OYSTER CULTURE IN FRANCE. 491 



the highest being double that price ; these were for fat- 

 tening in the claires, and when sold again they brought 

 from 2 to 3 per bushel. 



One of the most lucrative branches of foreign oyster- 

 farming may be now described i.e., the manufacture of the- 

 celebrated green oysters. The greening of oysters, many 

 of which are brought from the He de Re pares, is exten- 

 sively carried on at Marennes, on the banks of the river 

 Seudre, and this particular branch of oyster industry, which 

 extends for leagues along the river, and is also sanctioned 

 by free grants from the State, has some features that are 

 quite distinct from those we have been considering, as the 

 green oyster is of considerably more value than the common 

 white oyster. The peculiar colour and taste of the green 

 oyster are imparted to it by the vegetable substances which 

 "'grow in the beds where it is manipulated. 



This statement, however, is scarcely an answer to the 

 question " why," or rather " how," do the oysters become 

 green ? Some people maintain that the oyster green is a 

 disease of the liver-complaint kind, whilst there are others 

 who attribute the green colour to a parasite that overgrows 

 the mollusc. But the mode of culture adopted is in itself 

 a sufficient answer to the question. The industry carried 

 on at Marennes consists chiefly of the fattening in claires, 

 and the oysters operated upon are at one period of their 

 lives as white as those which are grown at any other place ; 

 indeed, it is only after being steeped for a year or two in 

 the muddy ponds of the river Seudre that they attain their 

 much-prized green hue. The enclosed ponds for the manu- 

 facture of these oysters and, according to all epicurean 

 authority, the green oyster becomes "the oyster par excel- 

 lence" -require to be water-tight, for they are not sub- 

 merged by the sea, except during very high tides. 



