[25] — OYSTER CULTURE. eM 
ance a fresh brain, of a whitish color, tinted with rose externally, and in 
closing a glutinous, greenish tissue, or growing into ramified branches, 
This plant has the singular property of absorbing or secreting lime, 
which, by hardening at the surface, forms an external coating or semi-solid 
test. It is gathered in considerable quantities along the coasts of Brit- 
tany and Normandy as a fertilizer for very silicious soils, which in this 
manner receive their lime. And this is the plant which is wrongfully ac- 
cused of destroying the oyster banks and usurping the territory. I say 
wrongfully, for, as in the case of the mud, the maérle never attacks the 
oyster banks until after the dredge has commenced the work of destruce- 
tion. In fact a surface completely restocked with oysters, which are ab- 
sorbing animals, furnished with caleareous shells, cannot supply all the 
calcareous elements demanded by the oysters for the formation of their 
shells, and at the same time supply the maérle, which also requires a 
large quantity of the same materials to enable it to multiply. Wherever 
the maérle exists it is certain that the oyster cannot flourish, for it 
could not find subsistence there ; and, reciprocally, wherever the oyster 
occupies the entire territory and absorbs all the shell-producing ele- 
ments, the maérle can neither flourish nor live. But when human in- 
dustry, yielding without reflection to selfish and grasping desires, carries 
away incessantly and by thousands the oysters and their progeny, leav- 
ing the surface absolutely bare in patches, it is not surprising that the 
germs of the maérle, which lives near by in the same waters, should 
come and plant themselves upon the ground, whence the enemy has 
disappeared, and there developing, become predominant, and _ finally 
entirely supersede the former occupant. From all this it is evidently 
necessary to seek the true and only cause of the depletion of our oyster 
deposits in the mode of fishing practiced at the present time. 
Some details will here be necessary in order to explain ourideas. In 
all sections of the country oysters are taken by means of the dredge. 
This is a heavy iron frame, which is loaded with stones to render it more 
effective, and cause it to ‘“‘ bite” the ground deepers A rope is attached 
to the dredge, which is dropped overboard from a vessel of some kind, 
and the vessel set in motion causes the dredge to drag over the bottom 
upon one of its sides, which, having a sharp edge, cuts or tears up every- 
thing in its course and gathers them into a net or bag attached to the 
lower side or bottom of the dredge. When the dredge appears to be 
full it is drawn on board of the vessel and its contents emptied upon the 
deck. The heap is then culled, and those oysters which are not of the | 
size established by law are thrown back into the sea, and the rest placed 
to one side either for market or, as in Cancale, for the parks or fatten- 
ing ponds. 
In the month of August the commissioners of fisheries inspect the 
beds so as to ascertain their condition before permitting any fishing 
upon them, which, before M. Coste had made known the time when 
they could be worked with the least damage, commenced in September 
and lasted until May. 
