(_b_) At the same time that the oysters were being taken from the beds, the early oystermen through ignorance were making an economic blunder by not returning the shells to the waters. The oyster shells furnish naturally the best surfaces for the collection of "seed," as spat will set only on clean surfaces. By taking the large oysters and with them the shells and other débris from the bed, the natural oyster bars were destroyed and less space given for the spat to catch. So both the taking of the large oysters in excessive amounts and the destruction of the natural spat collectors, either for lime, as was done at Wellfleet, or for other purposes, were sufficient in the early days to cause the decline of the natural oyster beds. (_c_) In more recent times the destruction of the natural beds has been hastened by the taking of the small oysters. This practice was due to two reasons: (1) the supply of large oysters was exhausted; (2) oyster culture became important, and the natural beds were raked clean for "seed" which the oystermen obtained for planting on their grants. Thus the oyster grant system has been the chief cause of the destruction of the natural beds in the last forty years. It was only when the natural beds failed that grants were given, and so oyster culture cannot be considered the primary cause of the destruction of the natural beds, but only a later agency in their total extermination. The natural beds in Buzzards Bay all bear testimony to these three means of overfishing, and in recent years particularly to the last. It has been a most fortunate thing for Massachusetts that the oyster grant system was inaugurated as soon as the decline of the natural fishery became manifest, else at the present time there would be no oysters in the State, for it is recognized that the present natural beds are perpetuated by the spawn which comes from the various oyster grants. Foresight has indeed provided an excellent oyster industry, which is rapidly improving. It is only necessary to apply similar methods of culture to the other shellfish industries of the State to insure their future also; otherwise the decline, which is following the same steps as the destruction of the natural oyster beds, will lead to the commercial extinction of these valuable fisheries. _Results of the Survey._