328 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



bility of obtaining spat througli tlie three dimensions of a body of water chai-ged 

 with embryo oysters in their veliger condition. These are good and sufficient 

 reasons for my assertion that cultchhas hitherto been Avastefully and unscientifically 

 apijlied. With this I must conclude this exposition of the principles of a rational 

 theory of oyster-culture, a subject which has received the attention of many investi- 

 gators, none of whom have, however, struck at the root of the question and allowed 

 themselves to be guided by readily verifiable facts. In the hope that I have made 

 both the theory and the practice of my new method clear to the reader, who, if he 

 should happen to be an oysterman, will, I hope, at least give me the credit of being 

 honest and sincere in my intentions, and, whether he feels inclined to ridicule or to 

 adopt my conclusions, I feel A^ery certain that what I have formulated in the jireced- 

 ing pages will become the recognized doctrine of the future. * 



A trial of this method was made by the Fish Commission at St. 

 Jerome Creek, Maryland, but it was found that Dr. Ryder's expecta- 

 tions regarding the freedom of his apparatus from sedimentation were 

 unfounded. St. Jerome Creek is admirably adapted, from its rich food 

 supply, to growing oysters from seed, but its very advantages in this 

 respect militated against the success of the experiment of spat-raising. 

 A small set was obtained upon some of the cultch exposed, but the 

 deposit of sediment was so rapid that the young oysters were unable 

 to fix in quantities sufficient to make the experiment a commercial 

 success. 



It seems probable that under more favorable conditions with respect 

 to sedimentation the apparatus would prove a useful one, and it is to 

 be hoped that it will be given a further trial. The writer witnessed 

 Dr. Ryder's experiment at Sea Isle City, N. J., with a modification of 

 this arrangement, and, although the trial was made on a scale too 

 small, the results were such as to impress him with the feasibility of 

 the device under more favorable conditions than existed at St. Jerome 

 Creek. 



One of the principal defects in Dr. Ryder's apparatus appears to be 

 the lack of suitable arrangements for flushing the cultch with currents 

 of water sufficiently strong to scour away any sediment which may accu- 

 mulate. It was sujiposed that this could be accomplished by means of 

 jetties, but the current induced in the long canal by the ebb and flow 

 of the tide is apparently too gentle to have the eftect sought. This end 

 might be gained by providing the inner loops of the canal with gates 

 communicating with the pond, the outer loops having similar means 

 of communication with the exterior waters, as shown in jjlate in, 

 which is adapted from Dr. Ryder's plans. If the water in the x^ond at 

 high tide be held back until the canal has nearly emptied, a strong cur- 

 rent could be directed into any loop by opening the appropriate gates. 

 On the other hand, if the gates at the outer end of the loops be closed at 

 low water, a strong current could be thrown into the canals by opening 

 them at high water. By thus occasionally flushing each pair of loops 

 in succession it is believed that the injurious collection of sediment 

 can be i^revented in even quite muddy water. The end is accomplished, 



* Kept. U. S. F. C. 1885, pp. 381-423, pis. i-iv. 



