﻿398 
  KEPOKT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [18] 
  

  

  cultivated 
  or 
  indigenous 
  exceeds 
  by 
  many 
  times 
  that 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  

   European 
  species 
  is 
  either 
  native 
  or 
  cultivated. 
  The 
  European 
  methods 
  

   of 
  using 
  cultch, 
  such 
  as 
  tiles, 
  slates, 
  brush, 
  fagots, 
  &c, 
  are 
  too 
  expen- 
  

   sive, 
  too 
  elaborate, 
  for 
  our 
  practical 
  people. 
  We 
  must 
  reap 
  in 
  quantity 
  

   what 
  they 
  reap 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  price 
  of 
  their 
  product. 
  Under 
  the 
  cir- 
  

   cumstances 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  possible 
  way 
  of 
  solving 
  the 
  greatest 
  question 
  

   which 
  now 
  exercises 
  the 
  oyster-growers 
  of 
  this 
  country, 
  but 
  to 
  put 
  into 
  

   their 
  hands 
  a 
  method 
  by 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  which 
  they 
  can 
  get 
  all 
  the 
  spat 
  they 
  

   wanton 
  their 
  own 
  lands 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  spawn 
  of 
  their 
  own 
  oysters. 
  

  

  This 
  we 
  propose 
  to 
  accomplish 
  with 
  the 
  apparatus 
  described 
  above. 
  

   The 
  cost 
  of 
  the 
  entire 
  plant 
  requisite 
  is 
  a 
  mere 
  trifle 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  

   results 
  to 
  be 
  gained 
  by 
  its 
  use. 
  In 
  order 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  method 
  is 
  prac- 
  

   tical, 
  I 
  will 
  state 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  previous 
  experiments 
  with 
  collect- 
  

   ors 
  at 
  Saint 
  Jerome's 
  Creek 
  iu 
  1880. 
  I 
  arrived 
  there 
  on 
  the 
  19th 
  day 
  of 
  

   July 
  in 
  that 
  year, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  22d 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  month 
  had 
  some 
  collect- 
  

   ors 
  in 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  water 
  and 
  coves. 
  I 
  continued 
  to 
  put 
  out 
  collect- 
  

   ors 
  until 
  towards 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  September, 
  but 
  in 
  nearly 
  every 
  case 
  it 
  

   was 
  impossible 
  to 
  direct 
  the 
  water 
  charged 
  with 
  embryos 
  directly 
  upon 
  

   the 
  collectors 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  proposed 
  to 
  do 
  by 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  method, 
  yet 
  

   in 
  almost 
  every 
  case 
  I 
  obtained 
  a 
  set 
  of 
  spat 
  on 
  these 
  collectors, 
  some 
  

   of 
  the 
  young 
  oysters 
  on 
  the 
  latter 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  of 
  November 
  measured 
  

   nearly 
  two 
  inches 
  in 
  length. 
  It 
  was 
  then 
  that 
  I 
  first 
  noticed 
  the 
  dispo- 
  

   sition 
  of 
  the 
  spat 
  to 
  adhere 
  to 
  the 
  under 
  or 
  clean 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  cultch 
  and 
  

   also 
  to 
  surfaces 
  which 
  were 
  vertical 
  and 
  their 
  indisposition 
  to 
  adhere 
  

   to 
  the 
  dirty 
  upper 
  surfaces 
  of 
  the 
  slates, 
  &c, 
  which 
  were 
  used. 
  

  

  Enough 
  spat 
  was 
  obtained 
  that 
  season 
  to 
  prove 
  that 
  it 
  could 
  be 
  prof- 
  

   itably 
  collected 
  in 
  that 
  way 
  provided 
  we 
  had 
  a 
  sufficiency 
  of 
  such 
  within 
  

   a 
  limited 
  area 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  condense 
  our 
  cultch 
  and 
  get 
  more 
  spat 
  on 
  a 
  smaller 
  

   area. 
  Many 
  of 
  our 
  collectors 
  during 
  that 
  season 
  soon 
  became 
  heavily 
  

   coated 
  above 
  with 
  sediment 
  (as 
  much 
  as 
  an 
  inch 
  in 
  depth 
  being 
  deposited 
  

   in 
  two 
  months), 
  so 
  that 
  such 
  surfaces 
  were 
  rendered 
  valueless 
  forour 
  pur- 
  

   pose. 
  Had 
  we 
  instead 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  expose 
  one 
  hundred 
  times 
  as 
  much 
  

   collecting 
  surface 
  within 
  one 
  tenth 
  the 
  space 
  covered 
  by 
  the 
  apparatus 
  

   used 
  that 
  season, 
  the 
  oyster 
  question 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  settled 
  that 
  year. 
  

   The 
  subsequent 
  experiences 
  which 
  were 
  obtained 
  there 
  and 
  at 
  other 
  

   places, 
  however, 
  have 
  served 
  to 
  indicate 
  that 
  still 
  other 
  supplemental 
  

   conditions 
  were 
  necessary, 
  viz, 
  (1) 
  such 
  that 
  would 
  enable 
  us 
  to 
  direct 
  

   the 
  water 
  charged 
  with 
  embryos 
  direct 
  upon 
  the 
  cultch, 
  and 
  (2) 
  such 
  

   a 
  utilization 
  of 
  the 
  tide 
  and 
  construction 
  of 
  the 
  receptacles 
  for 
  the 
  cultch 
  

   as 
  would 
  enable 
  us 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  latter 
  clean. 
  

  

  In 
  order 
  to 
  realize 
  the 
  spat-yielding 
  capabilities 
  of 
  any 
  given 
  body 
  of 
  

   water 
  to 
  its 
  fullest 
  extent, 
  and 
  throughout 
  its 
  three 
  dimensions 
  of 
  length, 
  

   breadth, 
  and 
  depth, 
  the 
  cultch 
  must 
  be 
  distributed 
  as 
  evenly 
  throughout 
  

   those 
  same 
  three 
  dimensions 
  as 
  possible. 
  This 
  implies 
  the 
  concentra- 
  

   tion 
  or 
  condensation 
  of 
  the 
  cultch 
  or 
  collecting 
  apparatus 
  to 
  an 
  extent 
  

   never 
  before 
  attempted. 
  The 
  new 
  method 
  here 
  proposed 
  will 
  then 
  mark 
  

  

  