260 OYSTER-BREEDING IN ENGLAND. 



in the laminae of their lungs and the folds of their mantle. 

 The suspended fagots arrest the floating ova before they 

 can be carried away by the waves, and they are thus able 

 to develop themselves under siiitable conditions of light, 

 sustenance, temperature, and safety. When the fishing- 

 season arrives, the piles and fagots surrounding the 

 beds are removed, and the oysters fit for market are duly 

 gathered. 



Oyster-farms have been established in England for 

 many years, but it is only of late that oyster-breeding 

 has been scientifically conducted. The "art" has been 

 taken up in Ireland, where, indeed, every condition for 

 its successful cultivation exists. The decay of the Irish 

 oyster-fisheries was so serious as to excite the attention of 

 Government, and in October 1868 the Lord-Lieutenant 

 appointed a Commission, consisting of Messrs. Blake, 

 M.P., Francis, Hart, and Brady, to inquire how the evil 

 might be remedied, and what improved methods of oyster- 

 cultivation should be introduced. This Commission has 

 led to important results, and it may be hoped that the 

 oyster-fisheries of Ireland will rapidly increase in com- 

 mercial importance. 



The report of the Commissioners, we may add, contains 

 much useful matter, and treats of some collateral questions 

 which deserve the reader's attention.* 



For instance, they dwell on the preference given in 

 France to the green oysters, which leads to the importa- 

 tion on a large scale of the Essex oysters. Oysters with 

 green beards, they say, do not owe their colour to copper, 

 but to their peculiar feeding, and they suggest that the 

 diatomacese are probably the cause. They point out that 



* Report of the Commission, <fec (Dublin, 1870). 



