[37] OYSTER CULTURE. 789 
in the water it is necessary to select firm, solid wood, of good quality, 
but in its adjustment there is no need of any particular nicety of work- 
manship or finish, and there is moreover this advantage that it lasts 
a long time and can be used for several harvests. However, in those 
waters where boring worms and mollusks occur, a single season will 
render the platforms unfit for further service. In this case galvanized 
iron supports can be used in place of the wooden frame-work and the 
planks may be replaced by sheets of metal having the two faces covered, 
as already described, with a mixture of pitch and tar, in which valves 
of shells, bits of coral, or small stones have been imbedded. The me- 
tallic sheet, which forms the body of these pitch planks, will give suffi- 
cient solidity to the structure, and the supports can be in the form of a 
frame-work, capable of holding at least three sheets, which can be fast- - 
ened in position by means of bolts; the entire structure may be arranged 
like a table upon four or eight legs, which can be driven into the ground, 
or fastened into blocks of stone, which will give the desired stability to 
the whole. These tables can be placed in rows according to the config- 
uration of the bed, leaving passages between each two rows to facilitate 
working them. After the spat or germs have been collected upon the 
planks of the platform they can be easily transported either by sea or 
land. If by sea the planks are taken from the stringers and suspended 
lengthwise and vertically in a frame-work provided with floats, or ar- 
ranged in the direction of the current, like a series of shelves, about 
one-fourth of a meter apart, and thus kept constantly in the water; in 
this shape they can then be towed without trouble to any distance. 
When they are transported by land the planks are either carried in tanks 
full of sea-water, or placed between layers of wet sea-grass, and when so 
managed the young oyster can sustain, without serious damage, a journey 
of one or two days. When their destination is reached the young oysters 
are detached from the planks without trouble, as this operation demands 
only a slight amount of skill and attention, and deposited in the places 
to be stocked; or the planks may be placed upon supports similar to 
those whence they were taken, and the young oysters allowed to con- 
tinue their development protected from the mud, and in such a position 
that by turning the planks the conditions of light and aération can be 
varied to suit the wants or requirements of the growing brood. 
Box collector.—This apparatus unites the double advantage of pre- 
senting ina relatively small compass the greatest possible extent of 
surface for the attachment of germs, and, at the same time, the most 
favorable conditions for the transportation and ultimate development of 
the young, in the movable and independent parts which compose it. 
It consists, essentially (Fig. 9), of a rectangular box, two meters in 
length by one meter in breadth and height, and is without any bot- 
tom. It is formed of planks, O, placed from 2 to 3 centimeters apart, 
or pierced with holes, for the entrance and circulation of water in the 
interior. These planks are permanently maintained in place upon the 
