350 



ARTIFICIAL OYSTER-BREEDING. 



[CIIAV. vnr. 



The mode of oyster-breeding at this place, then as now, was 

 to erect artificial pyramids of stones in the water, surrounded 

 by stakes of wood, in order to intercept the spawn, the oyster 

 being laid down on the stones. I have shown these modes 

 in the accompanying engravings. Faggots of branches were 

 also used to collect the spawn, which, as I have already 

 said, requires, within forty -eight hours of its emission, to 



OYSTER -PYRAMID. 



secure a holding-on place or be lost for ever. The plan of the 

 Fusaro oyster-breeders struck M. Coste as being eminently 

 practical and suitable for imitation on the coasts of France : 

 he had one of the stakes pulled up, and was gratified to find it 

 covered with oysters of all ages and sizes. The Lake Fusaro 

 system of cultivation was therefore, at the instigation of 

 Professor Coste, strongly recommended for imitation by the 

 French Government to the French people, as being the most 

 suitable to follow, and experiments were at once entered upon 

 with a view to prove whether it would be as practicable to 

 cultivate oysters as easily among the agitated waves of the 

 open sea as in the quiet waters of Fusaro. In order to settle 

 this point, it was determined to renew the old oyster-beds in 



