556 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



28 or 29 in breadth, and receive water every tide. Each 

 compartment contains 200 cases, arranged in a line with 

 the direction of the rising tide, and separated from each 

 other by spaces of 50 centimetres. All the cases are num- 

 bered, which prevents the spat brought from different places 

 being mixed up confusedly, and allows of its progress being 

 ascertained. These boxes are ballasted by large stones. 

 The interior is divided into five or six compartments, 

 separated by cross-pieces of wood, so that the young 

 oysters may not be displaced by the action of the sea. 

 Under the influence of the currents the spat attains an 

 extraordinary development ; and I have seen young oysters 

 picked off this year, which in the course of three months 

 had grown from 4 centimetres to 4^- centimetres. 



Oysters of slow growth, whether the product of dredg- 

 ing or artificial rearing, soon attain a vigorous growth 

 under this system. M. Pozzi this year placed 70,000 such 

 oysters under the fall from his mill flood-gates. He con- 

 trived by the regulating of his sluices to secure a strong 

 current, almost a cascade, and in 40 days these oysters, 

 which had averaged 3 centimetres, attained to 6 and 7 

 centimetres. 



The submersible basins, the pare of Kistinie, and those 

 of the Isle of Lerne, are devoted to rearing spat in cases ; 

 but the parts of these last pares, where the currents are not 

 perceptible, are reserved for laying down, an operation to 

 which oysters already 4 or 5 centimetres in size are sub- 

 jected. The growth of the oysters laid on the soil is only 

 about 2 centimetres, but the shell becomes round, deep, 

 and of good form. The fish, without being fat, fills it 

 well. It is true that fattening is not the end which M. 

 Pozzi has in view ; he has simply tried to take advantage 



