OYSTER CULTURE IN ENGLAND. 351 



is partly owing, according to M. Delidon, to the clumsy 

 shape of the knife with which the operation is performed ; 

 but, in a great measure, also to the circumstance that the 

 oyster is fixed to the naked tile or stone, whereas, if the 

 latter were coated with some substance that would resist 

 the action of the water, but could be removed without 

 much difficulty, by mechanical means, all this loss might 

 be obviated. M. Delidon recommends for this purpose a 

 composition he has tried successfully for the space of two 

 years, and consisting of plaster of Paris made up into a 

 paste with oil. 



The Calais oyster would be in great request did not its 

 weight and size prevent its transport. It is described as 

 white and of a very delicate flavour, and is taken from a 

 bed remarkably clean and free from mud, about 2^ kilo- 

 metres to the north of the harbour. The average weight 

 of these oysters is about 71 English pounds per 100 oysters. 

 Their sale is, therefore, limited in a great measure to the 

 immediate neighbourhood ; some are sent to St. Omer, 

 and even to Lille and Arras, but beyond that point the 

 cost of carriage becomes too great, and consequently not 

 more than five boats from the port of Calais engage in the 

 trade. These five boats, how r ever, take from 558,000 to 

 620,000 oysters annually, which fetched from 35f. to 4-of. 

 per grand mille, or 1,240 oysters, and in dear seasons are 

 sold at 5of. and even 6of. per grand mille. 



I extract the following paragraph relative to Oyster 

 Culture in England, from a recent number of " Sale and 

 Exchange," (1889).- 



" Every year the demand increases, and though, for a 

 time, it may be easy for the capitalist who establishes new 

 beds to see his money back, those who hold on must 

 realise very handsome returns so as to give a very fair 



