982 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [40] 
ternal qualities of a vegetable than an animal. Almost incapable of 
moving from place to place, it feels to the fullest extent the influence of 
the soil which serves as its bed. We have seen what difficulties had to 
be overcome, in order to carry on breeding successfully in the midst of 
our mud; what will it then be as to raising and fattening? Some per- 
sons, influenced by a feeling of timidity, mingled with incredulity, ask 
themselves whether raising and fattening’is possible along our coast. 
When such questions have been proposed to us we have always answered 
affirmatively, and it will be useful to make known the reasons upon 
which our hopes are based. 
There exists in the world a privileged country, where the oyster indus- 
try occupies a prominent stand; that country is the United States. 
There, immense fortunes have been made in this industry, the capital 
of one American oyster dealer having been computed as high as ten 
millions. Now, if it be true that the character of the coast and the 
nature of the bottom exercise a preponderating influence, what are the 
particular features of this coast and what constitutes so favorable a 
bottom ? 
From the St. Lawrence to Florida, the American coast is deeply in- 
dented. Magnificent bays, like those of Boston and New York, are 
succeeded by the steep banks of the Delaware, which waters Philadel- 
phia, and of the Chesapeake, whose tributaries pass by Washington and 
Baltimore, Richmond and Fredericksburg. Farther to the south, along 
the coast of South Carolina, we find the interior seas, called Albemarle 
and Pamlico Sounds, which seem like great basins, protected from the 
high waves by immense breakwaters. 
All along the coast, from North to South, the soundings indicate sand, 
sandy mud, and rich, shelly bottoms. Inthe coves, mud is found; and 
the bays, whether large or small, receive an abundance of fresh water, 
from many streams and smallrivers. Sometimes this mixture is effected 
by small tributaries, as in Delaware Bay, and again by large rivers, 
which, near their mouths, are quite majestic in character; such are the 
Potomac and the Rappahannock.’ When these numerous indentures, 
these rapid currents, and these seas, which penetrate even into the inte- 
rior, are studied and examined, one is struck with their similarity to 
eee of the coast of Brittany. 
We also have a great gulf, deeply indented and dotted about with 
islands; we also have large rivers, with brackish water and rapid cur- 
rents, and shores tranquilly washed by the waters of the sea. If the 
Americans, thanks to their favorable coast, have a profusion of oysters 
and cultivate them with care, we may also, since the problem of breeding 
has been solved, endeavor to raise fair crops, as Providence has fur- 
nished suitable iicalites for so doing within reach of our culturists. 
To such as have said to us ‘Breeding is our field, let others attend to 
the raising,” I have always replied, we must not neglect the raising of 
