[43] OYSTER AND MUSSEL INDUSTRIES. 867 
ing it to fix itself on the beds where it had commenced to spread; for 
the planting took place at the time of the first spawning. 
This second end, which transforms the gulf planted into a species of 
submarine farm, undergoing the various processes of rational cultiva- 
tion, has been accomplished, by means of two contrivances, the simulta- 
_ neous employment of which has already furnished immense results, and 
which in the near future will permit the increase of the supply to any 
extent that may be desired, provided propagation keeps pace with the 
demand. 
One of the contrivances consists in covering the productive bottom 
with oyster or other kinds of shells, so that every single embryo that 
sinks shall find a solid body to which it may cling. The shells which 
we used for this purpose were gathered on the beach at Cancale, by 
order of M. de Bon, chief of the maritime service at Saint-Servan, who 
was kind enough to lend us his assistance, and were brought to the 
gulf by a special convoy of fishing smacks, and scattered over the arti- 
ficial beds in my presence. These shells, otherwise useless, which must 
be cleared away from the beach at great expense every year, so that 
they may not encumber it, if carefully preserved hereafter, will become, 
after drying, valuable instruments of culture. 
The second appliance, which is designed to secure the embryos ear- 
ried away by the currents, and to receive them on solid bodies placed 
under the tide-whirls, which do not extend to their depths, consists of 
long lines of small bundles, placed crosswise like intersecting bars, from 
one end to the other of each bed. These bundles, perfect collectors of 
seed, formed of branches from 2 to 3 meters in length, tied in the center 
by means of a rope to a stone, which holds them 30 or 40 centimeters 
above the bottom, were put in position by men wearing cork jackets, 
who were instructed to place around each stone a few oysters about to 
spawn. The rope, which the haste of the first experiment made it nec- 
essary to use for anchoring this apparatus, will, of course, soon rot, and 
it may be necessary to replace it in future by chains made of galvanized 
iron, which can be constructed in our arsenal shops, and which will form 
a part of the permanent outfit of this new culture. 
Bearings, carefully taken, form, on special charts well plotted, the 
means of identifying the points where each line is sunken, so that there 
will be no difficulty in finding each one in succession, of raising the bun- 
dles and removing the crop of oysters, as easily as the farmer gathers 
the fruits from his trees. 
Two government vessels, the Pluvier and the Fveil, stationed at 
opposite points in the gulf, one at Portrieux, the other at Dahotet, 
visit each day the artificial beds, while a small cutter, which was con- 
structed by Your Majesty’s orders, at mysrequest, steams up the gulf 
and helps to complete the surveillance, besides rendering other neces- 
sary assistance in carrying on the work. ‘This little cutter, which is 
almost indispensable in the enterprise, should be placed under the im- 
