[5] OYSTER -CULTUBE AT THE LONDON EXHIBITION. 917 



60 long, with two bandies and twelve holes, eacli liole being 6 centime- 

 ters in diameter. This apparatus is used in sorting oysters. 



4. A hollow spade of peculiar shape, used for spreading the oysters 

 over the beds. This is a very practical instrument, and deserves to be 

 introduced in IS'orway. 



The same firm also exhibited tongs used for dipping the bricks, knives 

 for scraping off the young oysters, and a number of the peculiar wooden 

 shoes used extensively in France by persons engaged in oyster-culture. 

 Owing to the soft bottom of the oyster-beds, these shoes have under the 

 sole a contrivance shaped like a trough, longer and broader than the 

 shoe itself. 



Another French exhibitor showed live oysters in different stages of 

 development, and also boards from the above-mentioned shelf collector 

 thickly covered with young oysters. The one year's oysters measured 

 2 or 3 centimeters in diameter, two years' 5 or 6, and three years' 8 or 9. 



Spain made an exhibit of a fine collection of different kinds of oysters. 

 Those from Eio Santa Marta bore a striking resemblance to our deep- 

 water oysters froni Ostravig. The oysters from Ferrol and those from 

 Galicia had a very uneven shape, while some young oysters that ad- 

 hered to tiles and willow branches were particularly well-shaped. The 

 oysters from Eio de Zumaya had a stronger and finer appearance and a 

 better shape than those previously mentioned, and were of the grayish- 

 violet color peculiar to our IsTorwegiau oysters. 



In 1877 the Government established some model oyster beds on the 

 Rio Santa Marta. The young oysters are brought from Arcachon, and 

 thus far the experiments have been exceedingly successful. Several 

 private individuals have also established oyster-beds, especially near 

 Marta di Ostigneira, and as there are in these waters very few radiates, 

 which are the worst enemy of the oyster, everything promises well for 

 the success of these establishments. 



From the north coast of Cuba there were sent oysters of a long, deep 

 shape, resembling the American oysters, 8 or 9 centimeters long and 4 

 or 5 centimeters broad. The inside edge of the shell was of a violet 

 color. All these oysters adhered to branches with a thick bark which 

 had been laid on natural beds. 



The Americans exhibited oysters and the various imj)lements used 

 in the American oyster-trade, but as they are not of special interest to 

 our oyster-culturists we pass them by. China, Peru, and Australia 

 exhibited merely specimens of oyster-shells, and oysters put up in her- 

 metically sealed cans. 



The best collection in this department came from Holland. The 

 Dutch oyster-culturists, under the name of ^^ Maatschappij tot hevorder- 

 ing der Oes/ercwtowr, Bergen- op-Zoom" (Society for Promoting Oyster 

 Culture, Berg-op Zoom, Ketherlands, exhibited everything relating to 

 oyster-culture, from excellent models of Dutch oyster pares to small im- 

 plements. For collectors the Dutch generally use tiles, treated in all es- 



