420 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 276

taken. Whenever any oyster measuring less than three inches
in length adheres so closely to a larger oyster as to render
removal impossible without destroying the smaller oyster,
. then such oysters, including the larger oyster, shall be re-
turned to the rock, bed, or shoal whence taken. All shells
and all oysters measuring less than three inches in length,
once passed the culler, shall be considered as not having been
culled; and it shall be unlawful for any person to take, buy,
sell, or have in possession, except under provisions of the
following Sub-section, any shells or oysters taken from the
Potomac River measuring less than three inches in length.
Whenever any inspector or other officer shall have reason to
believe that this Sub-section has been violated with respect to
culling of oysters, such inspector or other officer is hereby
authorized to examine the cargo, hold, bin, or lot of oysters, and
if said oysters consist of five per cent (5%) or more of shells
and of oysters whose shells measure less than three inches in
length, the person in charge of such oysters shall be deemed
guilty of violating the provisions of this Sub-section.

(g) (Removal of Seed Oysters from the Upper Potomac
River.) It shall be lawful between the first day of January
and the first day of May in every year for any citizen of the
State of Maryland or of the Commonwealth of Virginia who
has been granted a permit as hereinafter provided to buy from
duly licensed tongers and to carry out of the Potomac River
for the purpose of planting in the waters of Maryland or
Virginia, seed oysters or oysters whose shells measure less
than three inches from hinge to mouth, provided such oysters
be caught above or upstream of a line poining North Point at
the mouth of Upper Machodoc Creek in the County of King
George in Virginia to Lower Cedar Point in Charles County
in Maryland.

(h) (Permits for the Removal of Seed Oysters from the
Potomac River.) Any citizen of the State of Maryland or of
the Commonwealth of Virginia wishing to purchase and carry
seed oysters from the Upper Potomac River in accordance
with the preceding Sub-section shall first obtain a permit for
each boat to be used in carrying said oysters. Such person
shall apply for such permit to any oyster inspector or other
officer of the State or Commonwealth of which the applicant
is a citizen. Said applicant shall state the name and tonnage
(if registered in the customs house) of the boat for which a
permit is sought, the name of the owner and master of said
boat, and to what waters in Maryland or Virginia such cargo
of oysters shall be carried. The applicant shall then take and
subscribe to an oath before said officer that said boat shall
not be used for carrying any cargo of oysters to any other