. [41] OYSTER CULTURE. 793 
the production of the thousands of germs necessary for the stocking of 
a live-pond, or even a larger inclosure; for the possibility of placing two 
or more of these boxes close together without injury to the oysters or 
the germs which they contain, permits a response to all the demands 
of the breeder, however restricted or extended they may be. Moreover, 
the apparatus itself, besides being easy to manage, arrange, and trans- 
port, will last for several years if suitable wood is used in its con- 
struction, and if the outside at least is protected in some such manner as 
are the bottoms of vessels, by a sort of sheathing. As to the inside, as 
well as the cross-pieces and the wooden parts of the trays, they can be 
covered with the mixture of tar and pitch already mentioned, and in- 
crusted with shells and stones, which will not only preserve them from 
rapid decay, but also render them suitable places of attachment for the 
young oysters. 
Fixed collecting apparatus.—When the bottom is already covered with 
oysters, either from the existence there of a natural bank or by artificial 
means, movable collectors are useless, and for the multiplication of these 
oysters, the proper method is by means of fixed apparatus, which, while 
much less expensive and complicated than the preceding, performs the 
same office. The various kinds of fixed apparatus are as follows: 
First. Pavement collectors—This method, employed at the island of Ré, 
at Rochelle, &c., consists in covering the bottom with blocks of stone irreg- 
ularly broken and formed into a sort of uneven pavement, and by so ar- 
ranging the pieces that as many crevices and prominences may exist as 
possible. The best way of arranging these pieces is to group them in 
threes, two being placed flat, at a short distance apart, and the third 
above and resting at its extremities on the other two, in such a manner 
as to form a sort of bridge with the arch, or third stone, sufficiently ele- 
vated above the bottom to be out of reach of mud. 
The young growth, moving freely in the water, becomes attached to 
these rocks, in the hollows and under the arch stone of each set of 
three, where they are protected, and where pure water and a mild light 
are offered them, conditions which are very necessary during the early 
stages of their existence. During the first year they should be left en- 
tirely in peace, and at the spawning period all that is necessary is to 
simply turn over the upper stones without touching in any manner the 
lower ones. The oysters which have become attached to the lower sides 
of these stones are thus exposed to a full light, a condition favorable to 
their future development, and the upper faces of the stones, now turned 
downward, are ready for the attachment of the next growth. During the 
third year the oysters upon the upper surfaces of the stones can be taken 
- off, having acquired a sufficient size to permit of their being placed with 
others upon the beds or in the fattening ponds, and the stones can again 
be turned so as to expose the oysters upon the under side to the full light, 
and leave a fresh under surface for a third growth. This process is not 
expensive, at least in those sections where, as in the island of Ré, the 
rocks of the coast furnish ample supplies for all the pavements neces- 
