ARTIFICIAL OYSTER CULTIVATION IN FRANCE. 347 
work among, and even handle the oysters at will, and 
renders the term “oyster farm” specially applicable to 
this locality. > . 
A pare is regularly laid out like a market garden, into 
Squares of say two hundred feet, a path goes all around 
and through them, a post is fixed on the corner with the 
number of the lot painted on it, and a record is kept by 
the superintendent of what size, quantity, and quality of 
oysters are planted on each, and his books and stock are 
inspected at stated intervals. Common curved tiles of 
baked clay, costing less than a sou a piece, have—after 
experiments with various contrivances—proved to be 
the most practical method of catching the drifting “spat.” 
These tiles, or tuiles as they are called, were used at first 
just as they came from the kiln; but it was found that so 
large a proportion of the “spat” followed with its young 
shell the inequalities of the surface, grew so firmly to it, 
and were destroyed in separating them from the tile, 
that another ingenious plan was adopted. The tiles are 
dipped into a kind of cement containing sand and hydrau- 
lic lime, which, drying in a few minutes, coats them with 
an evenly rough surface in every way attractive to the 
“spat.” When it is desirable to remove the oysters, a 
chisel, fashioned to follow the curve of the tile, is easily 
introduced between it and the oyster, which drops off un- 
injured. 
About the middle of May these tiles are arranged in 
Piles, ten feet long, five feet high, and five feet wide, 
which structures are called ruches or les ruches tuilées. 
hese tiles are piled in various ways; usually they are 
placed with the concave roof uppermost, each layer run- 
ning transversely across the layers beneath it. The sides 
of the tiles do not touch, but are separated by about 
