[39] OYSTER AND MUSSEL INDUSTRIES. 863 
tions. This moment having arrived, they should be included anew in the 
alternation of regular harvesting. 
In the present state of things, the regulations of the police which 
supervise our fishing coasts, prescribe the first half of the month of 
August for the purpose of visiting the oyster beds and designating 
those which are to be dredged at the opening of the month of Septem- 
ber, which is the legal period for commencing operations; but the com- 
missioners charged with this duty cannot at that time form any exact 
idea of the actual condition of things; for a large number of oysters 
have not at this period spawned, and the spat of those which spawned 
in the month of July is scarcely visible to the naked eye. In order to 
fully recognize them recourse must be had to a magnifying glass, by 
which they can be distinguished only after drying, and by one accus- 
tomed to researches of this kind. To obtain the most satisfactory re- 
sults, therefore, it is necessary to defer the inspection of the beds until 
later in the season, that is to say, until the month of January. By the 
adoption of this measure the government will find that February or 
March, and not September, is the proper season for the opening of the 
fisheries, and by this means alone the yield will be increased at least 
tenfold. 
In fixing upon the first of September as the time for the opening of 
the fishing season, the government has undoubtedly (in a measure) acted 
wisely, as the majority of the oysters have already spawned, and there 
is not much danger of taking from the water the parent oysters still con- 
taining the spat in their interior. But this progeny, which, before the 
spawning, forms in the interior of each milky (laiteuse) oyster an innum- 
erable family, after parturition spreads itself over the exterior of the 
valves, incrusts them, and creates a new population on the surface of the 
old. Now, if at this time dredging be permitted, the harm resulting 
therefrom will be almost as extensive as though it had occurred at the 
period of gestation; for, in taking out the adult oyster, the younger gen- 
eration will also be removed, at least all that have not deserted their birth- 
place. The dredge would devastate the fields in full germination likea 
rake drawn through the branches of a fruit tree while covered with blos- 
soms. This is not one of the least causes of the impoverishment of our 
coasts. To remedy this evil it will only be necessary to change the open- 
ing of the dredging season and make it February or March instead of 
September. By that time the young oysters of the year will have at- 
tained the size of seed-oysters (huitres de rejet), and those that still adhere 
to the parent-shell can be easily detached, and either returned to the 
beds, as prescribed by law, or preserved in the étalages, as is done at 
Cancale. 
It may be said, probably, that in appointing February as the opening 
of the season there will be only three months for dredging, as in May 
the oysters become milky, and dredging is then prohibited. But this 
objection is not well taken, for six weeks of daily dredging would be suffi- 
