The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-02-09
BREAK THE SURVEY,
BAYLOR ADVISES
CONTINUED from First Page.)

Se.J
s--------------- ---
was sending great quantities OF seed
to Delaware and New Jersey, while to-
day number of oyster planters testi-
ned before the Senate Committee on
Fish and Game, that 1t was a CONNER
cial impossibility to get enough seed
to keep their business going. This
reduction of the available supply OF
seed is due to tho rapidly diminishing
area In which the oyster naturally
grows. There are as already stated,
10000 acres in the Baylor survey
while the number of acres that actual
ly produce oysters in sufficient guam
titles to make their taking commer-
cially profitable is not believed to
be more than $4,000.
Itnpidiy DimlnlshinE.
In its last annual report the State
Board of Fisheries admits that the
business Of taking oysters by licensed
tongers is rapidly diminishing, and the
planters are unanimous in their claim
that unless they get more seed at
once they will be compelled to leave
Virginia and go to Maryland, Delaware
or Connecticut. where proper laws are
in force.
1t Is frequently asked how the laws
affect the growing of oysters. The an
swer is very simple. There are within
the Baylor survey tens of thousands of
acres of land which produce no oys-
tiers at all at present and which, by
proper handling. could be made i'm
mensely profitable. In order to gain
this profit however. 1t would be neces-
sary for the State to allow individuals
the right to spread shells on these
barren bottoms. as they are called, in
order that these shells might catch
the spawn which floats from thu oys-
ters at certain seasons.
This spawn when 1t touches any
thing hard. but preferably an oyster
she'll, Strikes" that Is. makes itself
fast and prepares to grow. Under tho
laws as they are administered at pres
ent the great part of this spawn floats
out to sea, and is. therefore, wasted
for all practical purposes. while, as
the planters allege. IL they were al
barren public bottoms, they would be
able to save from waste large part
of these valuable seed.
Will Anybody Answers
The first question that the outsider
asks on hearing discussion Of this
sort is, why has this thing not been
done before? The answers are various
and 1t Is very hard to get one which
will give complete satisfaction. The
in its effort to get at
the bottom of this question, recently
submitted to Senator'S G.. Harding
Walker and B. T. Gunter the follow
ing questions
First-since other stntes have
demonstrated the great possibilities
of revenue to be derived from oys-
ter planting, why does not Virginia
make some definite effort to pro-
mote this Industry
SecOnd-Since nearly all of the
net revenue of the State Board Of
Fisheries has been derived from
the oyster planter, with no corre-
spending burden of expense, why
has not the State given more atten-
ton to the production ana develop
ment Of oyster planting, instend of
expanding nll of it's time and mp
propriatiOn in chasing down few
lnw-brenkinE tonEerss
,rhird-AdmittinE the Virginia
oyster laws need revision and that
the oyster industry could be made
extremely valuable to the whole
state, what remedy do you suggcsts
The Times-Dispatch chose Senator's
Walker and Gunter because of their
great familiarity with the oyster ques-
ton, as the result of their long resi-
dence In the Underwater section. Both
of these gentlemen, however, declined
at the present time to answer these
questions over their own signatures for
publication.
What Planter Says.
Mr. Richard Armstrong, OF Hampton,
n well-known planter, who has recent
~ appeared before the Senate commit
tee on the question of oyster laws. IS
authority for the statement that Com
nerticut, which has adopted the prin-
sciple of letting the planter put his
oyster shells where they Will eaten