[39] OYSTER-CULTURE UPON SHORES OF BRITISH CHANNEL. 711 



Tlie claires are of contracted dimensions; and it has been remarked, 

 especially in the case of the deep claires, which are submerged only 

 three or four days each spring tide, that the smaller these are the 

 better the oyster greens. 



It has also been noticed in the pares where the influx of fresh water 

 is sometimes too abundant, that the development undergoes arrest, and 

 the animal emaciates and quickly dies; while, if this water be absolutely 

 wanting, not only does the oyster cease to grow or fatten, but it does 

 not green. 



Le Mus-de-Loup is the locality most favorable to the greening. It is 

 generally agreed that this is due to the presence of fresh water. The 

 reed grasses, which cannot grow in salt water, flourish upon the banks 

 of the claires. 



The cultivators of La Tremblade do not hesitate to attribute the 

 greening of the oysters as much to the influence of fresh water as to 

 the nature of the soil. 



Some collectors have been placed in the viviers, but there has been 

 no fixation of spat except in the case of the Portugal oysters. 



Le Veedon. — Oyster-culture here is still in its infancy. The first 

 attempts date from 1874, and were made by MM. Pepounet and Tripota. 

 They succeeded badly; but we must not therefore conclude that the 

 oyster-cultural industry cannot prosper in the roads of Verdon. Recent 

 experiments under better auspices are announced ; and if they succeed 

 in excluding the fresh waters and the mass of sand which the Gironde 

 accumulates, and which are the sole causes of failure, Verdon will be, 

 on the other hand, a station admirably situated for the oyster business. 

 Eighty hectares at least along the strand are susceptible of being put 

 under cultivation. 



In the course of this report I have several times referred to the 

 oysters of Portugal, proi>08ing to revert to this matter when I had 

 arrived at Verdon. I did not think it necessary to speak of them at 

 greater length in previous references. The oyster of Portugal has 

 made its appearance in the last two or three years in our markets. It 

 has entered into public consumption, and replaced for persons of moder- 

 ate means our French oyster, the price of which is too high. 



These oysters were originally derived from an immense bed found at 

 the mouth of the river Tagus. The shell is rough and distorted, but it 

 is generally well filled. This mollusk, whilst susceptible of acquiring 

 a large development in our waters, * resists better the vicissitudes of 

 weather, bears traoportation better, becomes acclimated in localities 

 where our indigenous oyster could not prosper or live, and accommo- 

 dates itself to all sorts of water. We are assured that its fecundity 

 exceeds that of our native oysters. Its spawn, endowed with a strong 

 vitality, can resist injurious influences for a longtime, and be transported 



* I have seen at Arcaobon a Portugueae oyster which, after five or six years of so- 

 jouru iu a pare, measured 28 ceutimeters from ouo extremity to the other of its shell. 



