872 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [48] 
in building these resting places preference be given to stakes, they 
should be planted in a vertical position, either driven in the bottom 
or fastened to floating rafts. These rafts would have another advantage: 
they could carry movable planks, placed obliquely one by the side of 
the other, like the slats of a window-blind, so that one side would al- 
ways be free from contact with the mud. These movable planks, when 
once filled with seed, could be taken apart and suspended vertically 
to the frame-work of the raft. These, however, are initiatory details, 
the application of which may be varied according to the dictates of ex- 
perience.” 
The first models of these plank collectors, whose efficiency as a mean 
of collecting the seed has been tested along our whole sea-coast, had 
certain disadvantages which rendered them insufficient for practical 
purposes. One objection is, that they offer but a limited surface to adhere 
to; and another is, the difficulty in gathering the crop, as the young 
oysters attach themselves to the surface in such a manner that in remoy- 
ing them one part of the valve is frequently left adhering to the wood. 
The problem, then, is not whether the spat may be cultivated in new 
grounds, for that fact has long since been demonstrated by science, 
and is known to all oystermen, but to discover some economical means. 
of gathering large numbers of embryos in a limited space, and of easily 
removing them from these temporary repositories. It is necessary, in 
short, to organize hive-like structures where the mother oyster can de- 
posit her young, like the queen bee, in myriads of cells so arranged 
that the swarm may be removed and renewed. This apparatus of pre- 
cision places the work of nature under complete shelter, and carries 
the business even to man’s habitation, where the saline waters, invig- 
orated by a communication with the sea, are retained by artifice. By 
such means every point will be occupied by the spat, and they may be 
easily removed and multiplied. 
The idea of applying these hive-like structures to the cultivation of 
the oyster, whether in bottoms sometimes exposed or always covered, 
has already made a decisive advance in the bay of Arcachon by the 
combined efforts of Drs. Lalesque and Lalanne, who bring their physio- 
logical knowledge to bear upon the new methods. The first named of 
these park-owners has converted my plank collectors into inclosed 
Spaces, or submerged boxes, where the spawning is as effectual as when 
the oyster enjoys complete freedom, and so arranged that the young are 
entirely protected from the currents. The second is applying himself 
to the problem of multiplication of surfaces by doubling the height of 
the propagating cells by means of artificial stalactites made from a mix- 
ture of three parts rosin (brai) to one of tar (goudron). This mixture, 
poured while hot on the prepared plank surface, gathers up the pieces 
of shell with which it is sprinkled, and, in cooling, substitutes for a 
hard, smooth platform, a rough, jagged, and friable surface, from which 
the spat can be easily removed and attached to other parts of the seed- 
plots on the étalages. 
