﻿[17] 
  A 
  SYSTEM 
  OF 
  OYSTER 
  CULTURE. 
  397 
  

  

  that 
  place 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  successful, 
  but 
  where 
  they 
  have 
  never 
  hereto- 
  

   fore 
  been 
  to 
  any 
  extent 
  indigenous. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  also 
  very 
  important 
  that 
  the 
  tanks 
  or 
  troughs 
  be 
  operated 
  on 
  an 
  

   extensive 
  scale 
  at 
  Saint 
  Jerome's 
  Creek 
  station, 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  

   system 
  of 
  spawning 
  ponds 
  and 
  canals 
  containing 
  the 
  new 
  system 
  of 
  

   collectors. 
  The 
  efforts 
  which 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  now, 
  after 
  we 
  have 
  so 
  far 
  

   worked 
  out 
  the 
  details 
  and 
  principles, 
  are 
  simply 
  those 
  of 
  routine, 
  and 
  

   it 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  hoped 
  that 
  no 
  pains 
  will 
  be 
  spared 
  to 
  push 
  the 
  construction 
  

   of 
  the 
  necessary 
  plant 
  to 
  completion 
  at 
  both 
  places 
  as 
  rapidly 
  as 
  pos- 
  

   sible, 
  and 
  in 
  abundant 
  time 
  for 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  spawning 
  seasou 
  

   on 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  July, 
  188G. 
  

  

  The 
  method 
  of 
  pumping 
  embryonized 
  water, 
  or 
  water 
  containing 
  oys- 
  

   ter 
  embryos, 
  through 
  shells, 
  was 
  resorted 
  to 
  by 
  Brooks 
  and 
  Winslow 
  in 
  

   1882, 
  the 
  apparatus 
  used 
  by 
  them 
  being 
  still 
  in 
  existence 
  among 
  the 
  

   stores 
  of 
  the 
  Pish 
  Commission 
  at 
  Wood's 
  Holl. 
  The 
  same 
  year 
  McDon- 
  

   ald's 
  apparatus 
  was 
  operated, 
  and 
  in 
  that 
  adherent 
  fry 
  was 
  obtained, 
  

   to 
  our 
  delight 
  and 
  astonishment, 
  24 
  hours 
  after 
  its 
  fertilization. 
  In 
  that 
  

   apparatus 
  the 
  same 
  body 
  of 
  water 
  was 
  constantly 
  kept 
  circulating 
  by 
  

   hand. 
  In 
  Bouchon-Braudely's 
  apparatus 
  the 
  water 
  charged 
  with 
  em- 
  

   bryos 
  was 
  operated 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  a 
  pump, 
  and 
  I 
  think 
  about 
  the 
  same 
  

   time. 
  These 
  details 
  are 
  given 
  as 
  matters 
  of 
  history, 
  in 
  case 
  there 
  should 
  

   be 
  any 
  disputes 
  in 
  the 
  future 
  as 
  to 
  who 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  use 
  such 
  meth- 
  

   ods. 
  Each 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  experimenters 
  devised 
  his 
  apparatus 
  inde- 
  

   pendently 
  of 
  the 
  other, 
  and 
  in 
  ignorance 
  of 
  how 
  any 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  others 
  

   was 
  working, 
  so 
  that 
  there 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  no 
  unrightful 
  appropria- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  ideas 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  any 
  of 
  them. 
  

  

  But 
  all 
  of 
  these 
  experiments, 
  I 
  am 
  now 
  satisfied, 
  wereconducted 
  on 
  too 
  

   meager 
  or 
  limited 
  a 
  scale 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  decisive 
  in 
  character, 
  but 
  they 
  have 
  

   served 
  to 
  indicate 
  what 
  are 
  the 
  proper 
  methods 
  to 
  be 
  adopted. 
  Large 
  

   quantities 
  of 
  cultch 
  and 
  large 
  and 
  continuous 
  supplies 
  of 
  fry 
  from 
  large 
  

   quantities 
  of 
  oysters 
  were 
  never 
  used 
  in 
  any 
  of 
  these 
  experiments 
  such 
  

   as 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  proposed 
  to 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  further 
  prosecution 
  of 
  the 
  work. 
  

   Whatever 
  results 
  we 
  see 
  accomplished 
  under 
  favorable 
  conditions 
  in 
  

   nature 
  can 
  be 
  just 
  as 
  readily 
  accomplished 
  under 
  conditions 
  which 
  may 
  

   be 
  supplied 
  by 
  the 
  ingenuity 
  of 
  the 
  cultivator, 
  if 
  he 
  is 
  guided 
  by 
  the 
  

   proper 
  preliminary 
  knowledge. 
  If 
  any 
  one 
  were 
  to 
  inform 
  me 
  that 
  I 
  

   could 
  not 
  produce 
  even 
  more 
  satisfactory 
  results 
  in 
  collecting 
  spat 
  than 
  

   are 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  occurring 
  naturally 
  in 
  the 
  moat 
  at 
  Fortress 
  Monroe, 
  I 
  

   would 
  simply 
  tell 
  that 
  person 
  that 
  he 
  knew 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  conditions 
  

   determining 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  problem 
  which 
  he 
  pretended 
  to 
  regard 
  

   as 
  incapable 
  of 
  solution. 
  

  

  What 
  Ave 
  must 
  do 
  to-day 
  is 
  to 
  adapt 
  such 
  means 
  to 
  the 
  solution 
  of 
  

   the 
  oyster 
  problem 
  as 
  will 
  render 
  them 
  applicable 
  in 
  practice. 
  The 
  

   American 
  cultivator 
  does 
  not 
  get 
  the 
  price 
  obtained 
  by 
  the 
  French 
  or 
  

   Dutch 
  oyster 
  farmer, 
  nor 
  can 
  he 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  to 
  come 
  expect 
  to, 
  for 
  

   the 
  reason 
  that 
  the 
  aggregate 
  area 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  American 
  oyster 
  is 
  

  

  