4 
OYSTEU CriTTTEE COMMISSION—MINUTES OE ETIDENCE. 
Mr. F. mention Sydney as the mean temperature between the two extremes—have you considered that the 
G-ibbins. climate of Sydney, which produces the orange and the vine, is a suitable one for t!ie culture of the oyster ? 
C ^ have not. 
1 OT., 8/6. Have you had any experience in oyster culture in Europe? No, only in this country. 
89. Then you have had no opportunity of comparing one climate with another? No. 
90. But you ai’c aware that several years ago in England they did not get any spat? Yes. 
91. That is never the case here, because we have no frost or snow ? No. 
92. Do you think, from what you have seen, that this country is particularly adapted to oyster culture— 
that they can bo produc^jd to any extent if tliere is a market for them ? Yes. I think they are produced 
to too great an extent at present. 
93. But if they come to be exported, either by freezing or some other process (the Americans, I believe, 
export them in tins), they would bo a very valuable article of export. Don’t you think in that case that 
they could be grown to supply almost any demand ? No, not to such an extent as that. 
91. Why not? Well, I have never heard of any of the oyster beds at Home being swejit away by floods, 
such as we have here. 
95. But in England the oyster has a great many enemies ; they have tlie five-fingers, and the dog whelk, 
and many other enemies, and they are dredged from a great distance in order to get clear of these enemies ? 
There arc many places in this country M'here the beds are so swept with floods that the lessees arc almost 
afraid to go into the business. 
96. Do tlie floods affect the rock oysters as well as tlie others ? All of them. In one creek—tlic Browra 
Creek—in the Hawkesbury, during the heavy flood of ’07, every oyster in tlie creek was killed, and at that 
time there must have been .some thousands of bags of them in it. I have been improving that place 
since, and it is now coming on again—that was eiglit years ago. 
97. Y^ou find oysters fatten best in ground where there is some fresh water as well as salt, do you 
not ? Yes, wherever the waters mingle, frcsli and salt, the oysters get on better ; when the water is 
entirely salt they have not the same flavour. 
98. Hon, J. B. PFihon.'] AVith regard to the selling of oysters, do you not think some provision should bo 
made under Avhich every captain of a vessel should be held responsible for every oyster he carriiHl to the 
C’listom House, that they should bo entered in his manifest, and tliat lie should be able to sliow Avhat licds 
they came from, and to whom they belonged ? Supposing he did not put tlicm on his manifest he w'ould 
not be boarded by any oflicer, and he might put them into any boat he chose Avlieii going up the harbour. 
99. But 1 am supposing there Avere proper oOlccrs to look after this traiKc, and not that tilings should 
remain as they are, in a state of neglect. Don’t yon tliinlc a great deal miglit bo done to prevent the 
stealing of oysters? No, because it is all done at night, and 1 do not think any oflicer could really look 
after it. Pop instance, Avhcu a vessel Avas coming up what could be easier than to send a telegram for a 
boat to meet her at any given place. Of course it Avould pay the parties to send a boat, as they Avould 
get the oysters at a Ioav price. 
100. Thei'o can bo no doubt that a fcAv oysters Avould be smuggled in that way, but Avitli proper 
precaution a great deal of stealing might be prevented, flum used to be smuggled in that Avay, but it has 
been put a stop to ? Tlic Parramatta En-er is the Avorst place for that; I haA^e seen some very fine oysters 
sold ill Sydney, and I haA^e been told they came from Air. Holt’s place. 
101. I am speaking of putting doAvn wholesale stealing by means of proper supervision? A\Y*ll, tlio 
Parramatta BiAXT is the worst place. j\lr. Thompson can tell you that 1 liaA'C called upon him about it 
until 1 am almost ashamed to see him. Immense quantities ItaAO lieon coming in from tlierc. 
102. Of course Ave are looking to tlic future, and nut to Avhat is going on iioav, and J Avant to kiiOAv Avhetlier 
you do not think that AA'itli proper supervision and inspection of the oysters impoi-ted and exported, if they 
were brought under the Customs regulations, this Avliolesale stealing miglit be prevented ? Yes, to a 
great extent. 
103. Arc any oysters preserved for export iu this Colony ? I do not think so ; I tried to prcsoiTC them 
myself, but tlie attempt turned out a failure. 
lot. Are any oysters so preserved tliat they can be Iransiintted to tlie toAvns in tlie interior? There is 
i\o occasion for it. 
10.5- l)o you mean there is no demand? No, but aa'C send tliem up without preserving them. 
106. Yon Avould find it very difficult to send a bag of oy.sters to Fort Bourke, for instance, on account of 
tlie carriage. 1 am speaking of toAA'us in the interior of "the Colony ? 1 am supplying the Adelaide market 
at present. I am not sending them further up the country than Bathurst. 
10/. AreyouaAvaretluit theyexportlargelj^from the toAvnof Baltimore, iu the United States of America? No. 
108. Avould you bo surprised to hear that the annual export from that toAvn amounted to tAvo millions 
sierling. ^ Ihoy take so much care of them tlicro that, notAvithstauding that oysters are an article of 
almost universal consumption, they export two millions sterling peFanmiin ? T do not think tlicy can take 
more care of them than I do, Init I do not know AA’hether they have the same difUcultics to contend Avith. 
>Siiicc 1 have had the Clyde Biver, the oysters I laid doAvu to form a bed liaA'c never groAvn at all; thev 
are all gone—the last flood coA-ered them all over. 
100. C OA’crcd them Avitli aaiul ? Acs, it A\’as all black sand Avhere they Avere, 
110. Arc there not places in f licsc rivers where licds could be made Avliich would be protected from tlio 
floods ? No, sir, I think not, with the exception of the 1 fawkesbury Kiver. I suppose I have at the nresent 
time not less than 10,000 bags laid doAvn to form beds. ^ 
111. Are they natural beds or artificial —did you lay doAvn ballast or any other material to form them No 
112. Nothing but oysters ? No. 
113. They were tolerably firm then—free from mud ? Only a little of it; of cour.so there must be some 
mud in every bed. 
114. Did you pay attention to the nature of the soil on the banks of the rivers where you laid doAvn the 
beds—you AV'ould not think of putting oysters down on sand? No; the bed in the Clyde Eiver Avas 
originally sand, but it was a great place for mud oysters until they all died off. 
115. Have you done anything in the Hawkesbury or other rivers to improve the natural beds and to try 
and extend them ? There are very feAv natural beds in the IlaAvkesbury Eiv(?r. 
116. IlaA^e you done anything to improve or extend those that are there ? Yes. 
117. IIoAv haA^c you done it ? By laying <1oavu other oysters on them. 
118. But have you tried to extend them by laying doAvn dead oyster shells or other material ? No ■ in all 
rivers there are too many dead oyster shells—any quantity of them, ^ 119, 
