The oyster industry at Marion is practically dead. The last grants expired some ten or twelve years ago, and were never renewed. Of the two original natural beds, that in Blankinship's Cove is now almost entirely depleted, while the larger and more important bed in the Weweantit River has greatly declined in importance. This bed, however, still supplies all the marketable oysters produced within the town, though the annual production is insignificant. From twenty-five to thirty years ago the oyster industry had its beginning, and for a time flourished. Almost all the available territory, both in the harbor and in the Weweantit River, was granted. The older grants were leased for fifteen years, and those of later date were arranged to run out at the same time; so it followed that all the leases expired simultaneously, and the industry came to an abrupt end. These old grants were not renewed, for two reasons: first, they had not paid very well; and, secondly, the growing quahaug industry promised more lucrative returns. The scallops, too, began to be abundant, and the old oyster business gave way before its newer and more prosperous competitors. _Fall River District._ The Fall River district, comprising the six towns of Fall River, Freetown, Berkley, Dighton, Somerset and Swansea, may best be treated as a geographical unit. The oyster industries of the individual communities overlap to a considerable extent, and make distinct separation difficult, while, as the same methods of culture everywhere obtain and the same problems and difficulties are encountered, a brief survey of this whole region may be comprehensively discussed in one article. The beautiful shores of Mount Hope Bay and its tributary streams, the Cole, Lee and Taunton rivers, furnish an extensive territory for a large oyster industry. The best of this area is now included within the confines of the bay itself, though the Cole and Lee rivers furnish a small but valuable addition. The Taunton River, however, which thirty years ago produced the finest oysters in the State, and was the main source of supply for this district, has become utterly worthless for the growth of marketable oysters. In fact, this river, with its curious history, and the difficulties which it now presents to the carrying on of an important and profitable industry, furnishes the most interesting problem of this whole region. This river embraces the entire oyster territory of Freetown, Berkley and Dighton and portions of Somerset and Fall River,--certainly half of all the available territory of the whole section; and yet it is an indisputable fact that this large and formerly profitable area is now altogether unsuitable for the production of edible shellfish.