14 
OTSTCT. CTTiTraE COmrTSSTOX—^rTXrTT:S OP PTTPP>'’CP. 
Mr, G-. 389. That iR the only distinction? Tor ; we know wlion they arc salcahlo. • p , ji • i 
Clarlte. Toil do not increase the production of the oystern ? ^ot by artificial nicauB; in tact there is sucli 
^ tpiantity of them that if it were not for tlie floods in tlic rivers tlioy would become of no \aluc. 
10 j\ov., 1876. Zealand produce many ovKters ? (h-cat quantities. 
392. Do many of them come in to Sydney? Some of them. 
393. Do they fetch a ^ood price? There is no sale for tliem—they arc ilirown away. 
394. Ho?i. B. Wilson.'] Is there any export trado^ for oysters from this Colony except in bags to 
jVIclbourne—are any preserved oysters sent away ? Xo. pi- • i 
395. Do you happen to know what the annual export of oystcr.s is from the town of Baltimore in the 
United Htates of America? Soiuethiiig fabulous, I believe. 
396. Is it two millions sterling. Can yon see any reason why wc sliould not preserve oysters and send 
them np the country ? The oysters you arc speaking of arc dillcrent from ours. 3f you were to preserve 
our oysters you would find tliat tliey would shrivel u]) into little tilings flic size of jiuts. 
397. Have you seen any of tho American oysters in the market before they were pi’escrved? Yes. 
398. Are tfiey larger than that {exhihltinq top of inlc-slaniT) ? Much larger. 
399. A\^ell, I have seen Anieriean oysters, and I have seen mucli larger ones here ? ^Vo used to have very 
largo oysters of that kind in the Parramatta Diver. 
400. Mr. Furnell] But they were not better than tliosb in the George and Clarence Divers? Ao.^ I 
have been a lover of oysters all my life, and I never saw finer oysters than those from the George s Diver, 
but they have deteriorated lUTich in flavour. ^ ■ i i 
401. After mature consideration, do you think it is unucccssary in any particular river to have a close 
season ? Xot while wc have such a profusion of oysters. 
402. Do you know whether the oysters to tlie noi’tli spawn sooner than those to the south of the Colonj’' ? 
I do not. 
403. Tlie oysters in the northern i*ivcrs spawn sooner than those in tlie soutlicrn rivers ? I do not thinlc 
so; the Newcastle oystei’s spawn somewhere about Cliristinas fiinc, or a liDlc after. ^ 
401. Do you know whether the oysters spawn during the winter moiitlis ? If it is the spawning tliat 
causes them to ho poor I should say they all spawn in the winter montlis—Alay, June, July, and August 
are the four months that they are supposed lo he the poorest. But 1 have had oysters from tlie Turqss 
Diver quite fat during those mtmths ; it v ouldlie impossible to find fatter or finer. 
405. Mon. J. B. Wilson.] Are there not many circumstances that would lend to make oysters poor 
other than spawning, arc tlierc—for instance, would not floods sicken tliem and mnkc ibeiu poor? Ib'esli 
water makes them fat; I have known llieiu burst with fatness. 
406. AVhen thei*e is a great quantity of alluvium settling down after a flood luis it not a tendency to make 
them poor? \V"ell, tlie Hunter Diver has deteriorated very much this year, and I liavc never been able fo 
ascertain tho cause. I have thought that the steamboat tralHc u|)on it has interfered witlitlie beds very mueh. 
407. Mr. FarnelL] It would afFcet the spawn? Ves, it docs not settle. During the last three or 
four years the oysters from the Huntci* have deteriorated in every resfiect. 
408. Arc you aware that severe frosty weatlier afTccts tlu* spawn of* oysters at a certain stage of their 
growth ? No, 1 am not. 
‘109. I think you said you did not know how mucli spat a single oyster will produce ? I do not; 1 have 
asked a good many fishermen, but none of ihem could toll me. 
410. The number is about two millions? Is it? 
411. You do not think it is desirable to lease these rivers in small areas? I do not think it wouhl pay ; 
several persons have talam rivers in that wav, and they have all given tliem up. 'Phere is only Captain (Iriflln, 
of Port Stephens, who has ke])t his on, and lie cannot get any oysters out of his crock only about two bags 
a week ; he has been ten ^-ears at it. ' 
412. Chah'man^ Are there many stolen oysters consumed in Sydney, do you ihink ? Well, even now at 
the present time it is done. There is only one river of which 1 can speak with any very great eertaiiity, 
and that is the Parramatta Diver; hundreds and thousands of hags have bc(m stolen out of it since tlie closing. 
413. AVhat would you suggest to prevent it? 1 have seen a good many convictions lately at the Water 
Police Coxa4 by Inspector Ferris, but wbetber tho fine is not sufficient or what is the reason 1 cannot say, 
but they go at it again. 
414. "What can you suggest—Do you think imprisonment instead of a fine, after the second or third 
offence, would have tlio effect of putting a stop to it ? That might deter them. 
415. Don’t you think the receiver is just as had as the thief ? You sec they don't ask any questions; 
a man sees a good bag of oysters and he buys it. 
416. Sliould not some precautions be taken, sucii as are adopted to prevent cattle-stealing; for instance, 
men taking cattle from one place to unotlicr must liavo a pass ; a butcher must have a license, and so 
on—AVhat is your opinion as to the best precaution to take to prevent oyster-stealing? I don’t think 
anything would prevent it in tho Parrainatta Diver. 
41*7. Mr. Farnell.] Unless you had a sufficient number of persons to watch tliem ? I don’t think it 
could be done; why they are getting the oysters all the time they are watching tho police boat, under 
some bank among the rocks. 
418. Chairman^ Then you think that it is better to let them continue to steal ratlier lliaii ta adopt 
stricter measures to prevent tliem? AVell,you see these men look upon the oyster beds as a sort of lieir- 
loom. They say to me—“ AVe hare got our living on this river for yours, and av(* are surprised at you, 
Clarke, f rying to take the bread out’of our moutlis.” 
419. But if these men were licensed, and paid £1 a year for the rigid to take oysters off tlie rocks, in tho 
same way ns timber-cutters are licensed to cuttimber, would not that effectually prevent sfonling ? AVcll, 
Ihoro would be no harm in it. 
420. AVliat is yoiu* opinion as a practical man? I know tluit on the Parramatta Diver the oysters xvould 
still be stolen. * 
421. But tho men would pay tho £1 a year, would they not ? A^es, they would pay ihaf;. 
422; How long would it toke them to strip the whole river in that way ? It would not take long—there 
would be a great number of persons. 
423. If all the oysters were taken away there would be none left to spami ? OIi, there is plenty of 
spawm ] in fact the rivers were never in better condition than they are at present. 
Mr. 
