44 



at fully 300,000, having a value of 3,000,000 francs. 

 With reduced profits the parker of to-day cannot afford 

 the great expense involved in the purchase and upkeep 

 of a large number of cases ; he finds that he must 

 economise on this item and to-day there are not more 

 than 70,000 cases in use. At present then the minimum 

 of cases are employed, just sufficient to accommodate, in 

 crowded mass, the young oysters during the critical 

 period of three to four months following their detach- 

 ment from the collectors. Growth cannot be so rapid as 

 it would be with plenty of cases available, but in practice 

 the parker finds that the extra rapidity of growth given 

 by prolonged case culture is not commensurate with 

 the higher expenditure necessitated. Conditions of 

 trade are such that he must now take risks which his 

 predecessors did not and now that the risks have to be 

 faced, they are not found so dangerous as was imagined. 



As growth increases and space decreases the larger 

 oysters are removed from the cases and spread free on 

 the surface of the park. Formerly when prices were 

 high, shallow ponds, called claires, for the reception and 

 rearing of these oysters were excavated and enclosed on 

 the higher portions of the concessions. Very heavy 

 capital expenditure was incurred in levelling the ground, 

 improving the surface by means of sand and gravel, in 

 constructing solid embankments and in the provision of 

 sluices for regulating the water level. A culturist of 

 to-day would never dream of incurring such expense, 

 indeed the solidly built claire, the true claire, belongs to 

 that early period of oyster culture at Arcachon when 

 conditions were so prosperous as to lead enthusiastic 

 culturists into the rash pursuit of that expensive theore- 

 tical perfection and complexity of method which is so 

 frequently opposed to the commercial success of a young 

 industry. 



The retaining wall of the classic claire, built solidly 

 of clay and gravel retained by heavy planking supported 

 by stout posts has been succeeded by a most ingeni- 

 ous and comparatively cheaply constructed substitute. 



