When the taxes on any oyster grounds within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and under the control of the Commissioner of Agriculture are in arrears for five consecutive years, said commissioner shall notify the owner or owners of such grounds, or their legal representatives, of the fact of such arrears, and if, within three months after the date of such notification, all arrears of taxes on such grounds are not paid, such grounds shall revert to the state; and the commissioner, upon the reversion of such grounds to the state, shall make a certificate of the fact of such reversion for record upon his books, and such grounds shall thereupon be open for application like all other undesignated oyster grounds within the exclusive jurisdiction of the state.