[21] THE OYSTER AND OYSTER-CULTURE. 703 
gation of the oyster-fisheries, the astounding statement that every oys- 
ter grown by means of artificial culture near Reculvers, at the mouth 
of the Thames, cost £50 Sterling, that every one grown in Herne Bay 
cost £100, and in a third place about £500, and that he was prepared to 
furnish several other examples of alike character. Mr. Blake, who is 
very well acquainted, from personal observation, with French and En- 
glish oyster-culture, considers artificial oyster-breeding according to the 
I'rench method impossible along the British coast, on account of the un- 
favorable character of the climate. 
The most important source whence I hare drawn my information in 
regard to the culture of oysters in England is the report of the select 
committee on oyster-fisheries, together with the proceedings of the com- 
mittee, minutes of evidence, appendix, and index, ordered by the House 
of Commons to be printed J uly, 1876. This report contains 3,941 ques- 
tions and answers concerning oyster-culture. 
What I have been able to learn, through my own observations, of the 
English oyster industry I have described in a work referred to in chapter 
4° To this, Mr. A. Tolle, who accompanied me as hydraulic engineer of 
the commission of the Prussian minister of agriculture, has, in a report 
to the honorable minister, issued a supplement, which is also referred to 
in the same chapter. 
7—CAN THE FRENCH SYSTEM OF ARTIFICIAL OYSTER- 
BREEDING BE CARRIED ON IN THE WATERS OF THE 
GERMAN COAST? 
What German who loves oysters has not wished that the whole Ger- 
man coast might be bordered by fruitful oyster-beds? For this reason 
we wish to investigate as to whether the necessary conditions for arti- 
ficial oyster-breeding are to be found in the coast-waters of Germany. 
AS regards the saltness of the water, the currents, the food, and even 
the composition of the soil, our sea-flats will compare as favorably for 
the artificial gathering of the young broods and for the raising of the 
same as the Bay of Arcachon, but not as regards temperature and the 
depth of water. 
In the Bay of Arcachon the difference between ordinary high and low 
tide is 4.5 meters, and during a storm a meter more. But along our 
North Sea coast during a storm the water rises with the tide even more 
than twice as high as during ordinary flood-tide. The power of the 
water during a storm, as compared with the power of the. water during 
an ordinary flood-tide, is much greater along our coast than in the Bay 
of Arcachon. Hence, we would be obliged to give to our oyster-beds a 
much greater firmness than the French breeders have to give to theirs. 
We would also be obliged to place them so far out in the sea that they 
would be entirely covered with water, even at the lowest ordinary tide, 
and also give them sufficient stability to withstand, during a storm, a _ 
