THE OYSTER 



fish ; and it is from the outside spaces that millions of 

 brood oysters may be obtained. 



It stands to reason, with the vast number of native 

 oysters that are eaten or exported within a twelvemonth, 

 that the beds from which they are drawn require to be 

 continually restocked ; and this is done by the owners 

 buying of the fishermen the brood which they have 

 gathered from common ground, and laying it down in 

 their own " parks," where it will gradually come to 

 maturity. 



Brood-getting, then, is the chief occupation of the 

 fishermen in such a place as Whitstable ; supplying not 

 the fish-market, but the fish-breeder. While the close 

 season is on, and perhaps two or three days a week during 

 other times, the dredgers are to be seen going off in their 

 cutters for a task that will occupy from eight to twelve 

 hours, and during that time they will go ten and even 

 twenty miles away. With no quay and no tugs, the 

 smacks are dependent on the tides for getting out to sea ; 

 thus, if the tide is ebbing at say one in the morning, 

 the men must be away within an hour or so of that time, 

 though as in winter they may not be able to begin 

 work till six or seven, for their task cannot be performed 

 in the dark. 



Arrived at a likely spot, a trial dredge or two will be 

 thrown over and left to trail for a few minutes ; then pulled 

 up and examined. If the sample be promising, work 

 begins at once ; if not, up goes the fore-sail again and the 

 smack sails away towards better ground. In Chapter II, 

 for the sake of convenience in classification, the dredge, 

 H 113 



