THE OYSTER. 1 3/ 



oysters becomes adult, and consequently capable of 

 reproducing the species, the claires themselves ought 

 to produce all the young necessary to furnish the 

 ponds with a constant supply of animals. 



** Many times, despite the defective condition of 

 their claires, the breeders of Marennes have witnessed 

 their basins, depleted by a widespread mortality, un- 

 expectedly repeopled from a few oysters which had 

 survived the disaster, the young developing upon the 

 shells of the dead oysters. The shells in these cases 

 acted as collectors to retain the germs which other- 

 wise would have perished or been carried off by the 

 first spring tide. 



" It is perhaps to be wondered at, and even regretted, 

 that such facts should not have caused the breeders to 

 see the immense advantage of making their basins 

 places of production and growth as well as fattening 

 establishments. To-day, thanks to the light thrown 

 upon this question by the researches of M. Coste, the 

 oyster industry can be raised above the condition in 

 which it has been kept up to the present time by 

 routine and indifference, and it may be spread along 

 our coasts, which have been threatened with misery 

 and depopulation. The consequences will be an 

 eminently remunerative industry and a permanent 

 source of labor, which will attract to our coasts 

 numerous and robust men, the future hopes of our 

 naval and commercial marine. A few figures, not 

 chosen by chance, but selected as a possible mini- 

 mum, may serve to prove to my readers that I have 

 not exaggerated in qualifying the new industry as 

 highly remunerative, especially when it is called to 



6* 



