892 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [8] 
and a half million oysters were purchased at Cancale and distributed 
through the bay of Saint-Brieuc in order to enrich its bottom. In May 
and July of the same year two million more were purchased in England 
and taken to Bordeaux, by the Chamois, whence they were conveyed to 
Cette by railway for the formation of oyster-beds in the Mediterranean. 
This lot was divided between the pond of Thau and the roadstead of 
Toulon. The roadstead of Brest was restocked, and an oyster reserva- 
tion, supplied by large shipments from England and intended to facill- 
tate the stocking of the surrounding beds, was established in l’Anse de 
la Forest, near Concarneau. In the basin of Arcachon, explored by M. 
Coste in October, 1859, there were established by his advice two model 
parks to serve as breeding beds for the entire basin and for the trial of 
the different collecting apparatus thus far invented.* Several millions 
of oysters were deposited in these parks, and a government vessel, 
together with a coast guard expressly appointed, were charged with 
their supervision and with the carrying on of all necessary work. 
First advances made by private industry.—Private industry followed 
the impulse given by the state. On the coasts of Normandy and Brit- 
tany, on those extending from the Loire to the Gironde, and in the basin 
of Arcachon, concessions were solicited from the minister of the marine; 
oyster-parks were established, and the people engaged with eagerness 
in experiments at artificial reproduction. Capitalists intrusted their 
funds to enterprises of this kind, conceived on a grand scale. The suc- 
cess in several localities was very marked. In the beginning of 1861, 
M. Coste, in requesting the minister to grant further extension to his 
restocking operations, stated that the bey of Saint-Brieuc, where the 
first experiments had been made, could immediately furnish a harvest 
of several millions of marketable oysters ; that the coasts of the island 
of Ré had been converted into a vast and richly stocked oyster-bed ; 
that the basin of Arcachon promised a harvest of incalculable richness; 
that in the roadsteads of Brest and Toulon the success attained, although 
less pronounced, was still of a nature to justify the most sanguine hopes; 
that at La Rochelle and at Marennes the production was equally satis- 
factory; and, finally, that in the pond of Thau, if the oysters had not 
reproduced they had at least grown and acquired qualities which would 
cause that pond to be considered a place for improving their flavor. 
Numerous failures— Temporary decline of oyster culture.—Unfortunately 
numerous and bitter disappointments followed in the course of the suc- 
ceeding years. The artificial beds of Saint-Brieue were destroyed by 
inclement weather, the oysters being scattered and the bundles of fagots 
broken apart and thrown upon the shore; they never rallied from this 
* These parks were formed in 1860, on two of the best oyster bottoms of the basin, 
called the Cés and Crastorbe. In 1863 a third model park was established upon the 
crassats of Lahillon. These parks, after having rendered much good, ceased to be 
useful when private industry had made considerable advancement at Arcachon. In 
1872 the minister of the marine granted to the Central Life-Saving Society the right to 
take oysters therefrom, with certain reservations. 
