OYSTEE-CULTURE IN AUSTEALASIA. 557 



west coast of France. In addition to dead oyster-shells, or 

 "cultch," which has from the earliest days of oyster-culture 

 been recognised as representing a most natural and prolific 

 catchment-material for the adhesion of the spat, artificial 

 collectors of various descriptions were introduced. In France 

 tiles cemented on their lower surfaces have been found to 

 constitute the most productive and economic collectors. In 

 Tasmania, as in all the other Australasian Colonies, tiles being 

 much too expensive for such a purpose, a cheap and efficient 

 substitute for them was effectually improvised out of the thin 

 roughly-cleft boards known as " split palings," which can be 

 procured in all timber-producing districts at a cost of from 8s. 

 to 10s. per thousand. These paling collectors are coated on 

 their under-surface with cement, a brick or stone is securely 

 fastened underneath at each end to give them stability, and a 

 wire loop secured through the centre of their upper surface 

 forms a convenient handle by which they can be manipulated 

 on shore, or be raised with a boat-hook for examination from 

 beneath the water. The general plan of construction of these 

 paling collectors, and the efficient assistance they render in 

 collecting the floating spat, are abundantly shown m the illus- 

 trations here given. The figure on the left (p. 558) shows a 

 paling collector as it appears before being placed in the water, 

 and that on the right a similar one coated with oyster-brood, 

 recently laid down in Queensland waters. 



Proceeding to an examination of the results obtained by the 

 operations described, I may appropriately make a brief quota- 

 tion from a report submitted by me to the Government of 

 Tasmania in January, 1889. Spring Bay and Little Swanport 

 Lagoon are herein referred to as representing the stations at 

 which the most marked results have been obtained. " These 

 two districts alone," it proceeds to say, " formerly produced 

 about two-thirds of the entire yield of the Tasmanian oyster- 

 fisheries, so many as eight million and five million oysters 

 respectively having been dredged from them in a single season. 

 At Spring Bay, in which the earliest-established reserves are 

 located, the oysters, previously practically exterminated, have 

 so multiplied and spread from the stocks laid down as to afford 

 profitable employment to the local fishermen there to dredge 

 them for further stocking the reserves and for private fisheries. 

 In a recent communication from the district overseer of the 

 reserves I am further informed that, * While throughout a period 

 of more than ten years preceding the establishment of the 

 Government reserves the local oysters had almost disappeared, 

 they are now present in millions, filling up the beds and 

 bay, and adhering to everything, including stakes, stumps, 

 rocks, old bottles, crockery, and other refuse in the water, 

 and even to the bottoms of the vessels stationed in and 



