*5 



mud occur affording less precarious footing- for the oysters. 

 In such places the oysters are found to be less disposed 

 to cluster, the slipper-form is less well marked and a 

 varying proportion of the oysters exhibit a tendency to 

 broaden and assume the more acceptable outline of the 

 Enolish native. In Pulicat Lake for instance we find 

 considerable deposits in shallow water on a fairly stiff 

 bottom of muddy sand under ideal conditions for culture, 

 but it is noteworthy that so far as the history of these 

 deposits can be traced, they are not natural beds but 

 have arisen accidentally through human agency ; they 

 appear to be the offspring of store-oysters laid down in 

 these places years ago by oystermen in days when a fair 

 demand for Pulicat oysters existed in Madras. The 

 natural beds are those rising from the bottom of muddy 

 channels and creeks, exactly as is seen in the case of the 

 Sind creeks. 



The most extensive beds of oysters in Southern India 

 with which I am acquainted are those of Cochin harbour. 

 These occupy a very extensive area and are never 

 uncovered by the tide. Few are used as food and no 

 export trade is carried on, nevertheless large quantities 

 are collected annually by means of shallow-water diving. 

 (Four to six feet of water is the usual depth over these 

 beds.) The use to which they are put is interesting— 

 they are used as backing for the piles along canal banks 

 and to fill hollows and serve as foundations for dwelling 

 houses in the low-lying marshy sections of the native 

 town. 



(d) The extent to which culture is possible in India ; 

 character' of the control regulations and 

 assistance needful. 



It behoves Madras to profit from the object lesson 

 provided by the complete depletion of the once prosper- 

 ous Sind oyster beds for lack of adequate protective 

 regulations and to make an early application of well- 

 considered and easily enforced bye-laws for the safe- 

 guarding of presently existing beds in those selected 



