602 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



oyster cultivation. His intelligence, and the devotion he 

 displays in all his duties, allow of the hope that this new 

 enterprise will be a success. 



On many other points of our sea-shore the rearing of 

 oysters engages attention. 



I do not consider it desirable to pass in review all the 

 localities where the industry is exercised, but I will ask 

 your permission, M. le Ministre, to speak a few words 

 respecting one of these centres which, I think, possesses 

 special interest. 



I wish to speak of the pares established some time 

 since at Courseulles. They are situated in the vicinity of 

 the Seulle, a small river which runs into the sea at this 

 point of our Norman coast. 



The canals which communicate with the sea and the 

 oyster basins are so disposed that when the sea rises it 

 cannot, during neap tide, get beyond the sluice gates ; 

 consequently, during that period, the sea water is not 

 renewed. During spring-tide the salt water can enter the 

 canals, but only after having mixed with the fresh water of 

 the Seulle. 



Pure sea water never enters the pares. 



It has been long ago remarked that the oysters placed 

 in the basins of Courseulles fatten rapidly and acquire a 

 particularly delicate taste. 



I have thought it important to bring forward these 

 facts, because, from all I have learnt and from all I have 

 seen, it appears to me that the blending of fresh and salt 

 water is a condition which, if not indispensable, is at all 

 events one of the most advantageous for the fattening of 

 the oyster. In the same way, the currents influence, in 

 an unquestionably beneficial way, the growth of the oyster. 



