7 6 



gravel and shells of the bottom of the Tagus estuary. 

 No other culture is practised nor is any required. It 

 should here be noted that the Portuguese oyster is different 

 in method of spatting and general habits from the oyster 

 (O. ediilis) indigenous to England, France and Germany ; 

 it is also hardier and with a much greater appetite than the 

 " native " — as a consequence its growth is more rapid. 



Culture in Spain and Belgium consists almost entirely 

 in relaying young oysters obtained principally from the 

 chief centres of production in France. 



In England a great deal of the same elementary 

 culture takes place, the stock being obtained from France, 

 Holland, and even the United States. At Whitstable and 

 along the Essex coast cultivation is carried several steps 

 further. In these localities there exist certain " common 

 grounds" open to dredging by any one, whereon in 

 favourable years considerable deposits of spat are found. 

 This is dredged up and sold to culturists who lay the 

 spat first on that particular portion of their grounds where 

 growth is known to be rapid. At a later date the oysters 

 are re-dredged and placed elsewhere to fatten. Most of 

 the operations entail dredging, a fleet of handy dredging 

 smacks being employed by the Corporations and Joint 

 Stock Companies which control these fisheries. The 

 Colchester authorities also employ a small steamer built 

 and fitted specially for this work and experiments are at 

 present being carried out with a view to replace the smacks 

 by handy motor boats. On the Essex coast special pre- 

 cautions are necessary during winter to safeguard the 

 stock from frost and the harmful effects of snow water. 

 ■No natural oyster beds now exist and no breeding reserves 

 are maintained at any of these English oyster culture 

 centres ; the stock of marketable oysters in the various 

 estuarine concessions is supposed to serve. As a con- 

 sequence of this, the spat-fall is frequently inadequate 

 for local requirements and in such years large consign- 

 ments of brood oysters are imported from France, chiefly 

 from Auray. This necessitates heavy additional expendi- 

 ture both per se and indirectly, as oysters reared from 



