﻿[39] 
  A 
  SYSTEM 
  OF 
  OYSTER 
  CULTURE. 
  419 
  

  

  great 
  ; 
  yet, 
  if 
  not 
  deprived 
  too 
  entirely 
  of 
  its 
  original 
  stock, 
  it 
  will 
  again 
  

   be 
  thickly 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  natural 
  growth 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  twelve 
  to 
  

   twenty 
  months. 
  The 
  conditions 
  on 
  the 
  natural 
  banks 
  for 
  spatting 
  are 
  

   those 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  crowded 
  collectors 
  contemplated 
  in 
  the 
  plan 
  proposed 
  

   in 
  the 
  preceding 
  pages. 
  Often 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  thirty 
  to 
  forty 
  oysters 
  will 
  be 
  

   found 
  crowded 
  upon 
  a 
  single 
  square 
  foot 
  of 
  surface. 
  Upon 
  almost 
  every 
  

   one 
  of 
  these, 
  young 
  spat 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  adherent 
  towards 
  autumn, 
  so 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  surprising 
  that 
  the 
  bank 
  is 
  so 
  soon 
  regenerated, 
  appearing 
  a 
  year 
  

   afterward 
  as 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  never 
  been 
  disturbed, 
  as 
  it 
  bristles 
  with 
  its 
  multi- 
  

   tudes 
  of 
  densely-crowded 
  oysters, 
  all 
  of 
  which 
  have 
  the 
  hinge 
  end 
  down, 
  

   and 
  the 
  free 
  ends 
  of 
  the 
  valves 
  directed 
  upward. 
  The 
  luxuriance 
  of 
  the 
  

   young 
  growth 
  which 
  adheres 
  to 
  the 
  valves 
  of 
  the 
  parent 
  oysters 
  is 
  fatal 
  

   to 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  latter, 
  inasmuch 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  finally 
  smothered 
  and 
  killed 
  

   in 
  great 
  numbers 
  by 
  the 
  rapidity 
  of 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  their 
  progeny 
  immedi- 
  

   ately 
  above 
  them. 
  

  

  VIII. 
  Where 
  brush 
  of 
  a 
  suitable 
  kind 
  is 
  abundant, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  improb- 
  

   able 
  that 
  a 
  very 
  efficient 
  and 
  inexpensive 
  system 
  of 
  collectors 
  could 
  be 
  

   arranged 
  in 
  the 
  system 
  of 
  zigzag 
  canals 
  described 
  above. 
  Such 
  brush 
  

   should 
  be 
  dry 
  or 
  stripped 
  of 
  its 
  leaves, 
  and 
  consist 
  of 
  bushes 
  tall 
  enough 
  

   to 
  reach 
  up 
  to 
  low-water 
  level, 
  and 
  with 
  stems 
  long 
  enough 
  below 
  the 
  

   branches 
  to 
  be 
  thrust 
  firmly 
  and 
  securely 
  into 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  canal 
  

   in 
  a 
  vertical 
  position. 
  The 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  canal 
  might 
  in 
  this 
  way 
  be 
  

   thickly 
  studded 
  with 
  vertical 
  brush 
  collectors 
  instead 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  elab- 
  

   orate 
  system 
  of 
  baskets. 
  Or 
  the 
  latter 
  might 
  be 
  combined 
  with 
  a 
  sys- 
  

   tem 
  of 
  brush 
  collectors. 
  The 
  wire 
  receptacles 
  might, 
  in 
  fact, 
  be 
  used 
  to 
  

   supply 
  the 
  spawn 
  to 
  the 
  canal 
  by 
  filling 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  them 
  partly 
  with 
  

   dead 
  shells 
  upon 
  which 
  living 
  spawners 
  were 
  laid, 
  and 
  the 
  receptacles 
  

   then 
  placed 
  at 
  intervals 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  feet 
  apart 
  in 
  the 
  canal, 
  with 
  a 
  dense 
  

   system 
  of 
  brush 
  collectors 
  arranged 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  as 
  proposed. 
  

  

  With 
  this 
  modification 
  of 
  the 
  system 
  jetties 
  might 
  also 
  be 
  used, 
  as 
  

   suggested 
  in 
  the 
  body 
  of 
  the 
  foregoing 
  paper. 
  

  

  IX. 
  In 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  wire 
  receptacles 
  in 
  the 
  canal 
  system, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  

   found 
  that 
  the 
  shells 
  with 
  their 
  adherent 
  spat 
  cannot 
  be 
  left 
  in 
  the 
  ap- 
  

   paratus 
  with, 
  advantage 
  over 
  ninety 
  days. 
  By 
  that 
  time 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  

   young 
  oysters 
  will 
  have 
  grown 
  to 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  2 
  inches 
  across. 
  They 
  will, 
  

   in 
  fact, 
  range 
  from 
  that 
  size 
  down 
  to 
  a 
  fourth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  across. 
  Fig- 
  

   ures 
  of 
  spat 
  of 
  Ostrea 
  virginica 
  of 
  known 
  age 
  were 
  first 
  published 
  by 
  

   me, 
  indicating 
  the 
  above-noted 
  rate 
  of 
  growth 
  in 
  1881. 
  Lieutenant 
  

   Winslow's 
  results 
  were 
  similar, 
  as 
  based 
  on 
  experiments 
  with 
  collectors 
  

   the 
  season 
  before. 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  young 
  oysters 
  are 
  left 
  too 
  long 
  in 
  the 
  wire 
  baskets, 
  disadvan- 
  

   tageous 
  adhesions 
  will 
  be 
  formed 
  with 
  adjacent 
  shells, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  young 
  

   spat 
  may 
  suffer 
  iujury 
  and 
  be 
  broken 
  when 
  the 
  shells 
  are 
  separated 
  or 
  

   poured 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  receptacles. 
  A 
  new 
  and 
  permanent 
  place 
  should 
  there- 
  

   fore 
  be 
  provided 
  for 
  the 
  young 
  spat 
  immediately 
  after 
  it 
  is 
  removed 
  from 
  

   the 
  collecting 
  apparatus. 
  To 
  that 
  end, 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  best 
  to 
  at 
  once 
  plant 
  

  

  