[35] OYSTER AND MUSSEL INDUSTRIES. 859 
apart for this purpose. There the experiment may be undertaken in a 
restricted space, supervision will be easy, and in less than six months 
a fair estimate could be made of the expected results, as from a tree in 
blossom, provided the artificial beds are planted in March or April, that 
is, before the spawning season. 
The sum of 6,000 or 8,000 franes, placed at the disposal of the commis- 
sary of the marine, in that quarter, would suffice for the purchase of the 
oysters required for stocking the bay. These oysters should be caught 
in the open sea, and, if possible, carried immediately by a government 
steamer to the grounds naturally fitted for them. But, when they are 
unable to collect enough in one day to complete a cargo, they may store 
them temporarily near Plévenon, adependency of Saint-Brieue, in charge 
of two custom-houses found there, so as not to start them from this pro- 
visional storage to the places where they are to remain before they have 
a full load. 
With the aid of this simple means, and at a relatively insignificant 
cost, it will be possible in a few years, if proper precautions be adopted, 
to realize a considerable revenue in the bay of Saint-Brieue alone. 
Among these precautions, I put first, that the oysters ought not to be 
out of the water for a moment longer than is required for their trans- 
portation from the place where they are caught to their destination. It 
is owing to a neglect of this precaution that the failures in the past are 
due; for, whenever it has been observed, success has crowned the ex- 
periments, as is proven by the attempts of M. de Bon in the Rance. 
A second and not less important condition is that an intelligent and 
watchful care be given to these submarine fields, made fertile by science 
and cultivation; and to the commissary of the region naturally belongs 
the duty of exercising this care. But in order that the equipment of 
this officer may correspond with his responsibility, he should have at 
his command a pinnace, or better still a launch of 8 to 10 tons, furnished 
with a captain, four sailors, and a cabin-boy, a sufficient crew for all the 
needs of the enterprise; the launch may serve at the same time to guard 
and cultivate the tract which is assigned to its care. 
The oyster beds created or supported in this way by the government 
will always be easy of exploration and investigation. Nothing con- 
nected with them can occur without the administration being instantly 
informed of it and in condition to act. If the mud accumulate on the 
producer’s grounds, or if the mussels and the maérle invade them, the 
drag will detach the oysters’ enemies or remove the parasites as the 
plow removes weeds from the ground. If in the vicinity of the estab- 
lished beds they discover other bottoms adapted to the multiplication 
of oysters, the exploring launch may always be occupied in superintend- 
ding its domains, will seek everywhere on the natural beds the adult 
oysters required for stocking these new fields, or will sow there the 
young oysters, which in the fishing season are rejected in selecting the 
marketable oysters. So that whether we consider this craft from a 
