OYSTER CULTURE IN ENGLAND. 



399 



CAPITAL AND DIVIDEND ACCOUNT. 



24, Ladbroke Square, W., 30^ November, 1876. 



Sir, I beg to inform you that, with reference to 

 former correspondence and your letter of the 2nd instant, 

 I visited the grounds of the Fish and Oyster Breeding 

 Company, in the Blackwater, on the 2 3rd instant, and 

 made a further and more complete inspection of the 

 .fishery. 



The result confirms the view expressed in my former 

 report as to the condition of the ground then dredged, 

 viz., that portion on which the greater part of the company's 

 oysters are laid down for fattening. I found it in a very 

 fair state of cultivation, and stocked with a not inconsider- 

 able number of oysters, ware and half ware, which, upon 

 examination, proved to be "well fished ' : and in good 

 marketable condition. 



On the other parts of the ground, which contain a 

 sprinkling of oysters, the cultivation is only partial ; that 

 is to say, whilst the mud which originally covered them 

 has been cleared away, the cultch which remains shows a 

 large admixture of loose stones, which appear to form the 

 natural solum of the channel, and of old shell cultch, 

 which is in itselr to a great extent " dead," i.e., presenting 

 that rusty appearance indicating that it no longer forms a 

 favourable resting place for spat. Accordingly, I found no 



