OYSTERS AND METHODS OF OYSTER-CULTURE. 299 



Food. — The question of food is a sine qua non in oj^ster-culture. 

 Without a supply of suitable and proper food it is useless to attempt the 

 growth of oysters. As a general rule, it will be found that where the 

 pi-oper conditions of temperature obtain the vicinity of a muddy bottom 

 will be well stocked with the minute organisms upon which the oyster 

 feeds. Keliance upon this fact, however, is placing dependence upon a 

 "rule of thumb," never a profitable method where more accurate and 

 scientific information can be obtained. Oystermen usually determinje 

 the best growing and fattening grounds by actual experiment, a pro- 

 ceeding often entailing the wasteful expenditure of time and capital, 

 and the small cost which would be involved in making a preliminary 

 biological survey would be, in most cases, well expended. The currents 

 may be such as to carry the food organisms away, or for other reasons 

 beds, apparently well situated, may be lacking in food, a fact usually not 

 discovered until time and money have been wasted in experimental 

 planting. 



Marking bed, etc. — The boundaries of the planting-grounds should be 

 marked with stakes in such a way that each planter will have no diffi- 

 culty in distinguishing his own ground from that of his neighbor. In 

 order to recover the boundary, should the stakes be carried away by 

 storms or ice, it is usual to have ranges locating the most important 

 marks, such as those at the corners of the beds, these ranges being 

 either conspicuous natural objects, buildings, etc., or, preferably, signals 

 erected especially for the purpose. In deep water, or upon bottoms 

 where stakes can not be driven or held, buoys are commonly used for 

 locating the beds. Some of the kStates have laws regulating more or 

 less strictly the manner of describing and marking the private oyster- 

 grounds, and to avoid trouble and disputes these should be strictly 

 complied with. 



It should be remembered that it is more difficult to lay out and mark 

 areas beneath the water than upon the laud. It sometimes hapj)ens 

 that the planter is able to get control of an entire cove or brackish- 

 water creek, in which case the question of marking the beds and of 

 protecting them from poachers is much simplified. In some i)laces it is 

 customary for owners to subdivide their beds for purposes hereafter 

 mentioned, and such subdivisions may be marked in the manner adopted 

 for indicating the boundary of the right. 



PREPARING BOTTOM. 



Having located and marked the beds, the ground should be prepared 

 for planting. In places such as San Francisco Bay, where the oysters 

 are placed on beds which are more or less exposed at low tide, this 

 usually consists of clearing away the snags and other debris at low 

 water and leveling off the mounds and filling up the hollows. If it is 

 necessary to build stockades to protect the oysters from fish, this should 

 also be done before ])lanting is begun, as otherwise the bed may be 

 ruined before it is fairly planted. 



