OYSTER CULTURE IN GERMANY. 645 



appreciation of the famous ostracultural Professor's merit 

 in his valuable scientific work, and the profoundly instruc- 

 tive lessons contained therein, the first chapter of which, 

 treating on German Oyster Culture, gives the following 

 information under the heading 



THE SEA-FLATS. 



Among those oysters which are produced in the waters 

 of the west coast of Europe, the Holstein oyster has, for 

 more than a hundred years, maintained a well-merited 

 celebrity. The beds which furnish them lie along the 

 west coast of Schleswig-Holstein, in a territory only 74 

 kilometers long by 22 broad. The most and the best 

 oysters are found on the east side of the island of Sylt 

 and in the neighbourhood of the islands of Amrum and 

 Fohr. 



Along the northern boundary of the German oyster- 

 territory, near the island of Rom, and along the southern 

 boundary, near the islands of Pellworm and Nordstrand, 

 opposite the city of Husum, there are only a few insignifi- 

 cant beds. And since the flavour of the oyster is entirely 

 dependent upon the quality and quantity of food in the 

 water in which it grows, it becomes necessary, first of all, 

 to examine into the character of the soil and water of the 

 Schleswig-Holstein Archipelago. In comparison with the 

 open North Sea, this portion of our coast is a very shallow 

 division of the ocean. Along the entire southern portion 

 of the open North Sea, between Germany, Holland, 

 England, and Scotland, the general depth is from 35 to 45 

 meters. In no place in the Schleswig-Holstein Archi- 

 pelago is the water as deep as this, the greatest depth 

 being 15 to 20 meters, and this only in the channels which 

 connect it with the open sea. The floor of this archipelago 



