[35] OYSTER-CULTURE UPON SHORES OF BRITISH CHANNEL. 707 



season there was an abundant setting of spat in the experimental pare 

 established by the administration of the marine. Oysters and collectors 

 were also placed in "/a Gourant,''^ to form the basis of a natural bed, to 

 serve as a center of reproduction. 



There are at Le Chateau, the point where the work is principally 

 carried on, 2,000 pares; at Saint-Trojan, 700; at Dolus, 300; in all, 270 

 hectares are under exploitation. These localities are situated opposite 

 the mouth of the Seudre. At Le Chateau the pares begin at 1 kilome- 

 ter from the line of higli water and extend back a distance of 4 kilo- 

 meters. 



The present year 300,000 tiles have been placed out. These col- 

 lectors have not been covered, as usual, with sand and cement, as the 

 coating would not be permanent in consequence of the storms and in- 

 tense cold to which this coast is subjected. 



The cultch {naissain) from Brittany, which is reared on the island, 

 usually does better than that of Arcachon. According to the cultiva- 

 tors, the oysters which are brought from the north have a tendency to 

 grow more rapidly in the south. While this probably is due to the ef- 

 fects of climatic influence, we know that the rule is by no means abso- 

 lute; for example, the oysters of Portugal, although native to a country 

 much warmer than ours, far from dwarfing in our waters, acquire there 

 an enormous size. 



The younger the oysters are when they arrive at Oleron the more 

 rapid is their development. Nevertheless, some of the parqueurs assert 

 that the oysters obtained by dredging grow more rapidly than those 

 gotten from the collectors. The reason given by them is that this oys- 

 ter, accustomed to live at the bottom of the water, is more sensitive to 

 the action of light and heat, which stimulates in them an energetic cir- 

 culation. 



The mussels are the most fatal scourge of the pares of Oleron. They 

 multiply in so great a number that if the parqueurs neglect to visit the 

 inclosures each time that the tide permits them, these mollusks soon 

 cover the bottoms to a thickness of from 20 to 40 centimeters. 



I will here mention briefly the efforts of M. Gaboriaud, who has hap- 

 pily transformed some of the salt marshes into reariug-ponds {claires 

 cP Slevage). His experiments are, however, very recent, and need con- 

 firmation. 



In order to give an idea of the unexpected development which the 

 oyster-cultural industry has taken in the case of Oleron, I will say 

 that the pares of the present year contain more than 70,000,000 oysters 

 fit for the table. As to the number of young oysters which have not 

 yet attained the prescribed size, and fry still attached to the collectors, 

 it is not possible to form even an estimate. 



Marennes.— The oysters of Marennes have a universal reputation. 

 They owe their popularity to the peculiar taste contracted in the green- 

 ing claires. There is no point along the whole coast where the green- 



