[15] CONDITION OF OYSTER CULTURE IN 1875. 899 
Arrangement of the collectors.—By way of commencing operations, the 
oyster culturist first supplies his park with adult oysters, purchased 
either from the dredgers at the time of collection or from other parkers. 
The collectors must next be put in place, and it is very essential that 
the proper time for arranging them should be ascertained, for the spat 
will fasten to clean and smooth bodies only; and if the collectors are 
put in place long before spring time they will become covered with mud, 
algee, small shells, &c., and the harvest will prove a failure. The oyster 
spawns earlier or later in the season according as the average tempera- 
ture ranges higher or lower. The proper time for placing the collectors 
varies, therefore, according to the latitude of the place and the relative 
temperature of the season for each year. In the basin of Arcachon the 
collectors are usually placed the latter part of May. The locality chosen 
for this purpose is the lowest portion of the park, in order that the ap- 
paratus may be under the sea for as long a time as possible. The strings 
of shells are placed in the dampest places, especially in the natural ex- 
cavations of the bottom, where some water always remains. 
Arrangement in piles.—The tiles are arranged in piles called “hives” 
(ruches). In the first place, there is placed upon the bottom a wooden 
frame, formed of two parallel beams about 2 meters (64 feet) in length, 
30 centimeters (11 inches) apart, and connected by two short cross-pieces 
upon which they rest. The tiles are placed in successive layers above 
the frame, with their concave sides downwards, the tiles of each succes- 
sive row being arranged alternately parallel with and at right angles to 
the beams of the frame. The whole is held in place by means of ropes, 
or, better still, by wire, and sometimes even by a circle of stakes, if from 
the situation of the park the apparatus is exposed to the force of the 
waves. In the latter case the lowest hive is also protected by reducing 
the number of layers of tiles, which may vary from five to nine. The 
hives should be at a distance of 2 meters (64 feet) apart; if there are 
several lines of them they should be arranged in the form of a quincunx, 
in order that the current may pass through them so as to form eddies at 
intervals, enabling the spat to become the more easily attached. They 
should not be brought together in too confined an area, for then they 
would become filled in with mud, and, from the desire for too rapid gain, 
ell would be lost. 
Removal of the collectors—Detaching of the oysters, &c.—The hives re- 
main in their places until October, the spawning season continuing until 
‘the end of September. They are then taken apart, the tiles are placed 
in large claires prepared for the purpose, and the work of detaching 
commences. This operation, which is usually performed by women, 
consists in cutting into the coating of the tiles around each oyster, by 
means of a chisel. The young oysters when detached are placed in am- 
bulances or preservative boxes, in piles 3 to 4 centimeters (14 inches) high 
at the most. They spend about two months in this place, during which 
time the parker frequently visits them in order to keep them clean and 
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