520 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



from the severity of the cold, a layer of potter's earth 

 mixed with straw is placed in the walls, in order that water 

 may be kept in the receptacle at low tide. The covering 

 of water by which the oysters are overlaid keeps them from 

 contact with the outside cold and frosts. 



The costs of management are shared by each riparian 

 owner. 



The depots and pares are cleaned once or twice a year, 

 it being necessary to clear away the mud deposited by the 

 sea, and the vegetation which springs up. 



The oysters with which the rearing succeeds best come 

 from the Bay of Cancale or the bank of Dives. Neverthe- 

 less, the experiments tried upon Arcachon and Brittany 

 oysters have resulted favourably. 



The rearers of La Hougue consider that the parcing 

 of the oyster should not be for more than two years. The 

 first year it grows from about three to four centimetres ; in 

 the second it grows less, it is true, but it thickens and fat- 

 tens. The native oysters, that is, those fished within a very 

 short radius, can be kept longer. 



The methods of rearing pursued at La Hougue consist 

 chiefly in cleaning and frequently changing the places of 

 the oysters, in order to prevent their being buried in the 

 mud or covered by parasitic sea-weeds, which attach them- 

 selves to the shells, prevent the oyster from opening, and 

 finish by stifling and killing it. 



In the pares these manipulations take place two or 

 three times a month, or even oftener, according to the 

 quantity of earthy matters deposited by the sea and the 

 abundance of marine plants. During the winter it is less 



