Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-01-25
THE OYSTER COUNTRY.
What 1t Wants and How the Legislature
Can Help IL.
M1LESBEcK. Va. January 20, 1891.
To 1e Editor of the D1sDdtch:

Mn1ENBEcK. Va. January 20. 1891.
To ne Editor of the D1Spdtch:
In your editorial Of January I'd you
struck the keynote of the oyster question,
and if the committee appointed by the
last Legislature to investigate the oyster
question IN all of its bearings VII carefully
read that short article they will find more
solid sense in it than they learned during
all their summer excursions, repeat. the
people do demand that the planters shall be
allowed to lease their grounds from the
State for terms sufficiently long and with
privileges of renewal sufficiently explicit
and liberal to Justify them in making large
expenditures for the propagation OF oys-
tiers.
AS your correspondent from White
Marsh, Gloucester county, says, 1t is won
der that any one propagates an oyster at
all under our present law. Instead OF pro-
tecting and encouraging the industry it
allows him to be robbed of his property by
a set of heartless piratical sharks;
Some four years ago citizen living on
the Piankitank river had piece OF shore
surveyed TO him, which he filled with
shells. As soon as the oysters caught on
them became marketable the tongsmen
suddenly found that all the shore was nat
ural rock and carried the case to court,
and as forty or fifty were swearing against
one man. the owner of the shore and oys-
tiers. the court decided it was a natural
rock and ordered it to be turned out to the
public.
About four wears ago neighbor of mine
had an assignment of eight or ten acres
made TO him by an inspector. He covered
it with shells and has a very fine growth of
oysters on them. As oysters are scarce on
the natural rocks the tongsmen are try
ing TO get this coveted prize thrown open
to the public. They have already declared
swearing that he is occupying natural
rocks. You can readily see the
dilemma he is in, for he is afraid to take
up his oysters for fear OF arouslng the
jealousy of the covetous tongsmen.
Others seeing this are afraid TO go in the
business at all.
There are many thousands of acres in
the rivers at present that do not pay the
State or individual anything TO speak of,
which shows if let out TO the citizens to
propagate oysters on will greatly benefit
both planter and State.
From the Potomac river to Hampton
Roads in the Chesapeake bay, a distance of
sixty-fye miles, there is strip along the
shore fully three miles wide suitable for
propagatlng oysters. The eastern side of
the bay will afford equally as much if not
more. This is equal TO strip six miles
wide and sixty-fve long, or 800 square
miles OF 249. GOO acres.
If the little State of Connecticut, with
her 100 miles of saltwater frontage. is
doing such wonders growing oysters under
a good law. how much more ought Virginia
to accomplish with her frontage of 1850
miles. suitable for growing the finest oys-
tiers in the world?
Politicians have been riding into Office
on this oyster question long enough. just
so long as they are allowed to ride into the
Legislature on this hobby we will never
have an oyster-law. As soon as this vexed
question Is once settled, like 0thello, their
occupation Is gone. j. Q. TowLEs.