THE ESSEX OYSTER CULTURE.
47
its object the improvement of the sanitary condition of London, it
is only reasonable to expect that minor interests should suffer, in
the endeavour to obtain the greater good for the greater number. In
the solution of this apparently difficult problem, the minimum injury
to the country and to the rights of individuals should be among the
first considerations. The native oyster is now as highly prized as
when it formed one of the attractions of the Roman visitor to our
shores, and, happily, the taste of the British public cannot be said to
have deteriorated in this respect.
It will not be out of place perhaps to mention that the oyster
ground proper, sometimes becomes overrun with vegetation, in the
form of a dense-growing green weed ; so much so indeed that the
fins of the oyster assume a greenish tint. In these circumstances
the otherwise unfriendly mussel becomes of service to his more
aristocratic relation. Deposited in large quantities upon the weedy
beds, he rapidly clears them by his voracious grazing. This much
assistance received at his hands—or rather mouth—and the weed
having disappeared, he is re-caught, all the better for his change of
ground, but instead of being cherished for his services he is remorse-
lessly despatched to market. As showing that fashions change,
down even to oysters, it may be stated that within the present
century the most seductive cry of the retail vendor was "Rich and
Green, Fit for a Queen."
Of late years the whitebait fisherman (what the small fry called
whitebait really consists of is still a moot point), unable to satisfy the
increasing demands of consumers, no longer confines operations to
his native Thames, but has sought, and unfortunately found, fresh
fields and pastures new. He now plies his small mesh nets in
waters hitherto free of him, with an assiduity little in harmony with
the ideas of those interested in the preservation of immature fish ;
and the shores of many rivers of this neighbourhood are daily
subjected to this destructive process of small-tooth combing. Per-
haps the day is not too distant when Parliament, relieved from party
strife, may, with profit to the nation, find time for investigating this
and various other small domestic matters.
Though of vastly minor importance from a monetary or com-
mercial point of view, there are other interests which would be
injuriously affected by the scheme ; these should also have consider-
tion before spoliation and destruction are permitted. Both the
sportsman and the lover of the picturesque have sound claims to be