[15] OYSTER CULTURE IN FRANCE. 739 



ber of persons, women and children, who, but for it, would be without 

 employment. 



To sum up, I think it would be desirable to see Government take the 

 following steps: 



1. Place at the disposal of the coast guard a certain number of steam 

 slooj)S, which are the only craft fit for pursuing with success the poach- 

 ers on ouj- natural beds. 



2. Regulate the dredging of these beds so that no bed should be 

 dredged except once in three years. 



3. Recommend to the competent authorities increased severity in the 

 repression of robberies committed at the expense of the cultivators. 



4. Lower the rents exacted from the concessionaires of pares in the 

 Brittany district, in such a way that the amount of this tax shall not 

 exceed that which is demanded from cultivators in the basin of A rea- 

 ch on. 



As regards the recommendations to be made to the cultivators, they 

 will naturally find their place in the course which you have thought it 

 desirable to institute. 



The persons who are engaged in this industry have it, moreover, in 

 their power to do much for themselves. With this consideration I 

 would suggest the formation of companies for oyster-cultivation. The 

 cultivators of Auray have entertained the idea of su(;h cooperation. 

 Their reunion, which took the title of company for the cultivation of 

 oysters in the basin of Auray, has already afibrded excellent results. 



This comi)any publishes monthly a report of proceedings, and it has 

 likewise founded a museum of oyster culture which possesses great 

 interest for all persons engaged on questions relating to the production 

 of oysters. This example ought to be followed by all centers of oyster- 

 cultivation. Such are the facts to which I was desirous of inviting 

 your serious attention. 



In conclusion, permit me to say how greatly I have been aided in my 

 researches by the agents of the administration maritime. M. Broquet, 

 lieutenant in command of the Moustique, the following commissioners 

 of marine, viz, MM. Senu6-Desjardins, Lhopital, Gestain, and Casteliu, 

 have obtained for me invaluable information. 



If in this report I have succeeded in bringing together any facts of 

 interest, I owe my success to the courtesy I have received from the gen- 

 tlemen whose names I have just mentioned. 



