i 5 4 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



mouths of creeks or rivers, and not distant from beds already known. 

 They generally exist as long, narrow ridges, very thickly stocked and 

 having their greatest dimension in the direction of the current. Those 

 areas where the bottom is sticky and the change from deep water sud- 

 den are most likely to reward a search. 



The extension of the old beds can be effected by depositing suit- 

 able " cultch " upon the bottoms contiguous to the bed, and thus 

 afford a place for the attachment of the drifting " spat." Stones, bal- 

 last, old pieces of earthenware, water-pipes, and old shells form excel- 

 lent cultch, and, if any of these are scattered about the beds, a good 

 catch may be confidently expected. Care must be taken to deposit 

 the cultch upon those bottoms sufficiently consistent to support it, and 

 also to make the deposit upon such areas as lie in the direction of the 

 tidal currents, so that the young brood, rising from the natural beds, 

 may be carried over the newly exposed cultch. If a number of ma- 

 ture oysters are deposited with the shells, they will materially assist 

 in the extension of the beds. The cultch should be exposed late in the 

 sjiring, so as to insure its cleanliness, as that is very desirable. 



The consumption of the oyster is constantly increasing, and as the 

 demand increases so will the disposition to fish the beds, and, should 

 there be any failure of the supply, the increased price consequent upon 

 that failure will induce even more exhaustive fishery ; and it will be- 

 come so great, if it has not already, that only strict protective laws, 

 rigidly enforced, will be sufficient to protect the beds, and prevent the 

 destruction of the industry. 



There is, however, another means of maintaining the fecundity of 

 the beds, which merits consideration. 



During the summer of 1879, Professor W. K. Brooks was success- 

 ful in securing, by artificial means, the fertilization of the eggs of the 

 female, and in protecting the offspring for some time. Though, ow- 

 ing to various unforeseen combinations of natural causes, and to the 

 accidents incidental to all tentative work, he has not been successful 

 in maintaining the embryos until such a time as they could be depos- 

 ited upon the beds with a certainty of survival, yet he has accom- 

 plished sufficient to show that the impregnation of the female cells 

 can be easily and certainly achieved by a very simple process ; and, 

 as probably the greatest loss of the young is due to the failure of the 

 ova to meet the male fluid at the proper time, any method which will 

 insure such contact and protect the embryos, for even a limited pe- 

 riod, is of great value, and well worthy of the attention of those in- 

 terested in the preservation of the oyster-fishery. 



Any protection afforded the young oyster assures the maturity of 

 a greater number, and, as the beds are failing from a want of repro- 

 duction, due to the absence of mature oysters, any method which will 

 insure the maturity of an abnormal number should be brought, if pos- 

 sible, to a point of practical benefit. 



