THE OYSTER. 117 



The Connecticut oystermen have many obstacles 

 and risks, from which our own waters are free, and 

 many of the farms have been completely ruined by 

 starfish and other enemies, but notwithstanding all 

 these drawbacks, the crop, which was 336,000 bushels 

 in 1880, had increased in 1888 to 1,454,000 bushels. 



During the period of his employment by the French 

 Government to replenish the oyster grounds, Coste 

 devised a number of plans for furnishing an attach- 

 ment for the oyster spat, and these devices have been 

 greatly improved by other experiments. 



Most of them could be employed in our own waters 

 with advantage, and in order to make our people ac- 

 quainted with them, we will give a brief description of 

 the more important substances which have been thus 

 employed. Some of them are adapted for certain 

 localities, while others can be used to best advantage 

 under other conditions. Our people have long been 

 noted for their ingenuity, and there is no doubt that, 

 as the great importance of oyster-farming comes to be 

 appreciated among us, we shall have many great im- 

 provements in the methods of procuring seed oysters, 

 better adapted for our own needs than any which are 

 here described, but our account will serve to show 

 our people the general direction in which their inven- 

 tive skill must be directed. 



Oyster Shells. At present no spat-collector seems 

 to be better adapted for use in our waters upon hard 

 bottoms than oyster shells, and they are now the 

 cheapest collectors that can be used. 



