﻿404 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  [24] 
  

  

  VII. 
  — 
  The 
  possibilities 
  of 
  the 
  new 
  method 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  op 
  

  

  THE 
  OYSTERMEN. 
  

  

  I 
  know 
  perfectly 
  well 
  bow 
  this 
  paper 
  will 
  be 
  greeted 
  by 
  the 
  conserva- 
  

   tive 
  oystermen. 
  I 
  find, 
  indeed, 
  that 
  even 
  those 
  who 
  pretend 
  to 
  be 
  sci- 
  

   entific 
  are 
  ready 
  to 
  cavil 
  at 
  the 
  attacks 
  here 
  made 
  upon 
  the 
  present 
  

   systems 
  and 
  the 
  apparently 
  extravagant 
  claims 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  given 
  

   expression. 
  After 
  five 
  years 
  of 
  careful 
  and 
  often 
  laborious 
  observation 
  

   and 
  study, 
  during 
  which 
  time 
  I 
  have 
  personally 
  instituted 
  a 
  large 
  num- 
  

   ber 
  of 
  experiments 
  in 
  the 
  field, 
  and 
  have 
  studied 
  the 
  problem 
  in 
  all 
  its 
  

   aspects, 
  I 
  am 
  ready 
  to 
  own 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  misapprehended 
  the 
  very 
  ele- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  the 
  question 
  at 
  issue. 
  I 
  have 
  taken 
  it 
  for 
  granted 
  that 
  the 
  

   methods 
  in 
  vogue 
  in 
  Europe 
  were 
  somehow 
  applicable 
  here. 
  So 
  they 
  

   are, 
  but 
  not 
  until 
  so 
  modified 
  as 
  to 
  have 
  lost 
  almost 
  all 
  original 
  sem- 
  

   blance 
  of 
  themselves. 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  dealt 
  with 
  probabilities, 
  but 
  with 
  ac- 
  

   tual 
  possibilities, 
  in 
  this 
  paper, 
  as 
  founded 
  upon 
  personally 
  observed 
  facts. 
  

   I 
  have 
  proposed 
  no 
  cunningly-devised 
  hypotheses 
  to 
  entrap 
  the 
  unwary 
  

   novice, 
  but 
  at 
  every 
  step 
  in 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  my 
  system 
  I 
  have 
  

   checked 
  what 
  I 
  had 
  to 
  say 
  upon 
  a 
  given 
  point 
  by 
  something 
  within 
  the 
  

   bounds 
  of 
  experience. 
  This 
  is 
  my 
  final 
  contribution 
  to 
  the 
  theory 
  of 
  

   oyster 
  culture, 
  a 
  thing 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  never 
  possessed 
  before 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  

   in 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  presented 
  here. 
  

  

  In 
  no 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  paper 
  has 
  there 
  been 
  any 
  direct 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  

   anatomy 
  or 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  animal. 
  The 
  practical 
  man 
  has 
  no 
  time 
  

   to 
  waste 
  upon 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  subject. 
  What 
  he 
  wants 
  to 
  know 
  is 
  not 
  

   how 
  the 
  egg 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  segments 
  and 
  develops, 
  but 
  what 
  the 
  habits 
  

   of 
  the 
  minute 
  creature 
  are 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  first 
  let 
  loose 
  in 
  what 
  must 
  seem 
  

   to 
  it, 
  if 
  conscious, 
  a 
  truly 
  vast 
  universe 
  of 
  water. 
  Moving 
  about 
  in 
  

   its 
  element 
  Avith 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  the 
  fine 
  cilia 
  encircling 
  its 
  velum, 
  it 
  

   swims 
  until 
  it 
  finally 
  meets 
  with 
  a 
  nidus 
  to 
  which 
  it 
  can 
  glue 
  itself 
  

   fast 
  with 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  left 
  lobe 
  of 
  its 
  tiny 
  mantle. 
  Once 
  fixed, 
  

   its 
  wandering 
  existence 
  is 
  forever 
  at 
  an 
  end. 
  It 
  is 
  now 
  ready, 
  by 
  slow 
  

   stages 
  of 
  growth, 
  to 
  become 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  like 
  its 
  parent. 
  Its 
  shell, 
  

   before 
  and 
  some 
  time 
  after 
  fixation, 
  is 
  perfectly 
  symmetrical, 
  like 
  that 
  

   of 
  the 
  hard 
  clam, 
  and 
  remains 
  so 
  until 
  it 
  attains 
  the 
  still 
  diminutive 
  

   size 
  of 
  one-ninetieth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  across. 
  It 
  is 
  this 
  symmetrical 
  phase 
  of 
  

   its 
  infant 
  or 
  embryonic 
  career 
  which 
  constitutes 
  the 
  most 
  critical 
  stage 
  

   of 
  the 
  creature's 
  life. 
  The 
  losses 
  prior 
  to 
  fixation 
  are 
  very 
  great, 
  and 
  

   all 
  we 
  can 
  possibly 
  do 
  to 
  diminish 
  them, 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  state 
  of 
  our 
  

   knowledge, 
  is 
  to 
  so 
  enormously 
  increase 
  the 
  proportional 
  amount 
  of 
  

   cultch, 
  to 
  which 
  fixation 
  is 
  possible, 
  that 
  for 
  any 
  given 
  bed 
  such 
  losses 
  

   willbe 
  reduced 
  to 
  their 
  possible 
  minimum. 
  Scattered 
  cultch, 
  such 
  as 
  

   tiles, 
  slates, 
  &c, 
  have 
  been 
  as 
  unphilosophically 
  aud 
  unscientifically 
  

   applied 
  hitherto 
  as 
  the 
  cultch 
  used 
  on 
  the 
  bottom 
  in 
  only 
  two 
  dimen- 
  

   sions 
  of 
  space. 
  For 
  the 
  present 
  mode 
  of 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  latter, 
  however, 
  there 
  

   are, 
  assignable 
  reasons 
  when 
  such 
  cultch 
  is 
  applied 
  in 
  open 
  water. 
  The 
  

  

  