88 THE FISHERIES OF THE ADRIATIC, 



ostrighera; in the lagoons with the cassa, or by hand ; in harbours with the 

 fiocina a tranche curve, and on piles, dams, and rocks by the rasparctta, or 

 mezzaluna. Three-year old oysters are the best. The annual consumption 

 at Trieste is J 0,000, @ 5 to 10 soldi a piece. The inland import is incon- 

 siderable, as Vienna is supplied from Hamburg and Ostende. The annual 

 yield is estimated at 70 to 80 mille, valued at ,£600. 



Ostreoculture 1 is carried on in a most primitive manner by the fishermen 

 of Monfalcone, Duino, Zaole, Muggia, &c. It consists in driving piles, or 

 rather oak branches (pali), into the bed of the sea, in 1^-2 fathoms water. 

 This is clone in spring; and in autumn, when the spat has settled on them, 

 they are transferred into deeper waters, there to await their development 

 after the third season. In Dalmatia, the branches of oak are merely thrown 

 into the water, and there allowed to remain until the oysters mature and 

 fall off. 



At Grado, the French system known as Claires was tried, but it proved 

 a failure, and had to be abandoned, chiefly on account of the small tides 

 prevalent in these waters, which accounts for the high mortality of the oysters, 

 which perished of cold in winter and of heat in summer. 



A great deal more might, no doubt, be done in the way of ostreoculture, 

 and the Hungarian Government is anxious to promote something of the 

 kind in the bay of Buccari. Capt. R. F. Burton, H.B.M. Consul for Trieste, 

 has also interested himself in the matter, and has proposed a company for 

 the purpose : Val dArsa, in Istria, would be a most suitable ground for 

 carrying out the project, the more so as it is connected by rail with Vienna. 



There are five different kinds of oysters common to the Adria, viz., 

 O. adriatica (Lam.), (Ostrica di palo, Ostrica dell' Adriatico), found generally 

 on the limestone-beds of the Adriatic, but neither in the lagoons nor in the 

 oyster-ponds; O. lamellosa (Brocchi), {Ostrica a lamclle), a species which is 

 reared in ponds on a large scale, attains to large dimensions, and is the most 

 savoury of the Adriatic species ; three varieties of O. ed?ilis (L.), viz., var. 

 deprcssa (Phillipi), (Ostrica commune depressa, vulgo Ostricliind), a small species 



1 Consult " Die Bewirthschaftung der Meeres," &c, von Anton Gareis. 



