24 
OYSTER CITLTUBE COMMISSION—MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 
^Ir. P. James. 6S6. Are you aware that tlionc beds were M'orked out at that time by over-dredging ? Yes, but as far as 
I can see, these mud oysters can be dredged and annihilated much sooner tlian the rock oysters. I notice 
13 Nov., 1876. Victoria they are almost altogether annihilated from over-dredging. 
687. Are you aware that the oyster docs not thrive so well near the sea coast where the water is veiy 
salt ? I know that the nearer the coast the smaller the oyster is. 
688. For instance, you do not get as good oysters down at Shark Island and in the bay as you do up the 
river? N’o ; in the bed where we are dredging them now the water is very fresh, and if we take these 
same oysters and put them down at Balmain they die at once ; I have had 160 bags of oysters die there 
in one week from the change from fresh to salt water. You could come every day and see them open 
their mouths and die. One year we lost about 700 bags of them over at Balmain. 
6S9. Do vou know as a fact that there are any oysters of that kind in the Parramatta Biver now? There 
are some odd ones, I believe. 
690. You do not know whether that bed has resuscitated itself since ? I do not know that it has. 
691. Do you export oysters ? Yes, of course we export the most of ours. 
692. Where do you send them to ? To Melbounie. 
693. Does Queensland send many oysters to Sydney ? A great many lately. 
694. Are they superior or inferior to ours ? Last year they were superior, but tliis year we shall beat 
them again. i • i i 
695. What is the reason of that, do you know; is it because of the drought ? Xo, I think they have 
over-dredged their beds. 
696. And New Zealand also produces some oysters ? Yes, but not many come here. 
Mr. Henry Wallace Bell next examined:— 
Mr. II. W. 697. Chairman.~\ You are aware that the object of this Commission is to obtain information as to the 
Bell. best mode of cultivating and utilizing the oyster in this country, and of improving and maintaining the 
natural beds ? Yes. 
13 Nor., 1876. g}iall be obliged to you for any information you cau give us. You are an oyster merchant in 
Sydney, I believe ? Yes. 
699. Have you been many years in business in Sydney ? Yes, for the last ten or twelve years. 
700. Have you had aiw experience in England ? A little. 
701. In what part of England ? In Kent. 
702. What was the name of the river ? The AVhitstable. 
703. Were you one of the proprietors? No. 
704. But every one horn in Whitstable is a proprietor, is he not ? No, he must be descended from those 
to whom the original grant was made. 
705. Have you worked on any of the oyster beds on that river, or seen the working of them ? Yes ; not 
on the Company’s ground, hut on the Commons’ ground. 
706. Are you proprietor or lessee from the Government of any rivers in this Colony ? I am interested 
in the Tuross Eiver and Brow Lake. ^ , t. i • 
707. Have you done anything in the way of breeding or fattening oysters? Nothing more than laying 
down brood by one party. 
708. What do you understand by brood—is it the same as spat ? Yes. ^ r • ■ 
709. But in Whitstable they call it spat when it is a year old, brood when it is two years, ware when it is 
three years, and at four years old it is an oyster and saleable ? Yes. 
710. Then when 3 ^ou state that you laid down brood, you mean you laid down spat about a year old? 
Yes, about that; from six months to that age. 
711. And what was the result of that experiment—did the}' grow and fatten well ? Yes, at the particular 
place where wo put them down. 
712. What was the nature of the soil on which you planted them ? It was slightly inclined to mud, but 
not much, with a mixture of shell and stone. 
713. Dead oyster shells ? Shells of various kinds and stone. 
714. W'hcre was this ? On the Tuross Eiver. 
715. And they grew and fattened well ? Yes, some of them soon became saleable. 
716. Then as far as your experience goes it has been a success? Yes, as far as we have tried it. The 
extent of ground was very limited, or we might have gone on further with it. 
717. There must be a great deal more of that kind of ground on the Tuross Elver? Yes, but it is all 
liable to floods. 
718. The piece you made use of then was an exceiition ? Yes, it was just out of the reach of the flood 
in what we call the Tuross Lake; it is onlj' a branch of the river. 
719. Is it connected with the tidal water ? Yes, hut it is out of the reach of the debris from the floods. 
720. Is it a marsh? No, it is not a lake in reality, but only a branch of the river ; but the residents in 
the neighbourhood call it a lake. It is something similar to the portion which I understand j'ou hold on 
the George’s Eiver—a bight running in from the river. 
721. What I wish to understand from you is whether it is possible b\' artificial means to make a great 
deal more of that fattening ground for oysters ? 1 think it could be done with safety where there is no 
liabilih' to floods. 
722. Don’t you think more branches could be made where oysters could grow and fatten ? I can onl}^ 
speak of the Tuross Eiver, where they would all be swept away by the floods. 
723. I do not know an^'thing about the banks of the Tuross Eiver ? They are very limited. 
724. Do you think the rivers that you are acquainted with have been much injured by over-dredging ? 
Yes, greatly so. 
725. A great many oysters have been consumed to make lime? I believe large quantities of them have 
been burnt for lime. 
726. Has that been the case on the Tuross Eiver ? Yes. 
727. How long ago was that ? As far as I can learn, some five or six years ago it was a constant practice 
bv some of the residents. 
728 . 
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