PELECYPODS 433 



time a Roman named Sergius Grata first cultivated oysters at 

 Baiae. The acuteness of the gastronomic sense of a Roman 

 epicure is thus described by Juvenal : 



He could tell 



At the first mouthful if his oysters fed 

 On the Rutupian or the Lucrine bed 

 Or at Cireeii. 



The poet Gay's opinion is expressed thus : 



The man had sure a palate cover'd o'er 

 With brass or 'steel, that on the rocky shore 

 First broke the oozy oyster's pearly coat, 

 And risk'd the living morsel down his throat. 



The methods employed in oyster-farming resemble those of 

 agriculture, in that the bed is prepared, seed is sown, superfluous 

 and foreign growths are weeded out, enemies are driven off, and 

 the crop is harvested at stated seasons. The oyster is ovovivipa- 

 rous ; that is, it retains its eggs until they are partly matured. 

 These are held in the gills and mantle folds until the time of 

 spawning, which begins in May and lasts through the summer 

 months. The larvae are ejected as ciliated spheres, called spat, 

 and swim freety about for some time, often several days, before 

 finding a resting-spot. The oyster-grower secures many of the 

 larvae by placing in their way substances to which they can 

 attach themselves. The American culturist strews his carefully 

 prepared beds with empty oyster-shells, on which the spat settle, 

 and the seed is thus secured ; for the spat, once fastened, lose 

 the power of locomotion and become fixed. At the end of a 

 year the shells which hold the young oysters (now about an inch 

 long and called "fry") are taken up, and the fry are thinned out 

 and replanted, or are sold to other oyster-farmers. 



During the period of their growth the oysters are sometimes 

 transplanted several times. At the end of three to five years they 

 have attained marketable size, and the beds are then harvested 

 and prepared for another crop. Some oystermen have several 

 acres of bottom under cultivation. These areas are obtained by 

 purchase or grant from the State, and their limits are as defined 



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