OYSTERS AND METHODS OF OYSTER-CULTURE. 309 



might have some advantage on muddy bottom where there is a rather 

 rai)id sedimentation. Such cnltch is light in proportion to the surface 

 presented, it would not readily sink, and the upper half of the interior, 

 and to some extent the lower half of the exterior would present sur- 

 faces protected from sedimentation upon which the young oyster could 

 lodge itself. By the time the can disintegrated the oysters would no 

 doubt be sufficiently grown to withstand the action of the mud. The 

 tin is distributed over the bottom as in the case of shells and gravel. 



Brush for soft bottom. — Where the bottom is so soft that ordinary 

 methods can not be used, it will sometimes be found that fagots and 

 brush make most efficient collectors. The brush is thrust firmly down 

 into the mud in such a manner that the small branches are at some 

 distance above the bottom. They will offer a large surface to the 

 water, a slight current will tend to keep them free from destructive 

 deposits of sediment, and in water well charged with the swimming fry 

 will almost certainly yield a full set of spat. The brush is lifted at the 

 proper time by means of a crane or boom and windlass. This method 

 was used with some success at the town of Groton, Conn. The seed 

 was left to grow to a marketable size on the brush, but owing to the 

 liability of the large oyster to drop off into the soft mud below, it was 

 sold as soon as possible. 



Brush, straw, etc., may also be used by collecting the material into 

 bundles, sheaves, or fagots, which may be anchored by stones or sus- 

 pended from stakes. As it is usually unnecessary to resort to such very 

 soft bottom, it will be found in most cases that shells, gravel, or scrap 

 tin will be more serviceable and satisfactory. Brush collectors would 

 be difficult to use in regions of violent wave action. 



Other collectors. — Many materials have been suggested as suitable for 

 collectors, but the foregoing appear to be the only ones which have 

 proven practical on a large scale in our waters. Tiles and roofing slates 

 arranged in various forms have been found satisfactory by European 

 culturists, but are ai)parently not adapted to use here where labor is 

 high and oysters are cheap. These collectors will be discussed in 

 another connection. Pieces of bricks, broken pottery, and similar 

 materials may suggest themselves to the planter as local substitutes 

 for shells and gravel. Hard wood chips and bark might prove useful, 

 but are hardly to be recommended. 



COATING CULTCH. 



To overcome the difficulty, which has been mentioned, of the set upon 

 collectors being so dense as to interfere with its subsequent growth, it 

 has been proposed to coat the cultch with some material which will 

 flake off, either under the mutual pressure exerted between the grow- 

 ing oysters, or when it is scraped with a suitable instrument. This 

 device was apparently first used in France, where it was adopted to 

 avoid the theretofore necessary breakage of the tile collectors. The 

 coating is detached from the tiles with a chisel-shaped instrument, 

 somewhat resembling a putty knife. 



