THE CONSERVATION OF OUR OYSTER SUPPLY, n 



so, but says that the artificial propagation of the oyster " is abso- 

 lutely necessary " to prevent its " entire extermination." In a re- 

 port to the General Assembly of Maryland in 1887, Prof. Brooks 

 also advocates the introduction of artificial propagation in 

 these waters ; Captain Collins suggests that such an experiment 

 would be valuable ; and Mr. Dean says that, although in this 

 country " all costly methods of cultivation could have proved of 

 little practical value, . . . enough has been said in this connection 

 to show the necessity in practical oyster culture of collecting spat 

 on floating collectors and of allowing it to attain, before planting. 

 a considerable size." And notwithstanding all this testimony, 

 Mr. Richard Rathbun, in the Report of the Commissioner of Fish 

 and Fisheries for the year ending June 30, 1889, tells us that " the 

 production of spat by aid of artificial methods has never been re- 

 sorted to in this country, in consequence of the fact that the prac- 

 tical utilitjr and economy of any proposed system has yet to be 

 established." I should have thought that this matter could have 

 been long since determined at the hatchery at Cold Spring Har- 

 bor, where, I have learned, such experiments have been success- 

 fully made. But, as the artificial propagation is not generally 

 understood, and as it is extremely interesting, I shall briefly ex- 

 plain the most successful and general method employed in France : 

 and I believe that the most obtuse reader will then see the feasi- 

 bility of carrying on similar operations here. 



The collection of the floating spat upon pieces of wood and 

 stone is said to have been discovered by M. de Bon, Commissaire 

 of Marine at St. Servan, France, in 1853 ; and we know that, when 

 he announced his discovery, the matter was "at once taken up 

 most enthusiastically by M. Coste," Professor of Embryology in 

 the College of France. They undoubtedly drew public and scien- 

 tific attention to this all-important branch of oyster culture ; but 

 I find that several years before the discovery of De Bon, the oys- 

 termen of the East River, New York, had not only made a simi- 

 lar discovery, but that they conceived the idea of utilizing it, and 

 used tiles (a recent invention in French oyster culture) for collect- 

 ing the spat, which they planted in the river and sound. Fur- 

 ther, and in circumstantial proof of the statement, it is a fact that 

 in 1855 the year when De Bon made his discovery the Legisla- 

 ture of the State of New York enacted a law " to preserve to the 

 private (oyster) farmers the fruits of their labor." 



I am chiefly indebted to Mr. Bashford Dean's report on the 

 Present Methods of Oyster Culture in France for the following 

 brief description of the artificial propagation of the oyster in that 

 country : The manner in which the spat or swimming oyster fry 

 is obtained is very simple. Culturists place arched tiles, wooden 

 trays, and other materials in the neighborhood of the natural 



