580 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



St. Joseph possess a basin containing 200,000 oysters. The 

 basin having been frozen over, MM. de Montauge" im- 

 mediately had the water renewed, and the reservoir covered 

 with straw and hay. This plan succeeded, and only 100 

 specimens suffered from the frost. 



I will not leave the establishment of St. Joseph without 

 noting an interesting fact. In the pares which are most 

 exposed to rough weather, and during the stormy season, 

 the oysters are turned, and laid on their flat sides. 



This ingenious arrangement renders the animal less 

 accessible to the action of the cold, and gives the shell a 

 firmer position, thus preventing it from being too easily 

 lifted by the surf from the waves, and from being thrown 

 to a distance by the violence of the sea. 



MM. Grangeneuve & Co. also possess an establishment 

 which deserves special mention. M. Grangeneuve has 

 solved the difficult problem of raising the oyster in oyster- 

 boxes from its birth, until it is fit for eating, whilst 

 diminishing the great expense which the adoption of this 

 method involves. His establishment is very fine, and no 

 pains have been spared to render it one of the most 

 complete of Arcachon. M. Grenier's station is also of the 

 greatest interest. M. Grenier is one of the oldest parc- 

 owners of the basin, and he has more than once rendered 

 services to the industry in which he has so long been 

 engaged. 



MM. Brown & Goubie have introduced into their pares 

 cemented daires, which greatly diminish the expenses of 

 maintenance necessitated by the ordinary daires. These 

 daires are expensive to construct, but are very solid, and 

 especially useful on grounds flooded by the sea. 



M.^Vidal, on the contrary, in the construction of his 

 daires, uses neither tiles, boards, nor cement. He has 



