THE OYSTER, 1 25 



the collection of spat. While oyster-planting, as the 

 sowing of these " seed " oysters is called, does not 

 result in the production of new oysters, it is a very 

 profitable industry, and it admits of great develop- 

 ment. 



The profits are smaller and the labor greater than 

 those of oyster culture in deep water, but oyster-plant- 

 ing requires little capital, and the shores of the bay 

 abound in proper spots for the prosecution of this in- 

 dustry, the importance of which has long been recog- 

 nized by our people. 



There are many bottoms where there are no natural 

 oysters, simply because there is nothing upon the 

 ground for the spat to catch upon, or because they 

 are not places to which spat is carried ; and there are 

 other bottoms which are so soft that a very young and 

 small oyster would be buried in the mud and killed, 

 although larger ones are able to live and thrive in the 

 mud. In all these places oyster-planting may be 

 carried on with profit, for while it is true that the total 

 number of oysters which are born is not increased by 

 planting, the number which reach maturity is greatly 

 increased; for the young oysters fasten themselves so 

 close together and in such great numbers that the 

 growth of one involves, under natural conditions, the 

 crowding^ out and destruction of hundreds of others, 

 which might have been saved by scattering them over 

 unoccupied ground. 



Planting also adds very greatly to the value of oys- 

 ters, as they grow more rapidly and are of better 

 quality when thus scattered than they are upon the 

 natural beds, and IngersoU, in his ** Report on the Oys- 



