OYSTERS AND METHODS OF OYSTER-CULTURE. 313 



untoward conditions. In many cases it will pay the planters to spe- 

 cialize, some raising seed for sale to others who devote their capital and 

 enterprise to the work of raising the oysters to a marketable size. 



Even if the oysters are to be left upon the spatting-bed, it is often 

 better to work over the ground during the first year, removing the 

 debris and breaking up the clusters of young oysters, so as to insure a 

 greater survival and superior shape. As has been already mentioned 

 in treating of the jjlanting of seed, it is often advisable to shift the 

 oysters to other ground during the last few months before marketing 

 in order to fatten them, improve the flavor, and cause the gradual dis- 

 gorgement of mud from the intestine and mantle chamber. 



A keen watch should be kept at all times to detect the presence of 

 enemies, some of which may be with more or less success combated by 

 the methods mentioned on pp. 313-319. The spatting-beds are espe- 

 cially subject to the attacks of various enemies which find in the vast 

 numbers of thin-shelled young an abundant and readily obtained food 

 supply. The starfish, especially, at times appear in vast schools or 

 swarms, and often a bed is almost completely destroyed before the 

 planter is aware of what is taking place. 



PROTECTION FROM ENEMIES. 



In the case of most of the enemies of the oyster it is impossible to 

 indicate efficient means of protecting the beds from their inroads. The 

 impossibility of knowing at all times the exact conditions prevailing 

 upon the bottom, the suddenness with which many of the enemies 

 appear upon the beds, and the insidious character of their attacks all 

 add to the difficulty which the planter finds in preventing the destruc- 

 tion of his property. 



PROTECTION FROM FISH. 



It is possible to protect oysters in shallow water from the attacks of 

 fishes by surrounding the beds with palisades of stakes driven into the 

 bottom at sufficiently close intervals to prevent the passage of fish 

 between. Upon the Atlantic coast the inroads of fish are not suffi- 

 ciently formidable to require such jirotection, although the drumfish 

 causes some loss to planters in the vicinity of ^ew York. Upon the 

 Pacific coast, however, and especially in San Francisco Bay, stockades 

 are necessary to prevent the absolute destruction of the planted beds 

 by tlie stingray, the stakes being driven at intervals of about 4 inches. 

 It is necessary to keep the inclosure in good repair, as a school of rays 

 entering through a small breach may utterly ruin the bed. 



. .PROTECTION FROM STARFISH. 



Many methods have been suggested for combating this destructive 

 enemy of the oyster, most of them being of no practical utility. Bar- 

 riers are utterly useless, for the very small starfish are among the most 

 destructive and the largest ones are able to pass through an orifice of 



