26 THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 



elaborate designs have been constructed for the manipulation of 

 such ponds and the catching of set on cultch placed in the ponds 

 or the connecting ditches, none has proved to be of any practical 

 value whatever. The principal difficulty seems to have been that, 

 in the effort to confine the set to the pond, too scanty an inlet was 

 provided for the entrance and exit of the tide, and the oysters suffered 

 in consequence. In the cases where efforts were made to catch the 

 set on cultch placed along the connecting canal, if the latter were 

 broad enough to allow sufficient rush of water to keep the cultch 

 clean, most of the set passed out to sea. 



Oysters, on the other hand, will reproduce, grow, and fatten in 

 ponds or inlets to which the tide has access in sufficient volume to 

 render the Avater properly saline, provide the requisite food, and 

 remove the debris. The set from such oysters is at the mercy of 

 the tide; some may be caught in the pond or inlet, and some will 

 be carried outside. In France ponds or ^'claires" are profitably 

 maintained for the growth ana fattening of oysters. The seed 

 oysters placed therein consist of set from outside oyster beds which 

 has been caught on collectors placed in the water along the beach. 



While it can not be said that the problem of so-called artificial 

 propagation may not be solved at some future time, for the present 

 it must be emphasized that oyster culturists should base no false 

 hopes on the practical application of this method. 



in view of the bairen results of 40 years' experiments in this line, 

 it is best to devote attention to the amplification and perfection of 

 methods which have proved to have a certain measure of success 

 and which are applicable to the industry as carried out on such a 

 vast scale in the United States. 



LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS. 



PROCURING GROUND. 



In order to cany on oyster culture either by catching set or plant- 

 ing seed oysters, it must first be ascertained whether gi'ound for that 

 purpose can be leased or otherwise obtained from the State and, 

 if so leased, whether public sentiment is sucli that the laws will be 

 respected and enforced. In some States ample provision is made 

 for the rental of oyster gi'ounds and the lessee is protected. Oysters 

 are not taken from his beds any more tlian corn is taken from a 

 man's cornfield. In other States conditions have been in the past 

 such that protection of leased gi'ound, if attempted at aU, was an 

 absolute failure. Considerable improvement is noted, however, in 

 this respect within recent years. 



In selection of ground for locating oyster beds care must be exer- 

 cised to avoid waters into which trade wastes are discharged in 

 quantities sufficient to kill either the free-swimming larvse or the 

 oyster after it has set. It has been found that certain trade wastes 

 from factories are injiu-ious to oysters if present above certain con- 

 centrations. Further, the Federal and State health laws must be 

 borne in mind in order to avoid grounds condemned by health 

 authorities because of pollution by sewage. Stringent laws forbid 

 the use of such grounds for raising or fattening oysters. 



