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ARTIFICIAL OYSTER CULTIVATION IN 
FRANCE. 
BY F. W. FELLOWES. 
IN a previous article having briefly described the gen- 
eration of the oyster, the writer will, in the present one, 
give an account of the cultivation of this favorite mollusk 
as practised in France, and notably at the imperial, or: 
model parcs in the bassin d Arcachon. 
This bay was apparently intended by Nature for an 
oyster farm, and its rich, firm, muddy bottom has always 
yielded them in vast quantities until about 1840, when, 
to the regret and astonishment of the fishermen (who had 
mercilessly dredged them up at all seasons, and had 
killed the goose that laid the golden eggs), their mine was 
found to be exhausted ; fine, full-flavored oysters that had 
been heretofore bought for three or four sous the hun- 
dred, now readily sold for three francs and upwards, and 
even with these prices the oystermen were starving. 
In 1859, Professor Coste, by order of the emperor, 
passed the summer at Arcachon, and studied the then 
unknown subject of oyster cultivation, located the now 
flourishing and successful parcs, and addressed a report 
to the emperor urging the immediate replanting of these 
exhausted beds. The following year his suggestions and 
plans were carried out under the immediate supervision 
of this naturalist, with surprising and satisfactory results. 
Here are nearly two thousand acres of excellent bottom 
for growing oysters, wncovered by the tide for an average 
of two hours at each low-water, and with the mild winter 
climate of the southerly coast of France, this circum- 
stance is of priceless value, as it enables the laborers to 
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