52 



the slate would be more difficult and attended with dan- 

 ger to the fry already attached. AVith this object in view, 

 I would suggest the use of wooden racks or frames lying 

 horizontally, which would receive the slates into deep 

 notches made with a saw, so as to hold them vertically or 

 edgewise, rendering their removal for the purposes of 

 cleansing and their replacement an easy matter. Other 

 devices would no doubt answer the same purpose and be 

 more convenient even than the last. If posts Avere se- 

 curely fixed in the bottom eight or ten feet apart, so as to 

 project a foot or so above the water at the highest tide, a 

 single board six inches wide, nailed against the tops of 

 the posts edgewise, and extending from one to the other, 

 would x)rovide a simple arrangement from which to hang 

 the slates singly by means of galvanized wire fastened or 

 hooked to nails partly driven into the board. By the 

 help of this plan one man with a boat could overhaul 

 many hundreds of slates in a single day and effectually 

 care for them for a whole season. This last contrivance 

 would not answer well perhaps where there was a swift 

 current, but would be a most admirable arrangement in 

 still ponds or "claires." In such xDjaces the whole area 

 might be provided with posts grouped or placed in rows, 

 so that when tlie attendant was at work he could pass in 

 order from one row to the other in a narrow boat or two 

 attendants in one boat could take care of two rows, the 

 ones on either hand at the same time. 



As it may be concluded from the foregoing, that the 

 writer would have everything removed from the surface 

 of slates except oysters, he would correct this impres- 

 sion. The intention is not to scrub the slates as a house- 

 maid might scrub a floor to remove every si^eck of dirt, 

 but simiDly to clear oft* the animals which are very evi- 

 dently taking up room to the exclusion of more valued 

 tenants. By some such method as that here described a 

 careful supervision can be accomplished with little out- 



