ox OYSTEE-CULTUEE IN SCOTLAND. 281 



sarily iDterfere with the conduct of the undertaking. But this 

 question has already been raised in connection with salmon and 

 other fisheries. 



The above considerations are wholly connected with foreshore 

 cultivation, but this is not by any means to our mind the most 

 promisiog department of oyster-culture. So far as our experi- 

 ence goes, oysters spat more freely in deep water, and their spat 

 also comes more readily to maturity there, This is also the 

 American experience. In deep salt water the oyster breeds 

 more readily, and also increases more rapidly in growth; while 

 on the foreshores the fish " fattens " better, grows a finer shell, 

 — a sign of a more delicate fish — and is altogether more manage- 

 able, and beyond the reach ®f enemies. On the whole, we 

 would look to more important and successful operations being 

 conducted in our Scottish lochs by beds in deeper water, with 

 plentiful spat-collectors suspended over them, and placed around 

 them. When our own shore-beds were quite innocent of spat, 

 the dredge brought up from some fathoms quantities of young 

 about the size of a split pea ; and this year we have dredged 

 one stone with a dozen oysters, from a shilling to a fiorin in size, 

 within a few hundred yards of our barren beds. These were 

 evidently thrown by outside oysters. 



The temperature has no doubt something to do with the 

 spatting of oysters, but we firmly believe our western lochs are 

 quite as warm as the Thames estuary, although we have no 

 certain data for this. Certain it is, however, that there are far 

 more oysters in congenial parts of the west than most people 

 are aware of. We have taken thousands from a narrow piece 

 of sea-bottom where the local authorities, constantly seeking 

 them, declared none to exist. A gravelly bottom overgrown 

 with tangle, often conceals immense numbers that the dredge 

 could in no instance reach. Pure gravel we believe to be the 

 best ground for oyster breeding, and a rich marl, or soft blue 

 clay such as is common in some of our western districts, is the 

 best feeding ground. This seems to sup})ly the necessary lime 

 in quantity, as well as the required nourishment. In this 

 gi'ound oysters may sink very deep without l>eing choked with 

 the soft muddy material ; whereas, were they to sink at all in 

 sand, the irritation would ]'a})idly destroy them. We think it 

 better, however, to lay them out on wattled hurdles, on whicli 

 they will reap the advantages of the rich feeding ground without 

 danger of being overwhelmed. 



It is evident that deep-sea Ijcds such as we advocate are 

 beyond the reach of any l)ut ca])italists, or a combination of 

 fishermen such as own and work the great Whitstable beds. 

 Here we are on more certain ground, as tlie Government dis- 

 tinctly arrogate to tliemselves the right to allocate such stretches 



