910 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4] 
distance from the places where the fresh water enters; three or four 
hundred meters (975 to 1,300 feet) below where the Citrello emerges I 
found the hydrometer indicated 24°, while over the oyster and mussel 
parks it marked from 22° to 3°; in the roadstead, which likewise re- 
ceives the fresh water of the Citro, and near which are situated the oys- 
ter beds that furnish the young oysters, I found an indication of 3°. It 
was not without astonishment that I became convinced that oysters 
could live and thrive in water as warm as that of the small sea of Ta- 
rente; for it had generally been admitted that their preservation was im- 
possible in water exceeding 23° or 24° O.* In support of this assertion 
it was customary to refer to the oysters of Lake Fusaro, which died in 
large numbers whenever the temperature of the water reached such a 
height as this. But in reply it may be argued that the oysters of Lake 
Fusaro die rather in consequence of the action of volcanic emanations, 
or of sulphurous gases, which, under the influence of a high tempera- 
ture, escape from the decaying animal and vegetable remains accumu- 
lated at the bottom of the lake. From this fact it is evident that the 
heat of the water on the French Mediterranean coast is not as insur- 
mountable an obstacle to the establishment of oyster parks as has been 
asserted. 
The Little Sea of Tarente is leased by the city to a company that pays 
for it an annual rental of 38,000 francs ($11,600). The oyster and mus- 
sel parks are situated in the lower part, where the currents unite, al- 
ways bringing with them fresh nourishment and an ever-changing sup- 
ply of water. They are thirty-five in number, twenty-one for oysters 
and fourteen for mussels. Each oyster park measures from three to four 
hundred paces on each side. The mussel parks are much more spa- 
cious, their extent equaling from two to three times that of the oyster 
parks. The latter are farmed out by the company to the fishermen, who 
devote themselves to the culture of the mollusks, at the rate of one 
franc (20 cents) per seven palmes (about 6 feet). All concessions are 
marked off by strong posts driven into the bottom. In the spaces in- 
eluded within this first line of division there are other parallel lines of 
posts, arranged at intervals of fourteen palmes (about 12 feet). Of their 
uses we shall hear more further on. 
MUSSEL-CULTURE. 
Bouchots are entirely unknown at Tarente; and it is even doubtful 
whether they would yield favorable results in the sea at that place. 
The larval mussels are gathered on the spot by means of cords arranged 
horizontally very near to the spawning mussels, which lie on the bottom 
and are connected by slight agglomerations. This reserve is placed, as 
nearly as possible, in the most suitable location for it, and where it is 
least liable to suffer from the encroachment of mud. It is also neces- 
sary to avoid placing it at too great a depth, for mussels will not repro- 
a 
* Professor Oronzio Gabrielle Costa, Del Fusaro. 
