OTSTEB CULTITBE COMMISSION.—APPENDIX. 
78 
5. From spat to full-grown oysters. 
6 . Slate rock, of which there is abundance. . . 
7 and 8. The spatting is gonorally said to bo from about the month of December to March. Seldom it is that two per¬ 
sons agree as to the time. My own opinion, as stated in other reports, is that it varies with the weather and depth of water. 
I observed spatting on some beds, while on others there was no sign of it. 
9. I do not think they should bo leased all in one, but in moderately sized areas. 
10. I do. 
11. Yes. . . . rr u I 
12. The lessee has not in any way improved the beds of this river since it came into his possession. He has laid down 
some young oysters on the mud flats and other suitable places, but removes them for market before they come to maturity, . 
thereby exhausting the banks and beds. ^ r -mt t 
This river is at present under lease to Mr. F. J. G-ibhins, who resides in Sydney. It is under the charge ot Mr. Hatter. 
The oysters are first found in a large mangrove swamp, on the south side, near the residence of Mr. McLeod, imd extend 
upwards on the north side as well for a distance of 6 or 7 miles. The bank near Mr. McLeod s was formerly the best in the 
river ; it is now almost bare. Its dimensions are ^ of a mile in length by 400 yards in width. On the mangrove swamps and 
banks of tho river generally there are very few young oysters to be seen. Two years since they were in almndanc^. 
In the beds of tho river the drift oysters have also become very scarce. At present only three ^ats are at work on the 
Moonlight bed, and they obtain from two to three bags per day. This bod is composed of dead mud oyster ^ells, to which 
tho oysters have cultched. It is tho best place in the river at present. On the Rocky Point bed, the next up the river, it was 
no uncommon thing twelve years ainco for one boat to catch twelve to fourteen bags per day; and from the Chinamans 
bed and reach the export weekly was from 800 to 1,000 hags. The present export does not exceed sixty ou t n 
With tho assistance of Mr. Latter I was enabled to test some of the best of the old beds, viz., Bold Shore, Ices, Goat 
Island, Ireland*6 Point, and Tomploman's—and m no case did the dredge bring up more than one-eighth of a bushel, and in 
some cases three or four oysters only. TIio depth of water on the dredging grounds varies from four to forty fet. 
This river, unlike most of the others, had not the advantage of being closed before it was leased ; indeed it was always 
open to oyster-catchers. I may perhaps be permitted to suggest that it should, if possible, be closed for two or three years 
and placed in charge of some responsible oflicer. As the river is so bare of oysters, I should imagine that such a courae would 
be quite consulting tho interests of tho lessee, and tho more so if he were allowed some reduction in rent during its closed 
period. . . i* i. 1 . i. 
As will be gathered from my several reports, mangroves form a most important item in the economy ot the oyster ; 
therefore, in the prosecution of oyster culture, every care should be taken to protect and encourage their growth. On the 
river, they are at tho present time being cut down for fodder in large quantities: the effect is not only to lessen the cultcli Geld, 
but tho very soil on which they grow becomes changed in a short time from a consistent mud to a boggy sand, also, the saw¬ 
dust from the timber mills is discliargcd into tho river, and must have a very deteriorating influence on the growth of the oyster. 
These arc difficulties against which the lessee has had to contend, and should be taken into consideration in accounting for tho 
bare state of the river. 
It has been said that drift oysters will not grow on tho natural beds. Possibly this may be accounted for by the fa-ct 
that no sooner is a small patch of oysters discovered than it is immediately cleared. A close season will best prove how far 
the assertion is correct. 
I append two letters—one from Mr. Barclay, twelve years’ resident on the river, and the other from Mr. Templeman, 
an old oyster-catcher. The writers are known and respected. 
* I have marked on the tracing the localities referred to in this report. 
I have, &c., 
W. J. LANGUAM, 
Inspector of Oyster Beds. 
\ 
Clyde Biver, April 18,1877. 
1, James Baetiet, have been engaged in tho oyster trade on this river for the last twelve years. For the first two years I 
was able to obtain from nine to ten bags per day ; after that time it gradually came down to as at present. A man cannot 
average more than from three to four bushels per day, working ten hours. 
I wish also to mention that I was engaged on this river to lay down young oysters on beds. On one alone I laid 3,000 
bushels, all of which wore doing well up to tho time of my leaving the employ of tho present lessee. These have been sent to 
market before they came to maturity, and have not been replaced ; in fact, there is not sufficient young oysters on tho river 
at present to do it with, the river being so bare. 
Spawning .—Tho number of years I have been engaged as an oysterman, I have paid groat attention to the spawning of 
oysters, and I am perfectly convinced that oysters on different bods spawn at different times, some early some late in the year, 
there being no particular season on this river I am satisfled. 
Tho deep-water beds which were so proliGc ten to twelve years since have never recovered on beds made again on them; 
at Chinaman Rocky Point and tho old b::d it was no unusual thing for one boat with two men to obtain from fourteen to 
fifteen bags per day at that time. And am convinced if these beds are not stocked with brood that they will never recover of 
their own accord, the bottom being so dredged that nothing is left for the spawn to attach itself to. 
JAMES BARCLAY. 
Nelligen, Clyde River, N.S.W, 
I Thomas Templemak, have been an oysterman sixteen years on the Clyde River, and was able to obtain from six to ten 
bags per day up to the time of the river being leased, at which time myself and sons, and many other families, were deprived 
of the mean, of obtaining a living at our usual avooations. _ TEMPLEMAN. 
Sydney : Charles Potter, Acting Government Printer.—1877 
23—K 
i 
