oO 
[23] OYSTER CULTURE IN MORBIHAN. 965 
the surrounding waters; but there is a question of instinctive preference, 
which must not be forgotten. This is the reason why Hyacinthe Beeut 
found young oysters upon his walls, and not within his pen; this is the 
reason why we find oysters upon the joints of the masonry of the quays 
and other structures, in our ports. Wherever a calcareous solution has 
pexuded, and then hardened upon the outside, there it ismost readily dis- 
-s ved and assimilated. Nevertheless, to Dr. Kemmerer is due the honor 
of waving first introduced the process of liming intooyster culture. It will 
be said of him, perhaps, that he carried a torch by which he himself was 
no’ lighted. We may consider that he was looking for India and dis- 
covered America. He deserves the gratitude of all oyster culturists. 
What is most remarkable concerning liming is the fact that both quick- 
lime and hydraulic cement are decomposed by sea-water. Hydraulic 
cement hardens in fresh water; but salt water, although it permits of a 
first hardening, in the course of time produces complete decomposition. 
This change is favorable to the removal of the young oyster, and to 
the assimilation of lime by the young. 
By combining these two substances, hydraulic cement and quick-line, 
the oyster culturists of Morbihan, in all cases, attain the desired results, 
so far as this particular point is concerned. 
If some of our culturists still seem to ignore the existence of a prin- 
ciple in the use of lime, as necessary for the attachment of young oysters, 
there are others who, without strongly insisting upon. it, still affirm 
this truth. We may cite a few instances: ‘ Quick-lime,” says M. Al- 
phonse Martin, ‘always retains a little moisture, thus placing at the dis- 
posal of the oyster all the materials which it needs.” 
“A coating of lime,” says M. Gressy, ‘‘not only permits of the easy 
removal of the oyster, but also constitutes a substance eminently favor- 
able for collecting the young. This fact is so well known, that no one 
to-day would place a collector in the sea, without having first dipped it 
in lime.” 
Finally, Dr. Henri Leroux writes as follows: “We will not now in- 
sist upon the necessity of coating the tiles, in order to obtain a good 
supply of oysters, as experience has sufficiently proved this fact. The 
tiles, covered with lime, will give three times as many oysters as those 
without it.” e 
This principle being admitted, the liming is done in two very different 
ways, at Morbihan, according to whether it is intended to entirely free 
the oysters from the tile, or to allow a portion of the tile to remain at- 
tached to each shell. 
When we come to speak of the removal of the oysters from the col- 
lectors, we will make some remarks concerning the matter of leaving a 
portion of the tile attached tothe young. For the present, we will merely 
state that, under that system, the tile is cut, leaving a portion adhering 
to each oyster, forming a sort of heel. 
Some of our culturists, such as M. Gressy and M. Henri Leroux, 
