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year 1859 Coste however had not sought more than the 

 restoration of prosperity to the old natural oyster beds, 

 even his vivid and exuberant imagination had not 

 realized the full possibilities possessed by methods of 

 artificially collecting oyster spat ; it was only when in 

 this year he was sent by the Emperor Napoleon to 

 Arcachon in response to urgent appeals for the favour 

 of his expert judgment that this further import of his 

 cultural methods was realized, and he perceived how in 

 shallow bays, as that of Arcachon, the actual farming 

 of oysters by hundreds of proprietors was easily within 

 reach. 



Coste recommended Government example in the first 

 instance ; he proposed the formation of two Imperial 

 oyster parks to serve as model farms, to become at once 

 public seed beds and establishments for the collection 

 of spat in large quantities and for the trial of different 

 forms of spat collectors. 



After examination of the proposals the Government 

 furnished the means to carry out this programme in its 

 entirety. The chosen surfaces were carefully prepared 

 and 100 cubic metres of cockle shells were spread in 

 order to consolidate the bottom ; 2 millions of stock 

 oysters were imported and about 200 plank collectors 

 installed. A body of watchmen were provided, housed 

 on pontoons moored on the beds, and two guard ships 

 were stationed in the bay. The results proved a brilliant 

 success, an immense fall of spat was obtained alike on 

 the collectors and on the imported stock and Coste 

 sounded still louder his paean of success "quel richesse 

 pour la France, et quel enseignment pour les peuples ! " 

 Every one rushed to take up concessions. To people the 

 parks thus opened over 10 millions of English and Spanish 

 breeding oysters were imported in i860 into Arcachon, 

 and the same year the parkers sold 3 millions ; the next 

 year the sales rose to 8 millions of a gross value of about 

 240,000 francs and in 1862 the revenue attained the 

 high figure of 376,000 francs. Prices all this time were 

 high and the oyster farmers in their haste to become 



