444 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FlSIt COMMISSION. 



good "set," and the young oysters grew with remarkable rapidity, on 

 account of the abundant supply of food and fresh water which gained 

 ready access to all of them, and the uniform temperature which was 

 secured by the constant change of water. 



This method of oyster culture may be applied in manj" ways, of which 

 the most obvious is the production of seed oysters for i)lanting. 



The seed which is used for planting in Maryland and Virginia, as well 

 as in Delaware and further north, is now procured from the natural 

 beds of our waters by tonging or dredging, and as the demand for oys- 

 ters for this purpose is certainly one of the elements which have led to 

 the depletion of our beds, there is a widespread feeling that the expor- 

 tation of " seed" should be prohibited. 



By a small invest/ment of capital in floating collectors any one on tide- 

 water could easily raise large quantities of much better, cleaner seed 

 than that which is now procured from the natural beds, and if the laws 

 permitted the sale and trans])ortation of this seed without restriction at 

 the season when the demand exists, it could be sold at a profit for less 

 than the cost of tonging. 



Northern planters could also raise seed for themselves by construct- 

 ing floating collectors in the warm water of the sounds of Virginia and 

 North Carolina, where the length of the summer would permit several 

 collections to be made in one season. The oysters thus reared are large 

 enough for planting in five or six weeks, and in the latitude of Beaufort 

 there is an abundance of spat from the middle of April to the 1st of 

 July, and it can be collected until September. 



The method may also be used by planters for collecting their own 

 seed, especially in regions remote from a natural supply. If there are 

 no oysters near to furnish the eggs, a few spawning oysters may be 

 placed among the shells in the collector, after the French method, to 

 supply the " set." 



It can also be used for the direct production of marketable oysters, 

 especially over muddy bottoms and in regions where public sentiment 

 does not permit any jirivate ownership of the bottom. 



As food for the oyster is most abundant at the mouths of muddy creeks, 

 where the bottom is too soft for oyster culture by planting or by shell- 

 ing, this method will have especial advantage in such places, for then; 

 will be no danger of sanding or of smothering by mud at the surface, 

 and there is no limit to the number of oysters which can thus be grown 

 on a given area, for the free current of water will bring food to all of 

 them. 



The very rapid growth will more than compensate for the cost of tlie 

 floats, and Mr. Armstrong's experiment shows that, in addition to all 

 these advantages, the oysters are of a better shape, with better shells 

 and more marketable, than those grown at the same place on the bottom. 



Finally, this method will do away with the necessity for a title to the 

 bottom, and will thus enable a few enterprising men to set the example 



