[45] OYSTER AND MUSSEL INDUSTRIES. 869 
their zeal, and appoint from the list of officers M. Levicaire, chevalier 
of the Legion of Honor, and wearing the medal of Saint Héléne, who, 
unites with the best record thirty-nine years of excellent service, and 
- ought to be raised to the rank of commissary of marine at Saint-Brieuc; 
and that M. Bidaut, lieutenant in the navy, a chevalier of the Legion of 
Honor, with nineteen years of excellent service to his credit, will be kept 
in command of the Pluvier, with all his crew, beyond the ordinary period, 
that is to say, until the scheme that we are now engaged in be entirely 
accomplished. 
With the ossistance of these two distinguished officers and the aid of 
an inspector of fisheries, whose appointment should be immediate, so 
that the bay of Saint-Brieuc may be placed on the same footing with Can- 
cale, Granville, and Marennes, we hope in less than three years to unite 
all the beds, and have the whole surface of 12,000 hectares under full cul- 
tivation. An annual appropriation of 10,000 franes will suffice to carry 
on the work of clearing out the bottoms, buying supplies of seed oysters, 
gathering shells, repairing the structures for holding the embryos, or- 
ganizing other beds of acclimatization like the one already established at 
Plevénon, and for the creation of perfecting-claires, where the fattened 
oysters are improved by becoming green. When this project is accom- 
plished, the inhabitants of the sea-board will find in the gulf, as in a 
very productive field, an inexhaustible supply provided by generous 
foresight, and will witness on the shores an example of the different 
methods and practices connected with this oyster industry. It will prove 
at the same time a lesson and a great benefit. 
If Your Majesty consent to this proposition, I shall immediately trans- 
mit to the commissary of the marine at Saint-Brieuc, and to the com- 
mander of the Pluvier, all the instructions necessary in executing these 
delicate operations. But to preserve our artificial beds one more meas- 
ure must be brought into requisition: to order the dredgers to obtain 
their supplies at greater distances from the beds, where they may rake 
the bottom without injuring an enterprise commenced under such happy 
auspices. 
To sum up, sire, the experiment made in the bay of Saint-Brieuc has 
been attended with such decisive success that the lessons it teaches can- 
not be ignored. It proves, by a splendid result, that whenever the 
bottoms are free from mud and slime, industry, guided by science, may 
reap from the depths of the sea, fertilized by its care, more abundant 
harvests than can be obtained from the earth. I deem it, therefore, my 
duty to recommend that Your Majesty order the immediate restocking 
of all our sea-coasts, that of the Mediterranean as well as of the ocean 
itself; that of Algeria and of Corsica, not excepting all the salt lakes 
found in southern France, the fruits of which, by multiplying, will become 
a source of wealth to the poor people who inhabit the shores. But, in 
order that these operations may be successful, it is necessary that a swift 
propeller of light draught should be built and devoted exclusively to this 
