I I I 8 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



than welcome the Marquis of Lome, who, loyally anxious 

 for the extension of England's commerce continues thus 

 in his able article, already mentioned. 



" Lord Montagu's fishery is one of the few English 

 breeding and rearing places prepared by private owners. 

 Whitstable, to which so many of the 'Frenchmen' are 

 sent to be fattened, is the largest field for this industry. 

 It is a pity that there are so few. But in France there 

 are now many places where large crops are grown. All 

 along the Brittany and Normandy coasts these exist, and 

 the names of ' Cancales ' and 'Marennes' are familiar to 

 everybody. The great multiplication on the French coast 

 is entirely due the wise initiative of the Government in 

 granting ' concessions,' or ground at a very low rent. 

 Would that we could persuade our Government to follow 

 such an admirable lead." 



And what, in the name of common sense, is to pre- 

 vent us from " persuading" the Government to do so, were 

 but the public taught the inestimable value of this great 

 edible and commercial benefit ? 



Is it too Quixotic to hope for this in the near future ? 

 or too Utopian for practical outcome in our ostraculturally- 

 neglected country? "Quixotism" or " Utopianism ' is 

 one of the pet words of an optimist Legislature. And, in 

 the words of a celebrated writer, " I believe the quiet 

 admission which we are all of us so ready to make, that 

 because things have long been wrong it is impossible they 

 should ever be right, is one of the most fatal sources of 

 misery and crime from which this world suffers." So that, 

 whenever a man, or any body of men representing a 

 government, dissuades you (the latter by the misapplica- 

 tion of their duty) from doing well, because perfection is 



