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unintentionally placed in a rather unfavorable position. 

 Brush or fagots have not given the best results, as 

 collecting apparatus they are apparently ineffectual 

 where there is much sediment in the water, and appear 

 to be more effective in places were the water is in rather 

 active motion. I have been informed however, by an 

 old oysterman, that pine bushes stuck securely into the 

 bottom in dense lines have been found very effectual, so 

 much so that an oyster planter following this plan had 

 the satisfaction of seeing the bushes loaded with ''spat," 

 much of which afterwards grew to marketable size. 

 Thick palisades might be constructed of brush stuck 

 into the bottom near permanent oyster-banks, with good 

 results; indeed, I do not doubt but that banks might in 

 some cases be established by this method, if, in addi- 

 tion, 07/ster shells or stones were strewn on the bottom 

 along either side of the brush palisade, in order to afford 

 a foundation for the fixation of the first generations of 

 oysters. 



FLOATING COLLECTORS. 



Although I have not tried any form of floating collec- 

 tor with much show of success, for theoretical reasons it 

 is a form which should not be left out of consideration. 

 After my experiments with impregnated eggs in floating 

 boxes, some of the latter were abandoned, and uj)on 

 these and the bottoms of our flat boats young oysters 

 fixed themselves, though not more numerously than upon 

 the slate collectors. Probably the clean black surface 

 of the bottoms of the boats was a favorable place for 

 "spat" to attach itself. 



A form which suggests itself to me could be very 

 simply and cheaply made. I would use common plas- 

 tering laths, which should be nailed together in a simple 

 way, say in frames two or three feet scxuare, with the 

 laths an inch and a half apart. Then these frames should 

 be dipj)ed into a mortar the same as the slates and coated 

 with a pretty thick layer from which the attached "spat 



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