372 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



beneath them, on the bottom, Oyster-mothers were placed. When 

 If to 2 in. in diameter, the Oysters are taken from the tiles and 

 bedded along the western shore. Those attached to the furze 

 collectors are treated on the Tarantine method, the necessary 

 palisade being erected in a depth of 3J yards at half-tide. 



The French and Italian methods therefore are here worked 

 together. The Oysters grown on the former method are regular 

 in form, but slow in growth ; those reared on the latter system 

 are less regular in shape, but rapid in development. 



The Oyster culture at Lussinpiccolo is noteworthy for the 

 method of suspending the collectors. The sea here, even close 

 to the shore, is deep, and the fascines which the proprietor, 

 Signor Smircich, intends to adopt next year are to be suspended 

 from a raft. Hitherto slabs coated with tar have been so hung, 

 and the Oysters, when detached, have been reared in safes ; but 

 it is likely that the Italian system of pergolari will be adopted. 

 Probably from a deficiency of fresh water, fattening cannot be 

 effected. 



At Ponte, on the Island of Veglia, under the auspices of the 

 Prior of the Monastery and the Parish Priest, young Oysters 

 brought from Grado have been reared in safes supplied by the 

 Fishery Society. The trial has been so successful that an Oyster 

 farm, similar to that at Lussinpiccolo, is established, and here also 

 it is probable that the Italian or Tarantine system will be followed. 



From this brief description of the chief continental methods 

 of Oyster culture, I shall now deduce certain practical conclusions* 



III.— Practical Conclusions. 



These refer to the selection of breeding, and of rearing and 

 fattening grounds, as also to the manipulation of collectors and 

 other details of the several systems described. 



A topographical study of the various Oyster farms show that, 

 roughly speaking, breeding and rearing grounds seldom, breeding 

 and fattening grounds never, can be identical. In fact it may be 

 said that the more favourable are the conditions for breeding, the 

 less favourable they are for rearing and fattening, and vice versa. 

 Why this should be so is not so easy to tell. The question of 

 Oyster reproduction is indeed exceedingly obscure. Oyster- 

 mothers, or spawners, have been placed on rearing-grounds, they 



