IXSPECTING A JAPANESE OYSTER CROP 



The great rise and fall of the tides in Japan is of considerable advantage to the oyster 

 mer. 

 growth. 



1 ne greai rise anu laii oi me iiues iii jdymi is oi cunsiui „ . 



farmer, enabling him to keep his crop under direct observation during the entire period of 



IX THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 



The oyster resources of the lands south 

 of the Equator are comparatively unim- 

 portant. In South America and South 

 Africa efforts at cultivation are under 

 way, but the most promising field is 

 Australia. The oyster industry has at- 

 tained some proportions in all the Aus- 

 tralian States, but New South \\' ales sur- 

 passes all the others combined. Under 

 a system of leases, several thousand oys- 

 ter planters have been granted littoral 

 and dee])-\vater grounds, and the fore- 

 shores already taken up are nearly 400 

 miles in length. The 03'sters grown un- 

 der the peculiar conditions prevailing are 

 of excellent quality and have an average 

 value to the producer of more than $3 a 

 bushel. 



japan's curious methods of culture 



The oyster industry of Japan is not of 

 great importance in itself, the aggregate 

 output being valued at less than a quar- 

 ter of a million dollars ; but it is of in- 

 terest because of the cultural methods 



adopted and the possibility of establish- 

 ing and cultivating Japanese oysters on 

 the Pacific coast of the United States. 



Oysters of several species are widely 

 distributed in Japan, but the business of 

 growing and marketing oysters attains 

 its greatest development in the famous 

 Inland Sea, near the large city of Hiro- 

 shima. At least as early as 1720, and 

 probably much earlier, the growing of 

 oysters by artificial means was under- 

 stood and practiced there, and long be- 

 fore the descendants of ^layflower pil- 

 grims had realized the desirability of 

 and the necessity for oyster culture, the 

 Japanese had grasped the situation and 

 made provision for an enlightened ad- 

 ministration and utilization of oyster 

 grounds, such as some American States 

 have not yet come to appreciate. 



The Japanese are so original in their 

 aquicultural practices that their peculiar 

 and effective style of oyster farming 

 need occasion no surprise. Some ex- 

 perts have pronounced their methods tlie 

 simplest and most practicable of all, and 



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