[3] ARTIFICIAL PROPAUATION OF OYSTERS. 74'3 



experiments we also ascertained that several conditions wbicli we had 

 supposed were uecessarj^ to success might be safely ignored. Proba- 

 bly had the experiments been conducted simply with the view of de- 

 termining the effect of the various conditions u])oii the development of 

 the eggs and embryos, we might be able to speak more definitely and 

 with more authority as to the necessity of supplies of oxygen, lime and 

 food; of the necessary temperature and density to be maintained ; of 

 the rate and manner of development under different circumstances and 

 of other matters of interest and value. But that end was not our main 

 object ; the determination of those questions appealed to be of secondary 

 importance and only incidental to the work. In the order of their rela- 

 tive importance we proposed to accomj)lish, if possible, the following 

 things. 



1st. To raise one oyster up to the time of attachment. 



2d. Guided by the experience attained, to perfect a method by which 

 oysters could be raised from the egg in sufficiently large numbers to 

 make the process one of practical value. 



3d. To determine the conditions necessarj- and favorable to growth. 



While we were not successful in attaining either of the first two ends, 

 yet some advance has been made and incidentally we have obtained 

 information and gathered experience that throws additional light on 

 the course to be pursued in the future. 



I arrived at Beaufort, N. C, on the 23d of May, Dr. Brooks having 

 preceded me some two weeks, and I remained until the 23d of June, 

 when finding that it was difficult to get oysters in proper condition for 

 experiment, and wishing to prolong the season as much as possible, I 

 returned to Washington with the intention of proceeding thence to 

 some point on Long Island Sound and continuing the experiments. I 

 also wished to try the effect of placing a large number of embryo oys- 

 ters, that had passed through the first swimming stage, on some de- 

 fined and protected area, such as the private oyster beds of the Con- 

 necticut oyster-growers. The plan having met with your approval, I 

 proceeded to New Haven, Conn., and remained in that vicinity about a 

 month, continuing the previous exi^eriments, and at the same time fer- 

 tilizing as large a number of eggs as possible, and depositing them on 

 one of the beds of H. C. Rowe & Co., of Fair Haven. I have not yet 

 received information which will enable me to speak definitely as to 

 the success of the latter experiment, but such as I have received points 

 in a favorable direction. While at Beaufort and at Fair Haven the 

 experiments were continuous and occupied every day and a good many 

 nights. Every effort was made to solve the problem, and at the close 

 of the season I regret to say I am as unable as at its commen- ement to 

 state the causes which prevented success or indicate those which must 

 operate to produce favorable results. It is hardly worth while to give 

 a detailed history of a series of experiments that produced negative 

 results only, or to describe at length appliances and apparatus that 



