[7] OYSTER CULTURE IN FRANCE 731 



duction of Portuguese oysters has been but trifling. The collectors 

 detached this j^ear may be said practically to have had none on them ; 

 and I have had much trouble in finding a few specimens on the reserved 

 beds." 



M. Lhopital attributes this failure in the reproduction of the Portu- 

 guese oyster in the basin of Arcachou to the purity of the waters and 

 the absence of mud. 



I am very much disposed to accept the explanation given by the 

 commissary of marine. It is, in fact, to be remarked, that, wherever 

 the Portuguese oyster is seen to propagate rapidly, there the presence 

 of mud will be found in a state of suspension in the water. Still, it 

 seems to me that the oyster-cultivators of Arcachon should take some 

 precautions, and watch attentively what is going on in their pares. A 

 change in the currents would quite suffice to load the waters with mud 

 and cover the collectors with the spat of the Portuguese oysters. I 

 am not of opinion, however, that the state should interfere in this 

 question otherwise than by giving advice. 



Such, then, at the present time is the condition of the oyster industry 

 in the basin of Arcachou, a condition which is certainly remarkable and 

 worthy of fixed attention. 



MORBIHAN. 



Another important center for the production of oysters exists on our 

 Breton coasts. It is known under the name of the Oyster Basin of 

 An ray. 



The cultivation of oysters in this region is of recent date. It is now 

 fifteen or sixteen years since the first collectors were placed in the rivers 

 of Morbihan. The center of the operations is to be found in the rivers 

 or creeks which run into or open out in the Bay of Quiberon. The 

 oyster-breeding establishments, in going from west to east, occupy suc- 

 cessively the Creek of Po, the Trinity River, the Creek of St. Phihbert, 

 and the Auray River. 



Natural beds of oysters exist in most of these rivers. The most im- 

 portant are those in the Auray River, which are about 22 kilometers in 

 length, and those of the Trinity and Saint Philibert Rivers, which ex- 

 tend for about 15 kilometers. 



Unfortunately these beds are in bad condition. This year they have 

 been carefully explored by dredging, and the results obtained have been 

 far from satisfactory. 



Subjoined is a table showing the results of oyster fishing in the dis- 

 trict of Auray from 1876 to 1881 : 



