ally starve while surrounded bj^ an overabundance of food. 

 Oj'^sters taken from hard bottom in a shallow bay containing 

 clear water, in midsummer, have been found to contain lines of 

 waste-extrusion, which upon close examination, were found to 

 contain practically nothing but diatoms, which are unadulater- 

 ated food for the oyster; yet due to its excess, it was not utilized. 



PRACTICAL PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN OYSTER CULTURE. 



Let us now consider some of the practical problems that 

 confront the average oysterman in regard to cultivating oysters 

 for the market. As has been stated before, the young oyster 

 larvae are found everywhere in the waters during the spa"wii- 

 ing season, being drifted here and there by the current, so 

 that as far as collecting spat is concerned, it matters not 

 what bottoms are selected for oyster beds. The spat is every- 

 where, and any place of attachment may become the abode of the 

 young. There are enough larvae floating around in the wat^r, 

 even out in the Gulf many miles from shore, to form a bed of 

 any size, anywhere in our salt or brackish waters. This wa.^ 

 instanced at one time by an enthusiastic oysterman who brought 

 to me a twig of a tree, which had been lying in the water in 

 a bay that was all but inclosed, and in which was soft mud 

 to a considerable depth. This twig was thickly covered with 

 oj^ster spat, from one to three weeks old. It evidently had been 

 in the water about three weeks and being clean, soon became 

 covered with young oysters. The man remarked to me as he 

 showed me the twig: ''What an excellent place to start an 

 oyster bed ! Just see how the oysters settle. ' ' 



Spat Collecting. — The mere fact that market oysters are 

 not foiuid everywhere would not indicate that all such places 

 are not favorable for their growth; since it may only be that 

 suitable place of attachment is lacking which keeps certain locali- 

 ties bare. There is then but one condition which one must con- 

 sider in the mere collection of spat and that is a suitable place of 

 attachment. Spat will settle and start to grow even in the 

 most unfavorable localities, but if conditions are too adverse, 

 it may not even grow to where it is plainly visible to the unaid- 

 ed eye. Our first consideration, then, is, what material can be 



