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localities which may be considered worthy of attention 

 and suitable for attempting the development of an 

 oyster industry of considerable extent. When once 

 the organization of such local measures becomes effective 

 then the simpler of the culture methods as developed at 

 Arcachon may be introduced and experimented with and 

 concurrently the example of Karachi emulated in catering 

 for the home market by means of the rail despatch of 

 shucked oysters in ice to up-country and distant stations ; 

 in the event of Pulicat Lake being made a centre for 

 this industry, the facilities afforded by the East Coast 

 Railway for rapid access to the great markets of Calcutta 

 are ideal. In the cold weather season iced sendinsfs 

 should reach consumers in Calcutta in excellent condi- 

 tion if the most elementary precautions be observed. 

 Local demand in Madras city may also be relied on to 

 develop to considerable dimensions if oysters of recog- 

 nized good quality and known to be grown under whole- 

 some conditions be regularly obtainable ; in this case the 

 oysters may be delivered in their shells, unshucked. If 

 the trade be handled in proper fashion home demand may 

 be counted upon to develop rapidly and should prove 

 equal to the production for some years to come. Even- 

 tually should the production prove greatly in excess of 

 these requirements, the surplus should readily find a 

 profitable outlet in the form of those preserved oyster 

 products so popular in America. Desiccated oysters are 

 also in large demand in China but I am doubtful if this 

 form of trade would pay producers seeing that prices for 

 this product are relatively very low and that Indian 

 oystermen would be necessarily handicapped with the 

 expenses of culture as the areas of our natural oyster 

 beds are restricted. 



So far as my personal acquaintance with the two 

 coasts of Madras extends, I consider that the greater 

 potentialities of profitable oyster culture lie on the East 

 Coast. Excluding Cochin and Travancore I know of no 

 really good locality where culture on an extensive and 

 economical scale can be attempted on the Malabar and 



