284 REPOKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



our own, develops so rapidly that according to reliable information 

 which I have received, one of these mollusks planted in April, and about 

 three inches in length, will increase by more than half that size before 

 the end of the following autumn. 



I have myself seen oysters planted in the bay of New Haven increase 

 over a half inch in two months. In the course of my investigations, I 

 have eaten oysters from the most celebrated localities, and must say 

 that I have always found them somewhat insipid in taste, a marked 

 characteristic of the species. In Massachusetts, I found them much 

 saltier, which is due both to the peculiar nature of the water, and the 

 soil in which they are cultivated.* 



When eaten raw, they will never probably be as highly esteemed by 

 the epicure as the indigenous species ; but, on the other hand, they will 

 be preferred when the mariner wishes to put them in store, or when 

 they are to be used for culinary purposes, which deprives them of none 

 of their nutritive properties. It would be impossible to find anything 

 more acceptable to the palate than certain preparations of oysters fur- 

 nished by the good restaurants of New York, such as Delmonico's. 



In my opinion the acclimation of this species, susceptible of rapid 

 growth and richer in nutritive substance than ours, will, in one respect, 

 complete the oyster trade of France, bringing into it elements of true 

 alimentary support, while up to this time its contributions have been 

 considered merely as articles of luxury. But it will be necessary to 

 bring the price of the oyster within the limits of every purse, as is the 

 case in the United States, where it is considered one of the most com- 

 mon and cheap means of subsistence. In the public establishments of 

 New York a most excellent soup, made of these mollusca, can be ob- 

 tained for six cents. 



It is only necessary to have assisted, as I have done in the course of my 

 investigations in the daily sale of several thousand oysters by the same 

 merchant, to have witnessed the opening of eight hundred bushels a 

 day in the establishments of Boston and Fair Haven, for the purpose of 

 sending the flesh, packed in ice, into the interior of the country ; it is 

 only necessary, I say, to have taken part in such scenes to become pro- 

 foundly convinced that the raising of shell-fish so prolific must become 

 in France, as in the United States, a most important element for the 

 support of life.t 



I should, therefore, consider it a national blessing if we can obtain 

 their reproduction in France, a consummation which we have every rea- 

 son to hope will take place next spring, since the oysters deposited by 

 M. Coste in the basin of Arcachon have developed as rapidly as in the 

 best American plantations. As soon as reproduction allows them to be 



* The oyster merchants divide these mollusks into " fresh " and " salt " oysters. The 

 latter come from submarine soil, where the sea is not mixed with fresh water. 



tThe American oysters have the advantage of being able to endure the regimen 

 of the parks ; and although some localities suit them better than others, on account of 

 the richness of the soil, they prosper on almost all parts of the coast. Long experi- 



