[7] CONDITION OF OYSTER CULTURE IN 1875. 891 
frames to collect the spat, which should be withdrawn at the. proper 
time. 
His first missions on the coast.—Two years afterwards, in 1857, the 
Emperor commissioned him to make experiments in maritime fish-cul- 
ture. Soon thereafter, having received letters of introduction from the 
minister of the marine to all the maritime officers of the ports, he began 
to travel along the coast. He visited Saint-Servan in August, 1857. 
M. De Bon showed him the already decisive results which he had ob- 
tained, both in restocking the beds of the Rance and in collecting spat 
artificially. This was a practical confirmation of his theories, and in 
many respects a revelation of the means of executing them, for which 
he was still seeking. He saw with his own eyes the reproduction of 
oysters upon ground left bare by the tide, a fact which be had long de- 
nied and from which he subsequently derived so much advantage. On 
the 5th of February, 1858, in the first report addressed to the Emperor 
on the subject of his mission, he asked that a simultaneous experiment 
in restocking and in oyster culture might be tried on a large scale in the 
bay of Saint-Brieuc. He predicted its success, and his vivid imagina- 
tion, entirely given over to the fondest hopes, already saw the coast of 
France transformed by the same process into an almost continuous 
chain of oyster-beds, furnishing inexhaustible supplies of food. 
Experiments in the Bay of Saint-Brieuc.—This report, which was printed 
in the *‘Moniteur,” attracted much attention. M. Coste received from 
the minister of marine all the means that he required. Three million of 
oysters, purchased at Cancale and Tréguier, were deposited (April, 1858) 
at various points in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, with the aid of two small 
steamers belonging to the government, which towed the entire flotilla of 
boats carrying the oysters. On these improvised beds oyster shells were 
previously spread, to serve as collectors, and, for the same purpose, long 
rows of bundles of fagots were let down and anchored at a height of 30 
or 40 centimeters (12 to 13 inches) above the bottom. Other boats were 
permanently detailed to watch and keep the new beds inorder. Success 
seemed insured from the first. Atthe close of the spawning season the 
collectors brought to the surface were covered with spat. M.Coste thought 
that now he was about to see his plansrealized. He proposed to imme- 
diately undertake to restock the entire coast, and the report in which he 
announced his results in the bay of Saint-Brieue (December, 1858) re- 
ceived the same publicity as the former one. 
Attempts at restocking on a large scale.—From this time onward oyster- 
cultural experiments both by the department of Marine and by private 
individuals developed rapidly. In the month of July, 1859, a steamer 
called the “Chamois” was placed at the disposal of M. Coste to convey 
him to such points along the coast as he desired to visit, in order to 
direct his experiments, and especially to co-operate in the oyster-cultural 
works under the charge of the commissioners of the maritime inscrip- 
tion and of the vessels guarding the fisheries. In January, 1860, two 
