[55] THE OYSTER AND OYSTER-CULTURE. 137 
banks. They are then covered with water which has stood for a while 
in a neighboring pond, the clearing-basin, in order to let the mud settle. 
During cold weather 500 tons, or 350,000 to 400,000 oysters, can be kept 
in these storage-ponds, but during warm weather only 200 tons. If it 
be necessary, oysters can be stored in the clearing-pond and in the 
trenches which lead to the ponds. In order to preserve the oysters in 
the storage-ponds in a healthy condition they must not be placed too close 
together, especially in warm weather. They must also be changed very 
often from the compartment which they have occupied to a clean one, 
and be subjected to a rapid flow of water in order to wash off all the dead 
material from their shells. Most of the English oysters which are eaten 
in Germany come from Ostend. They are kept there in basins similar 
to those at Husum, which have been built behind the walls of the old 
fortress. In 1869 I found there nine of these basins, which could be 
filled to a depth of about 2 meters with sea-water, supplied through 
sluices which connect the basins with the sea. In these ponds oysters 
are only stored and fattened. Those not sold by the close of the oyster- 
season are generally sent back to the English beds, because they 
are kept with difficulty during the summer, but principally because, 
after lying in the ponds for a long time, they become very poor from 
the lack of food. In the years 1875-’76 it is reported that a weekly 
supply of 500 bushels (750,000 oysters) were received at Ostend from 
England. 
The most celebrated oyster-port in England is Whitstable, situated 
on the southern side of the mouth of the Thames. Here the best na- 
tives are found. Their shells are indeed not very large, but their bodies 
are thick and very full, on account of the great depth of the cavity of 
the left valve. : 
The oysters which are sent over to Germany, by way of Ostend, are 
smaller varieties than the celebrated Whitstable oysters. These last 
are seldom sent to the continent, nearly all being demanded for the 
London market, where they command a higher price than any other 
kind. Oysters for exportation are packed in casks. In these they are 
placed with the left valve always undermost, and are packed so close 
together that, when the cask is closed, no room is left for them to open 
the valves of their shells. Upon many oyster-beds along the west coast 
of France those oysters which have very nearly arrived at a marketable 
size are at frequent intervals left uncovered, and longer and longer each 
successive time. As long as they are deprived of water they will keep 
their shells closed, and thus they are trained to retain, while in the dry 
casks, and until the knife prepares them for the table, the water which 
they inclosed in their shells when taken up. If ice is used to keep 
oysters fresh, care must be exercised that the water from the melting 
ice does not come in contact with the mollusks, or their flavor will be 
injured. Care should also be taken, especially with shelled oysters, that 
S. Mis. 29—— 47 
