266 AN OYSTER-FARM AT ARCACHON. 



hausted by over-dredging, Professor Coste took a survey 

 of the basin, and superintended its conversion into a 

 gigantic oyster-farm, predicting that the five thousand 

 acres of ground in the basin, which were suitable for 

 the growth of oysters, would, after time had been allowed 

 for their proper development, yield an annual revenue 

 of c3SO,000, an estimate which has been more than 

 realized. 



There are three Government oyster-beds in the basin 

 of Arcachon ; these are Lahillon, Grand Ces, and Cras- 

 torbe.* The first-named was laid down on the most in- 

 appropriate soil, in order to demonstrate the pursuit of 

 oyster-growing under difficulties. Its soil was a mere 

 slime, totally unsuitable for the mollusc ; the enemies of 

 the animal were superabundant ; moreover, the growth 

 of many kinds of marine plants was luxurious. To pro- 

 mote oyster-culture under conditions so unfavourable, so 

 that the enterprise should be remunerative, was a task 

 worthy of the enthusiasm of M. Coste. The first thing 

 to be done was to clear away the slime at such times as 

 the ground was left dry by the ebbing tide. The vege- 

 table growth was also removed, and the site, consisting of 

 about nine acres, was divided by earthen boundaries into 

 thirty-four squares, each of which was planted with from 

 nine thousand to thirty thousand oysters. All kinds of 

 spat collectors were then introduced ; some consisting of 

 bundles of twigs, others of tiles covered with a thick coat 

 of cement, and the principal being a wooden structure 

 formed of planks, to which fagots of branches were at- 

 tached. At one time the Lahillon nursery contained 



* Our description is founded on an article on "French Oyster-Fisheries" 

 in Once a Week for September 1868, pp. 232-234. 



