ARTIFICIAL OYSTER CULTIVATION. II 87 



which kill the oysters or consume their food, should be 

 destroyed (after being brought on shore). 



It would be much more judicious, and much better for 

 those who eat oysters, if the close- time could be extended 

 until the i5th of September or the ist of October, so as to 

 allow the oysters sufficient time, after the expulsion of the 

 contents of the generative organs, to become fat before 

 being brought to the table. 



If it is desired that the oyster banks should remain of 

 general advantage to the public, and a permanent source 

 of profit to the inhabitants of the coast, the number of 

 oysters taken from the beds yearly must not depend upon 

 the demands of the consumers, or be governed by a high 

 price, but must be regulated solely and entirely by the 

 amount of increase upon the beds, (e) 



Thus far, in the scientific development and practical 

 outcome of this Chapter, I have held aloof from interrup- 

 ting the ably expressed and valuable theories of those 

 writers whose observations adorn these pages, and whose 

 names honour them. I have so done not from an assumed 

 feeling of modesty, but from motives of respect for the 

 said authorities, and consideration for the reader's mental 

 ease and comfort, in not clashing my humble suggestions 

 with the deeply studied and most learned opinions men- 

 tioned ; inasmuch as, had I done so, it might have 

 tended to render my purpose in writing this chapter less 

 explicit to the reader's intelligence than the order adopted. 

 And so, with all due respect to those Masters in Science, 

 I respectfully venture to state that from my own observa- 

 tions I am led to think that 



(e) " The Oyster and Oyster-Culture," p. 65. 



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