1084 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



water in the basin of the Scheldt would reach 70 Fah. 

 If that were the case every year, it might have an impor- 

 tant bearing on the'production of oysters. He did not see 

 that it could be the result of the climate ; but it might be 

 the result of currents of water perhaps a portion of the 

 Gulf Stream, which touched that part of the coast. The 

 great advantage of the method pursued in Holland seemed 

 to be this, that every year there was a fall of spat, filling 

 the great basin which had been described, and the culti- 

 vators had nothing to do but to place their collectors 

 above and below low water mark, in order to collect this 

 natural floating spat. Now it must be admitted that for 

 many years past there had been no natural floating spat 

 on the English oyster-beds at all. The question was, did 

 that arise from the small stock of oysters, or was it entirely 

 climatic ? He could quite understand what had been said 

 by Professor Hubrecht about the enormous advantage of 

 leaving portions of the shore undisturbed where a large 

 stock of oysters was maintained, and it was a well-known 

 fact that the water near the shore was warmer than that 

 further out. He had known the water in his river at 

 Beaulieu from 75 to 78, that temperature being produced 

 by its water being so shallow. If, therefore, the breeding- 

 oysters lay within a short distance of the shore, he could 

 perfectly understand that the warmth of the water would 

 bring them forward to maturity, and thus this large quantity 

 of spat might be derived. The breeding of oysters artificially 

 in ponds had been tried in this country, and he had tried 

 it himself ; but whether from want of experience or care- 

 lessness, had not been successful in bringing any large 

 quantity of the oysters which were bred to maturity. In 

 1878, he bred two ponds quite full of oysters, probably 

 eight to ten millions : but he believed from 25,000 to 



