[7] OYSTER CULTURE. 759 
abundant harvest, even upon ground primitively condemned to eternal 
sterility on account of mud or stones. It is with the object of instruct- 
ing proprietors of fishing privileges, or dwellers upon the sea-shore, con- 
cerning a source of immense wealth, the labor of which concerns them 
alone, and in order to facilitate the methods of attaining the best re- | 
sults, that I have endeavored to present in this book a summary of 
those principles, now sanctioned by experience, which ought to guide 
them in this new culture. The question of oyster culture will then be 
treated here from a restricted point of view, as a private industry, such 
as a small farmer, who is desirous of increasing his revenue from his 
marsh or fattening pond, can readily undertake. In accordance with 
the plan which I followed in a former work, upon the culture of fresh- 
water fishes, I have preceded the account of the special processes of 
oyster culture with some remarks upon the functions, habits, and strue- 
ture of various species of mollusks and crustaceans, the cultivation of 
which can be undertaken with profit, and with a study of the causes of 
the depletion of our coast waters. For it is only when acting with a full 
knowledge of the cause, that is to say, in reasoning in regard to his 
labors, and choosing his processes according to the nature of that which 
he grows, and the. circumstances and conditions of growth, that one can 
hope to prosper in a work of this kind. Many of the earlier attempts 
in this direction miscarried simply from not having followed rational 
methods. But their authors had one excuse, the nearly universal ignor- 
ance in regard to the habits and needs of the species upon which they 
experimented, and they had to guide them only the numerous and. ac- 
credited errors which tainted this branch of natural history. 
To M. Coste belongs the honor of having destroyed these illusions, 
and his learned researches enable us to work with better results. Thanks 
to him, the route is now defined, the guide has been found, and success 
is insured to all except those who are willfully ignorant or careless. 
This latter cannot be said of the experiments recently made by M. 
Thibaut upon the rocks of Bouchots near Oléron; ‘by the government 
upon the bank of Richelieu at Rochelle; by M. Boissiére at Arcachon ; 
and, finally, among others, by M. Cressoles in the marsh of Kermoor, 
where, in practicing the principles of a sound agriculture in regard to 
oyster culture, he has been able to transform an uncultivated and pesti- 
lential morass into vast reservoirs for fish and oysters, thus changing 
into a source of great wealth what was before a barren and disease- 
breeding tract. Their example is both a proof and encouragement; my 
most earnest desire is that this book may stimulate numerous others to 
imitate their labors. ; 
