Iiy6 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



The result of our inquiries and experience is, that 

 young oysters should be removed as soon as possible after 

 the spatting season has ceased. The earlier they are 

 removed, the better their chances of growth and healthy 

 existence. With the present easily friable coating of lime, 

 &c., there should be no difficulty in removing an oyster 

 from its first bed after it has lain there three months. 



FATTENING. 



The system of working beds which are never uncovered 

 is much less laborious than that required on ebb-dry mud- 

 banks, inasmuch as the oysters do not require to be moved 

 in the winter for protection from frost. There is, however, 

 constant employment on a large oyster farm of any kind, 

 as an account of the operations of the Whitstable Company 

 will show. 



The Whitstable Free Dredgers' Oyster Company is 

 managed on co-operative principles, and affords employ- 

 ment to a large number of people who must be free 

 dredgers of the town, born and bred. The members 

 themselves number about 400, though the collateral indus- 

 tries to which the business of the company gives rise 

 afford employment to over 3000 men, women and children. 

 The actual business of the company consists in purchasing 

 brood, half-ware and mature oysters, and laying them 

 down to fatten. Very little is done, as in France, by way 

 of breeding, for Whitstable, though undoubtedly one of 

 the best oyster-fattening grounds in the world, is not a 

 good breeding place, being too much exposed to the effects 

 of easterly gales for heat and tranquillity to prevail at the 

 critical time of year. 



From August to May the boats are employed dredging 

 for the market two or three days in each week, in which 



