920 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [14] 
still rather young for spawning, had, besides, undergone the fatigue of a 
long journey; the time they have taken to recover themselves coincides 
precisely with that of their growth and spawning. It is also necessary 
to add that a drier year than that of 1877 has been rarely seen. During 
more than four months the water of the roadstead of Giens, naturally 
salt, has not received the slightest addition of rain-water. In spite of this 
fact very few oysters have perished. This is important and promises 
well for the future. 
Messrs. Gasquet, like practical men, do not propose to limit their ex- 
periments to the oyster of Arcachon; this year they are going to obtain 
a supply of Portuguese oysters and of oysters native to the ponds of Cor- 
sica. They have taken advantage of the winter season to make impor- 
tant improvements in their parks. Having learned of the excellent re. 
sults obtained by distributing shells and sand over the bottom of the 
parks, they have, like Messrs. Mauduit and Solminihac, at Belon, ear- 
ried caleareous sand mixed with clay to that part of their establishment 
where the young oysters are to be quartered. Boxes, such as are agree- 
able to the fry, ingeniously arranged, have been constructed to receive 
the young oysters and other valuable shell-fish, whose small size would 
expose them to the attacks of their enemies. If in the experiments 
made at Giens nothing conclusive has been decided as regards the oys- 
ter, mussels have succeeded perfectly. They have grown very large 
during the past year, and have multiplied in a large proportion. Their 
spat was so abundant that it was found attached in quantity to a net 
several hundred meters (a meter is 34 feet) from the breeding beds. 
The hurdles surrounding the park and the slates which served as collec- 
tors were also well covered with them. 
In order to further extend this branch of their new industry, Messrs. 
Gasquet propose soon to establish bowchots made on the model of those 
used in the cove of Aiguillon. It is also desirable to mention the suc- 
cess obtained with the double praire, both as regards propagation and 
growth. The praire is a bivalve of nearly oval shape, with deep, hard 
valves which are concentrically ribbed. It may attain a maximum size 
of from 7 to 74 centimeters (23 to 3 inches). The animal is plump and 
of a whitish color; it fills its shell so completely that a praire of average 
size is at least equal to a good-sized oyster. It is found in the ocean 
and in the Mediterranean; the Mediterranean form is preferable as re- 
gards flavor, and its reputation would have spread beyond the limits of 
Provence, were it not for its tendency to disappear from the southern 
shores. It usually lives in water ranging from 1 to 4 meters (3 to 13 feet) 
in depth; it is fond of a sandy bottom and sometimes penetrates from 
8 to 12 centimeters (3 to 5 inches) into the sand. Like many other mol- 
lusks, it seeks the vicinity of fresh water. In the month of April, 1877, 
praires of all ages and sizes from the roadstead of Toulon were placed 
in the parks of Giens. The place chosen for this deposit was a sandy 
and somewhat clayey bottom, where a few tufts of marine seaweed grow. 
