IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND FRANCE. 185 



L'Ahilon. 



This park, established on the foreshore of L'Ahilon, is very well 

 managed. The claires require mending, and the centre dyke should be 

 filled up; 19,000 tiles covered with hydraulic lime have been placed 

 there ; a good spat has taken place ; more than 100 oysters on each tile ; 

 the soil is excellent and covered with spat ; many have fallen from off the 

 tiles ; at the time of the tempest of the 21st September the average was 

 taken after this storm. The debris of tiles, the posts and drainage pipes, 

 are all covered with spat. Thirty cubic yards of cultch were put on the 

 bed ; the spat was very abundant; the storm of September carried a 

 portion of them into the channels. The thirty-two tables with fascines 

 have some spat. The fascines themselves very few. L'Ahilon is spe- 

 cially fitted for the production of oysters, which grow with a remarkable 

 rapidity here ; the mud was an objection, but since its establishment as 

 an Imperial Park the works that have been executed have made it a 

 superior oyster park ; there is not such another in the whole basin. The 

 experiments in the time of putting up the hutches give the following 

 results : 



Date of erection. Average of 



oysters per tile. 



23 June, 106 



10 July, 68 



24 „ 22 



10 August, 33 



23 „ 22 



Tides of September, from 1 to 5 



The 22nd of September, after the storm, 



After, - 



The " Loubine " watches this park very zealously ; the duty is very 

 fatiguing considering the proximity of the small grants of oyster parks. 



Use of the Imperial Parks. 



For several years, the results obtained by the Imperial Parks have 

 borne their fruit, many of the persons holding concessions having adopted 

 the same methods of culture as those in use on the Imperial Parks. 



This year more than 600,000 tiles coated with a preparation of hydrau- 

 lic lime, have been placed in the basin, which have all received a good 

 quantity of spat, with the exception of 8,000 tiles of the Syndicat du 

 Trou du Sud, placed in a bad position. 



According to the ground selected and the height of the collectors above 

 the level of the low water mark, the other undertakings have obtained 

 results varying from 35 to 100 spat per tile ; for the different parks the 

 average is about 75 oysters per tile ; so the parkers say, and I think it 

 must be very nearly exact. 



Already sales have taken place between the cultivators and parkers, the 

 oysters from the tiles of 1869 are quoted at .£800 per million, these 

 oysters, from their size, naturally will remain in the basin of Arcachon. 



Cultivators. 



The cultivators of oysters with tiles are not very well pleased with 

 their position ; they naturally desire to realize their profits as soon as possi- 

 ble, as their expenses are considerable. I think it would be desirable, even 

 necessary, to give them permission to sell immediately a portion of their 

 spat ; by this means they would have the requisite funds and would be 

 able to increase their operations, the future prosperity of the basin would 

 be more quickly assured than by restrictive measures, and later on full 



