﻿[25] 
  A 
  SYSTEM 
  OF 
  OYSTER 
  CULTURE. 
  405 
  

  

  use 
  of 
  cultch 
  where 
  the 
  adult 
  oysters 
  are 
  much 
  scattered, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  

   embryos 
  are 
  diffused 
  through 
  such 
  enormous 
  bodies 
  of 
  water 
  that 
  the 
  

   greatest 
  possible 
  results 
  are 
  not 
  obtained, 
  is 
  likewise 
  unscientific. 
  What 
  

   has 
  been 
  needed 
  is 
  a 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  animal, 
  and 
  then 
  to 
  

   create 
  the 
  necessary 
  favorable 
  conditions 
  by 
  artificial 
  means. 
  I 
  have 
  

   sought 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  the 
  way 
  in 
  which 
  these 
  conditions 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  created, 
  

   and, 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  soon 
  be 
  extensively 
  taken 
  advantage 
  

   of, 
  I 
  will 
  turn 
  for 
  a 
  moment 
  to 
  a 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  possibilities 
  of 
  

   the 
  new 
  method. 
  

  

  With 
  the 
  new 
  method 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  provide 
  and 
  expose 
  not 
  less 
  

   than 
  fifty 
  times 
  the 
  amount 
  of 
  spatting 
  surface 
  per 
  acre 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  

   exposed 
  if 
  shells 
  are 
  simply 
  thrown 
  down 
  upon 
  the 
  bottom. 
  The 
  yield 
  

   of 
  spat 
  or 
  seed 
  oysters 
  per 
  acre 
  can 
  therefore 
  be 
  augmented 
  in 
  just 
  the 
  

   proportion 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  quantity 
  of 
  cultch 
  over 
  a 
  given 
  area 
  is 
  in- 
  

   creased. 
  If 
  it 
  is 
  objected 
  that 
  the 
  great 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  

   oysters 
  would 
  rob 
  the 
  water 
  of 
  its 
  lime 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  its 
  carbonates, 
  I 
  

   can 
  reply, 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  me, 
  with 
  considerable 
  confidence, 
  that 
  the 
  vast 
  

   amount 
  of 
  oyster-shells 
  used 
  as 
  cultch 
  in 
  the 
  collectors 
  would 
  supply 
  

   all 
  that 
  is 
  needed 
  in 
  the 
  most 
  available 
  form, 
  for 
  these 
  shells 
  are 
  being 
  

   constantly 
  eroded 
  by 
  the 
  solvent 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  water, 
  so 
  that 
  an 
  abun- 
  

   dance 
  of 
  calcic 
  carbonate 
  would 
  be 
  supplied 
  in 
  solution 
  in 
  the 
  water 
  

   for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  building 
  the 
  shells 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  spat. 
  We 
  therefore 
  

   have, 
  in 
  these 
  circumstances, 
  a 
  very 
  strong 
  argument 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  the 
  

   use 
  of 
  oyster-shells 
  as 
  cultch, 
  though 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  said 
  that 
  coating 
  the 
  

   cultch 
  with 
  lime 
  or 
  cement 
  would 
  supply 
  the 
  shelly 
  matter 
  perhaps 
  

   equally 
  well. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  next 
  place, 
  the 
  culturist 
  of 
  limited 
  means, 
  if 
  possessed 
  of 
  low 
  

   land 
  adjoining 
  the 
  shore, 
  can 
  organize 
  and 
  equip 
  a 
  small 
  plant 
  adapted 
  

   for 
  collecting 
  the 
  spat 
  from 
  a 
  few 
  hundred 
  bushels 
  of 
  oysters 
  at 
  a 
  small 
  

   cost. 
  He 
  can 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  that 
  way 
  obtain 
  the 
  seed 
  needed 
  for 
  planting 
  

   upon 
  his 
  own 
  beds, 
  but 
  also 
  supply 
  his 
  neighbors 
  at 
  a 
  fixed 
  rate 
  per 
  

   bushel, 
  with 
  spat 
  for 
  planting 
  upon 
  their 
  beds. 
  

  

  For 
  large 
  operations 
  the 
  plant 
  would 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  proportionally 
  ex- 
  

   tensive 
  and 
  costly. 
  For 
  a 
  plant 
  which 
  would 
  accommodate 
  fifty 
  to 
  one 
  

   hundred 
  thousand 
  bushels 
  of 
  shells 
  annually, 
  the 
  original 
  outlay 
  would 
  

   be 
  very 
  considerable. 
  

  

  For 
  such 
  operations 
  joint-stock 
  companies 
  could 
  be 
  organized, 
  with 
  

   an 
  assurance 
  that 
  great 
  profits 
  could 
  be 
  reaped 
  from 
  the 
  enterprise. 
  

  

  In 
  all 
  of 
  this 
  work, 
  especially 
  where 
  the 
  fry 
  from 
  coves 
  is 
  utilized, 
  

   we 
  would 
  simply 
  be 
  saving 
  what 
  is 
  now 
  an 
  almost 
  total 
  loss 
  to 
  the 
  

   planters 
  over 
  a 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  ground 
  at 
  present 
  cultivated 
  in 
  the 
  old 
  

   way. 
  We 
  would 
  simply 
  be 
  saving 
  the 
  brood 
  from 
  our 
  own 
  beds 
  from 
  

   being 
  swept 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  tides 
  and 
  irrecoverably 
  lost. 
  

  

  Localities 
  exist 
  all 
  along 
  the 
  Chesapeake 
  Bay 
  where 
  this 
  method 
  

   could 
  be 
  utilized 
  very 
  successfully. 
  The 
  range 
  of 
  its 
  applicability 
  ex- 
  

   tends, 
  in 
  fact, 
  from 
  some 
  distance 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  the 
  Potomac, 
  

  

  