486 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 8 



fully but partially distributed, and are found to ex- 1 

 tend Jurther north on the western than on the 

 eastern side of the island. In Scoiland they also 

 abound, but appear likewise to prefer the north- 

 eastern to the northwestern coast. While ihey 

 are every where plentiful and hiniily flavored, fi-orn 

 the Clyde to the Zetland, Orkney and Western 

 Islands, it does not appear that they breed hiixher 

 on the other side than in Friih of Forth. Those 

 on the iveslern shores are, however, compara- 

 tively Utile used, and with the exception of a few 

 sent from Loch Farbert lo Greenock, they are 

 consumed by the natives on the spot. Those of 

 the eastern coast, on the contrary, are carried to 

 Newcastle upon Tyne, Hull and London, and 

 have been exported in large quantities to Holland. 

 The best are procured near Preston Pans, Port 

 Seaton, and the Isle of Iiichkeith, in Musselhursfh 

 bay, Friih of Forth; and vessels from Milton, 

 Lee, and other parts of England come to dredge 

 fjrthem, and carrying them away, afterwards fat- 

 ten them for the English markets. Those from 



fifteen thousand bushels. They are at tinice im- 

 ported in considerable numbers, but the yearly 

 quantity is subject to important fluctuations. In 

 the season of 1801-2, one hundred and eighty- 

 eifht British vessels, carrying from six to nine men 

 each, were entered at the customhouse ofCan- 

 cale^in France, and carried back one hundred and 

 nineteen millions lour hundred and seventy-three 

 oysters, chiefly to London. On an average of 

 of 1831—1832, the imports into the same city 

 aujounted lo lifty-two thousand and ninety-five 

 bushels a year. In or about 1786, Glasgow con- 

 sumed twenty thousand annually, which were 

 carried bom Leith. on horseback or by carls, across 

 the country. The quantity in the present day 

 must be much greater. In 1803, the consump- 

 tion of Paris was estmiated at one million dozen, 

 selling on an average at six sous [ler dozen. 



Natural habits. — The European oyster is small- 

 er, thinner, and more rounded than the American, 

 while the lower valve is less concave or vaulted, 

 it IS not beaked, and the fish, compared with the. 



Preslon Pans are known by the name of Pan- size of the shell, is smaller and of a ditl'erent fla- 



doors, as being Ibund at the door of, or near the vor; there are besides, various other difl'erences, 



Pans, and ti'om the quantity of fi'esh water are and their habits are so very dissimilar that tliere 



the fittest and best flavored. In Ireland, Milford can be no doubt at all of their being distinct species. 



Haven is celebrated for its oysters. The European oyster is found only adhering to 



Oysters are Ibund on most parts of the French rocks and stones, or occasionally to very strong 



coast, but they are most plentiful on those of Bre- clayey bottoms; and should these be washed 



tagne and Normandy. The most extensive fish- away, the oyster beds perish. The fish is vivipa- 



ery is that which is carried on at Granville, in the rous, and the young produced with a perfectly 



bay of which, and for six leagues to the north- 

 ward, they abound. The fishermen bring them to 

 the town and dispose of them to women, who, 

 after having fattened them, dispose of them, either 

 pickled or in the shell. Paris, Dieppe and Rouen 

 are chiefly supplied from this place, for which 

 purpose boats are continually arriving from other 

 parts. The oysters fi"om Rochelle and Bordeaux 

 and generally from the coast of Bretagne. are 

 however by ihr the most esteemed ; being fatter 

 and more highly flavored, owing to the quantity 

 of fresh water there running into the ocean. 

 Here they are grec/ied in the same manner as in 

 England, and requn-e about the same time to 

 come to perfection. They are all to be met with 

 in Paris, butthosefrom Normandy in the greatest 

 numbers. The appetite lor shell fish of all sorts. 



formed shell. They are, when first emitted, quite 

 transparent, and they swim with great quickness, 

 by means of a membrane extending out of the 

 shell. So small are they in this state, that Van 

 Leeuwcrdioek computes that one hundred and 

 twenty of them in a row would extend an inch, 

 and consequently a globular body, whose diam- 

 eter is an inch, would, if they were round, be 

 equal in size to one million seven hundred and 

 twenty-eight thousand of them! The vulgar 

 opinion, and that on which the restraining laws 

 have been fi'amed, is, that the period of spawning 

 is JVlay, at which time the young, or spat, is found 

 adhering to the rocks. But as the young, as de- 

 scribed above, are found in the parents perfectly 

 formed and alive in the month of Aufrust, this is 

 most prooably the period of parturition, though 



which seems peculiar to the natives of the southern it be not till May that they become fixed or suffi 

 provinces of Italy, is such as to appear exaggera- ciently grown to be seen by the common obser- 



ted to a foreigner, accustomed to consider but a 

 few of them as eatable. So great however is it, 

 that at Taranto, the government draws a revenue 

 of twenty-four thousand ducats annually ii-om the 

 shell fishery alone. In the Mare Picolo, on 

 which thi<; place is situated, the spawn of the oys- 

 ter is received on large conical earthen pans, se- 

 cured at equal distances by ropes tied to them 

 and sunk in difft?rent parts of the bay. Their ap- 

 pearance is equally singular and beautiful; the 

 vessel become entirely hidden by the shells, when 

 the whole assumes the form ol'one solid but irregu- 

 lar mass of rockwork. The young oysters being 

 rubbed ofl' are scattered through various parts of 

 the bay, and finally, when sufficiently grown, are 

 collected by means of iron rakes. 



Of the quantity of oysters consmned in Eng- 

 land, we have no certain or continuous statistics. 

 In 1824, the quantity bred and taken in the coun- 

 ty of Essex, and consumed mostly in London, 

 was supposed to amount to fourteen thousand or 



ver. At this time they are about the size of a six- 

 pence, and comparatively hard and firm, and have 

 been well compared to a drop of candle grease in 

 water. In two, or at farthest three years, they are 

 fit for the table. The age to which it attains is 

 probably great, but after having arrived at its fiill 

 size, the valves are thickened, instead of being 

 increased in length or breadth. From May to 

 July, both the male and female or oysters are 

 said to be sick, and are in thin and poor condition, 

 but by the end oJ" August they have again re- 

 covered, are fat and in season. The sexes are 

 distinguished by I he fishermen, by the color of the 

 fringe, that of the male being black, or dark col- 

 ored, that of the female white. Sand is prejudi- 

 cial to them, a mixture of fresh water advantage- 

 ous. The shell, according to Mr. Hatchett, is 

 formed of carbonate of lime and a great propor- 

 tion of animal triuten, but more intimately mixed, 

 and not lying in regular layers, as in the perla- 



