136 THE OYSTER. 



set in cement. This system, moreover, will allow of 

 the utilization of lands slightly above the level of the 

 tides, so that by uniting the two systems one can 

 arrange three or even more rows of claires all upon 

 the same level. To avoid or at least retard the de- 

 posit of mud resulting from the stagnation of the 

 water, the claire should not receive a new supply of 

 water from the sea without giving it a chance to de- 

 posit the greater part of its sediment, which can be 

 accomplished by keeping it for a certain length of 

 time in a special basin. These basins themselves 

 might be made of service by providing them with 

 gates and sluices, and using them as breeding or fat- 

 tening ponds for mussels or other marine animals. 



"As six months of time at least must elapse after the 

 young growth have become attached to the collectors 

 before they can be transported with safety, the two 

 operations, of constructing claires and gathering the 

 young, ought to proceed simultaneously. When the 

 claires are finished, and have a layer of pure and fresh 

 sea water over the bottom, the oysters which have 

 been brought upon the collectors should be distributed 

 as evenly as possible with a shovel, and afterwards 

 arranged by hand, so that they may not form piles in 

 certain places and be entirely wanting over other sec- 

 tions. 



" During the first three or four years of such an 

 enterprise one should, in order to procure the young 

 growth necessary to restock the claires left vacant by 

 the preceding generation, have recourse, as at first, to 

 the movable collectors, and bring the young from 

 some natural bank ; but as soon as a generation of 



