584 ARTICLE 19 A.

the State Game Warden, and to that end the records, charts, papers, docu-
ments and all other papers and property of said boards and officers, or any
of them, shall be transferred to and kept in the office of the Conservation
Commissioner of Maryland. The following offices are hereby abolished,
viz: The Commissioners of Fisheries, the Board of Shell Fish Commis-
sioners and the State Conservation Bureau. The Commander of the State
Fishery Force and the State Game Warden are placed upon the staff of the
Commissioner as hereinbefore provided.

An. Code, sec. 6. 1916, ch. 682.

6. The Commissioner shall adopt such measures as he may deem ex-
pedient to promote and encourage the leasing of the barren bottoms of the
State for purposes of oyster culture under the present or future laws of the
State, and the Commissioner shall take such steps as he can to stimulate an
interest in private planting thereon.

An. Code, sec. 7. 1916, ch. 682.

7. The Commissioner shall have charge of the operation and cultiva-
tion and replenishing of reserved areas upon the depleted natural bars
of the State, and he shall have and exercise all of the discretion heretofore
vested in the Commander of the State Fishery Force as to setting aside or
reopening any of the depleted areas reserved for oyster conservation.

An. Code sec. 8. 1916, ch. 682.

8. The Commissioner shall have control over the inspection of oysters,
fish or crabs wherever caught or sold in the State of Maryland and of the
enforcement of the cull laws and other protective measures. He shall see
that all laws relating to licenses and inspections are enforced; and the
general measurers and inspectors of oysters and the special inspectors shall
be appointed by the Commissioner and shall report to him whenever
required.

An. Code, sec. 9. 1916, ch. 682.

9. The funds now known as the " Oyster Fund," the " Oyster Conser-
vation Fund," and the " Fund for the Conservation of Natural Oyster
Bars," are hereby consolidated into a fund to be known as the " Conserva-
tion Fund," and the moneys now paid or which would be hereafter payable
into the State Treasury to the credit of any of said funds, including all
revenue from oyster culture, shall be placed in the " Conservation Fund "
and shall be under the exclusive control of the Commissioner, and shall
be drawn upon for the payment of office rent and supplies, for salaries and
expenses of the Commissioner, his staff and employees, for equipment and
maintenance of the State Fishery Force, and for any other expenses in-
curred by the Commissioner in the propagation, cultivation and protection
of the natural resources of the State above enumerated, the surplus, if
any, at the end of the fiscal year fixed by the Commissioner, to become
a part of the general funds of the State Treasury, first reserving, how-
ever, a balance of ten thousand dollars at the end of each year to be