collectors had lived in shallow water, 1—2 feet. I must conclude that the shallow 
water is much better suited for the fixing and thriving of the young oysters than 
the deeper; and I believe we may consider it as a general rule that under other- 
wise favourable conditions many more of the spat åre met with in shallow water 
than in deep in the autumn in nature. See for example Tab. III, Volstrup, where 
in August 1906 we obtained by pole-dredging in. 3—4 feet of water a quantity of 
just fixed spat; dredging in 2—3 fathoms gave far fewer. Even the one-year old 
oysters here at Volstrup were much more numerous in shallow than in deep water 
(see also the other Nos. in Table). So few were the one-year old oysters in the 
deeper water, that I find it very difficult to consider them as sufficient for a rapid 
renewal of the stock. Å 
The young of the year thus seem both more numerous and more 
favourably placed in the shallow water, at least till far on in the autumn, 
but a danger then approaches in the shape of the cold in winter, with drifting 
ice and ground frost, especially in the severe winters. The artificial oyster-culture 
in Holland is as is well-known based on these conditions. During the spawning 
time in summer collectors, as a rule tiles covered with lime or the like, are laid 
out in so shallow water that they lie dry at ebb-tide; on these the spat from the 
natural banks fix themselves; but hefore the winter comes all the collectors are 
taken up; the lime with the spat (ca. 1 inch or less) is scraped off, and the small 
oysters åre placed either on banks in so deep water that they cannot be damaged 
by the cold, or they are kept through the winter in special ponds (hospitals) out 
of danger from the frost and laid out next year at suitable places where they can 
grow sufficiently well. The Dutch oysters are eaten when small (natives), only 3 
usually 4 years old. 
The question is whether a similar method would be possible in the Lim 
Fjord; of this see later; but one thing may at once be mentioned, namely, that 
there is no appreciable ebb and flood in the Lim Fjord; without further consider- 
ation it is not possible to make use of the Dutch method under our conditions. 
Where the work in Holland can be done by wading we must go about in boats; 
yet this is certainly not an insurmountable difficulty. 
To obtain a view over what the measurement-method can show regarding 
the further growth of the oyster, Tables I—III must be more closely studied. 
On these Tables is represented the size of the oysters on the different banks in 
4 different years. The oysters were taken partly with the dredge, partly with a 
pole-dredge (a kind of hand-net on a pole) by means of which the oysters can be 
fished on ground where the water is so clear that they can be seen. We may 
certainly suppose that both methods give a representation of all the sizes of oysters 
occurring on the banks, as the dredge especially brings up everything with it: 
stones, mussels large and small, and further, the small oysters which one might 
be afraid would fall through the iron meshes of the dredge, are fixed to larger 
objects so that they are also brought up. We might rather imagine that the 
pole-dredge selected the large oysters, as they are the easiest to see, and this is 
perhaps also the case; but nevertheless, as a matter of fact, the pole-dredge as a 
rule brings up the smaller oysters in greatest number, which must he considered 
