CHAP. VIII.] 



OYSTER-FASCINES. 



351 



the Bay of St. Brieuc, and notwithstanding the fact that the 

 water there is exceedingly deep and the winds very violent, 

 immediate and almost miraculous success was the result. 

 The fascines laid down soon became covered with seed, and 

 branches were speedily exhibited at Paris, and other places, 

 containing thousands of young oysters. The experiments in 

 oyster-culture tried at St. Brieuc were commenced early in the 

 spring of 1859, on part of a space of 3000 acres that 



_. *****'. 



-- Y" " '" - _-i K- - - 



OYSTER -FASCINES. 



was deemed suitable for the reception of spat. A quantity of 

 breeding oysters, approaching to three millions, was laid down 

 either on the old beds or on newly-constructed longitudinal 

 banks ; these were sown thick on a bottom composed chiefly of 

 immense quantities of old shells the " middens " of Cancale 

 in fact, where the shell accumulation had become a nuisance 

 so that there was a more than ordinary good chance for the 

 spat finding at once a proper holding-on place. Then again, 

 over some of the new banks, fascines made of boughs tightly 

 tied together were sunk and chained over the beds, so as to 

 intercept such portions of the spawn as were likely, upon 

 rising, to be carried away by the force of the tide. In less 

 than six months the success of the operation in the Bay of St. 

 Brieuc was assured ; for, at the proper season, a great fall of 



