THE OYSTER. 1 23 



They are left undisturbed eighteen months, by which 

 time the set becomes good-sized seed. On one bush, 

 which was four inches through at the butt, twenty-five 

 bushels of oysters were found, seven of which were 

 large enough for market. The average yield is about 

 five bushels to the bush. The grounds are so soft and 

 muddy that no other method is feasible. About fifty 

 acres are under this kind of cultivation, and the area 

 is rapidly extending. The bushes are grappled out 

 of the mud by derricks. The oysters are of excellent 

 flavor, and the business is profitable." 



Besides such simple but very effective devices for 

 collecting spat, there have been invented in France a 

 number of complicated mechanical devices for use 

 under peculiar circumstances. The price of oysters 

 in our State is not high enough to justify the practical 

 use of any such expensive machinery, so it will be 

 unnecessary to speak of any of it. 



The aim of all the methods of oyster culture which 

 have been described is to increase the number of oys- 

 ters, by furnishing proper substances for collecting the 

 swimming embryos at the time when they are ready 

 to attach themselves. In our waters, clean oyster shells 

 are in nearly all cases the best substances to use for 

 the purpose, and there is hardly a spot anywhere in 

 the bay which might not be converted into an oyster- 

 bed by this simple method of cultivation, which has 

 been shown, in all parts of the world where it has been 

 tried, to yield a very great return for the capital and 

 labor employed. 



There are few parts of the world which offer ad- 

 vantages for the prosecution of this industry equal 



