OYSTER CULTURE IN FRANCE. 543 



The Ter is a river with a muddy bottom ; it is far from 

 wide, and at low water of spring tides nothing remains but 

 a narrow channel ; the grounds which can be utilised are 

 consequently very limited in extent. A reserve pond, situ- 

 ated a little above, allows fresh water to escape into the 

 river. 



Before deriving any profit from this part of the mari- 

 time domain, considerable difficulties have to be sur- 

 mounted. Before thinking: of laying down ovsters on this 



j j 



moving mass of mud, it was necessary to consolidate it. 

 MM. Charles succeeded in making the soil solid, by spread- 

 ing gravel and sand over their concession. 



M. Turlure attained the same result by other means ; 

 thinking that the work of consolidation on his concession 

 would involve too great expense, he adopted a system of 

 cemented basins, invented by M. Michel, an engineer, which 

 permitted him to utilise all the projecting (emergentes) por- 

 tions of his pares. 



These basins, which are 50 centimetres in length by 30 

 or 40 in breadth, and are arranged in rows, between which 

 space is left open for working the pares, present this advan- 

 tage, that the oysters enclosed in them cannot be injured 

 by the variations of temperature, for they retain a depth of 

 from 10 to 12 centimetres of water when the tide goes 

 down. 



The Oyster Society, of which M.. Turlure is the direc- 

 tor, possesses 60,000 of these basins. The capacity of 

 these receptacles varies with the size of the oyster in the 

 first stage, and during the first year each basin will contain 

 300 ; in the second, 150 ; in the third, 75. 



These pares are not the only ones established on the 

 ground worked under the management of M. Turlure. At 

 the back of the workshops and warehouses two large 



