868 | REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [44] 
mediate orders of M. the commissary of the marine at Saint-Brieuc, 
so that my daily instructions can be promptly executed by-a force 
selected by that agent of the administration. I think, sire, that it 
is my duty to insist that this essential part of the programme be not 
forgotten. 
These, sire, are the initiative means which have been adopted for the - 
fertilization of the gulf. Hardly six months have elapsed since they 
were put into execution, and already the promises which were held out 
by science have become startling realities. The treasures accumulated 
by the persevering application of these methods in these fully devel- 
oped fields exceed the most sanguine expectations. The mother oys- 
ters, the shells which were scattered over the bottom, in fact everything 
brought to the surface by the dredge, is covered with spat; the beach 
itself is thick with them. Never at Cancale or Granville, in the eras of 
their greatest prosperity, was such a spectacle of immense reproduction 
witnessed. 
The bundles bear in their branches and on their smallest twigs bou- 
quets of oysters in such profusion that they resemble the limbs of our 
fruit trees, which, in spring, are hidden by the profusion of their blos- 
soms. They look like veritable petrifactions. To believe such wonders 
it is necessary to be an eye-witness of them. 
In order that Your Majesty may judge with your own eyes of the ex- 
tent of these treasures, I caused to be transported to Paris one of these 
appliances for collecting the spat, together with specimens taken from 
the several beds; these will testify eloquently in behalf of our success- 
ful efforts. The young oysters which cover them are already from 2 to 
3 centimeters in length. They are simply the seed which, in eighteen 
months, will ripen and yield an immense harvest. On one bundle alone, 
occupying no more space in the waters than a sheaf of wheat in a field, 
as many as 20,000 were found. Now 20,000 oysters, when they are of - 
edible size, represent in value 400 frances, the current price being 20 
franes per thousand on the spot. The revenue from this industry will 
therefore be immense, since one may put down as many spat collectors 
as he wishes, and since each adult individual forming part of the bed 
will furnish not less than 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 embryos. The bay of 
Saint-Brieue will become in this way a perfect storehouse if, by the junc- 
tion of beds already formed, we convert the whole area into a vast pro- 
ductive field. 
All the arrangements necessary for the accomplishment of this great 
scheme can be promptly executed, sire, if the prosecution of it be en- 
trusted to those from whose intelligent zeal I have received so much aid 
up to this time. The experience which they have acquired in these first 
operations is a guarantee that what remains to be done will be brought 
to a successtul issue. 
I therefore hope that, in order that I may retain the indispensable 
assistance of two fellow-workmen, Your Majesty will deign to reward 
