360 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



In oyster culture we approach in some degree to the 

 French, although we do not, as they do, except as regards 

 some new companies, begin at the beginning and plant the 

 seed. All that we have yet achieved is the art of nursing 

 the young ' brood,' and of dividing and keeping separate 

 the different kinds of oysters. This is done in parks or 

 farms on various portions of the coasts of Kent and Essex,, 

 and the whole process, from beginning to end, may be 

 viewed at Whitstable, where there is a large oyster ground 

 and a fine fleet of boats kept for the purpose of dredging 

 and planting. 



I have already stated that the Whitstable oyster beds 

 are held as by a joint stock company, into which, however, 

 there is no other way of entrance than by birth, as none 

 but the free dredgermen of the town can hold shares. 

 When a man dies his interest in the company dies with 

 him, but his widow if he was a married man obtains a 

 pension. 



The sales from the public and private beds of Whit- 

 stable sometimes attain a total of ^"200,000 per annum. 

 The business of the company is managed by twelve direc- 

 tors, who are known as ' the Jury.' 



The stock of oysters held in the private layings of the 

 company is said to be of the value of ^200,000. The ex- 

 tent of the public and other oyster-grounds at Whitstable 

 is about twenty-seven square miles. 



The oyster-farm of Whitstable is a co-operation in the 

 best sense of the term, and has been in existence for a 

 long period ; it is the wealthiest and largest oyster corpora- 

 tion in the world. The layings at Whitstable occupy about 

 a mile and a half square. At Whitstable, Faversham, and 

 adjoining grounds, a space of twenty -seven square miles, 

 as I have mentioned above, is taken up in oyster-farms, 



