6i 



pointed at each end. They are cut of sufficient length 

 for the upper portion to project 8 or 9 inches when the 

 lower end is embedded to a depth 4 to 5 inches in the 

 ground (PI. V., fig. 16). These pointed stakes or piquets 

 are very largely employed wherever the Portuguese 

 oyster is under cultivation, the voracious tere being most 

 partial to this species whose shell though thicker is 

 softer and without the very hard porcelain-like nacreous 

 lining that the indigenous oyster, O. edulis, possesses. 

 The piquets are very closely set, not more than 10 to 

 12 inches apart, and although obtained at a very cheap 

 rate (Rs. 1-8-0 to Rs. 1-14-0 per 100) from the pine 

 forests surrounding the basin, the great numbers re- 

 quired to afford adequate protection form a heavy item 

 in the parkers' annual budget. Against the expenses of 

 fencing and picquetage is to be set the fact that they 

 insure all but entire immunity irom one of the chief 

 sources of loss to which the culturist is exposed. It may 

 also be noted that fencing has the additional advantages 

 of providing boundary marks and serving as obstruc- 

 tions to the carrying away of oysters from the parks by 

 storm action and the floating power of certain sea-weeds. 

 In some cases where regular claire bunds are not em- 

 ployed, this surrounding outer fence is constructed in 

 composite fashion combining in itself the functions of 

 fencing and claire bund. In such case instead of being- a 

 simple and single row of closely set branches, it is double 

 rowed at the base, a space of 8 to 12 inches separating 

 an inner row of tall poles from an outer line of much 

 shorter stakes. This space to a height of 6 to 8 inches 

 is filled in with tightly packed brushwood, either the 

 feathery ends of pine branches or, better still, bundles of 

 tall-growing heather. In emplanting the outer row of 

 short stakes wliich project afoot or 18 inches above the 

 surface care is taken to place them at an angle inclining 

 slightly inwards in order to keep the brushwood firmly 

 in position. 



It is necessary to note here that adjoining parks 

 may not have a common or party boundary fence ; the 



