day when you first commeiiceu . 
1524. And you got tour bags a day just before it was leased ? Yes. 
1525. And the other rivet's were just iu the same state ? Yes. t i • b 
1526. 1)0 you know in what year these rivers were leased ? About /3 1 think. , r 
1527. Do you know what they have been producing—the rivers you have been worlung on before they 
were leased ? I could not say exactly ; I have seen a great many oysters sent away Irom them. 
1528. You do not know, as a fact, whether they have improved since they vieve leased . 
1529. You have had no experience whatever in the cultivation of oysters '' JNo, 1 never tried it. 
1530. You have only taken them from their natural beds ? That is all. it i , 
1531. Eeferring to your answers to Mv. Wilson about the swamps: have you a 3alt-^\ater marsh 
belonging to you ? Yes. 
1532. Is it extensive ? It is. 
1533. What height of tide goes over it—is it drv at low-water? Ics. 
1534. At ordinary times what depth of water is there ? About 2 feet. 
Of course there is more at spring tides. 
young 
you ? 
1535. And at springtides? cuurwt; mciu m uiuiv iiu . . i j i i 
1536. Chairman.'] And you have been deterred from improving this imu’sh ni order to lajr down 
oysters to grow and fatten from fear of the lessee of the Tuross Kiver, Mr. (jibbnis, uiterlcring Avith 
T es. 1 
1537. Because he has interfered Avith a neighbour of yours who had laid down oysters on the swamp and 
liad claimed them himself? Yes. 
1538. Mr. FarnelL] Is the marsh your freehold property ? No. 
1539. Does your property adjoin it ? Yes. 
1510. Have you made application to purchase it ? No. 
1541. Then it is to all intents and purposes CroAvu land? The tide goes over it. 
1542. Yes, but that doc.s not give you a right to it—you have not purchased any Ireehold over which 
the tide flows? No. iU n ■ 
1543. Chairman.] If the lessee had not interfered with you, Avhat would you have done with this swamp ? 
I should have cut a couple of trcnchc.s to let the salt water flow in and out of it. 
1544. Did you ever hear of that being done ? Yes. 
1545. Where? On the Moruya. ■ u 4 . 1 . 
1546. Will you be kind enough to describe what you have seen ? They have a salt-water marsh there, and 
they lay down oysters in it and let the tide flow in and out ot it. ^ 
1547. Do the oysters grow and fatten there ? Yes. T admired the idea, and Avould have done the same 
thing A\nth the marsh at my place. xi 4 . * 1 . t 
1548. Are you aware that that is carried on to a great extent in France ; that they take what you call 
trenches, but what they call clairs, to oyster grounds ? 1 have heard of it, but I never knew anything 
about it before. „ -r^ 4 . 1 . • 1 -j. 
1549. Dr. Wilson lias asked you some questions about a lease for thirty* years. Do you think it would 
encourage persons to cultivate more, and to expend more labour and capital on oyster culture, if they were 
allowed to purchase the fee simple of the land to a limited extent, so that it might descend trom lather to 
son for generations, or even centuries ? I think it would. u- 1 • 
1550. Do you see auy objection to persons being allowed to purclia.se land covered with water Avhich is not 
required for navigation ? No sir, I do not. • - i, ■ 1 
1551. Would not that have a beneficial eiiect in the improvement of the district, besides causing a 
considerable increase in the production of oysters? Tes, it Avould give employment to a good many 
persons. 
TFUDJSrUSDAY, 29 NOVEMBER, 1876. 
iilrcficnt:— 
Hon. J. holt, | Hon. J. B. WILSON. 
The IIon. THO:^^AS IIO]/r, :M.L.C., in the Chair. 
Mr. AVilliain John Langham, Inspector of Oyster Bods, called in and further examined :— 
Mr. W. J. 1552. Chairman.] You have given us evidence in re.spcct to many of the rivers that are leased, but not the 
Langham. -wholo o£ them ? Yes ; the others are only small places. 
1553. AVhat are the leased rivers of which you liave not given ns .any infoi'mation. To begin with the 
29 Nov., 1876. Pai-ramutta JHver, is any portion of that river leased? There ate two small leases on it. 
1554. To Avhom i-ire the leases granted, Mr. Langham ? One is to Mr. Gascoigne, and the other to Mr. 
Baldwin. 
1555. AVhat are the areas of those leases ? They arc only small frontages. One of them is about Ih, 
and the other 2 or 3 acres. 
1556. They arc both frontages to the properties of the lessees ? Yes. 
1557. Are these leased portions of the river buoyed off iu any way? No. 
1558. AVhat rent do the lessees pay for them? About £1 each, or a little more. I think there is no 
difference between them. 
1559. And you say they are not buoyed oft* ? No, there are a few stakes round Mr. Baldwin’s place, that 
is all. ' ‘ ^ 1560. 
