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practice of taking small undersized oysters. However, since the employment by the Dominion Government in 1892 of an English oyster expert, these hindrances to the welfare of the industry have largely ceased; and to-day old beds are being preserved and replenished, new areas are being laid out, and everything possible is being done in the direction of the scientific propagation and culture of the oyster. The present mode of fishing with tongs and punt, is still primitive, but it is inexpensive and proves least injurious to the beds. The tongs, costing $2.50 per pair, consist of two rakes eighteen inches to thirty-six inches long, with handles fourteen to twenty-four feet long, joined at a certain point by a pivot, and operated somewhat in the manner of a household tongs, bringing the oyster up from depths of from three to twenty feet. The boats used—two men to each—are generally seventeen feet long, supplied with an anchor and a couple of sails, the outfit costing from $12.00 to $18.00. Per man, the average quantity taken to-day off the beds is from two to two and one-half barrels at the beginning of the season, and the returns for a season are from $50.00 to $70.00. At the shore the prices range from $2.50 per barrel upwards, though choice lots command double these figures; and the daily catch per boat ranges from three to six barrels. But the catch and price vary each year owing to the weather; strong winds keeping the fishermen idle, and light breezes off the shore furnishing the best conditions. The close sea- son is from the twenty-third of May to the twenty-third of September, both days inclusive; and fishing is not allowed through the ice, nor before sunrise or after sunset. The minimum limit of oysters allowed to be caught by law is three inches in diameter of shell for round oysters, and three and a half inches of outer shell for long oysters. Large oysters are preferred in Canada, and small ones in the United States, although our friends across the line, when once accustomed to the large ones, prefer them to their own famous Blue Points. In regard to present production and