54 
BULLETIN OF THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 
water for their development. A competition must therefore 
be going on between the two, which can eventually result in 
but one way — the extinction of the southern forms. 
But does this all mean, that our beds are being exterminated 
by a power quite beyond man’s control? If so, what would 
be the use of Oyster-culture in our waters? 
It is true that the ultimate fate of the beds is probably to 
be total extinction. Only a change in the present geological 
processes of this region, a cessation or reversal of the present 
sinking of the land, can save them. But it must be remem- 
bered that the whole process is extremely slow; that it takes 
time measured not by years but by centuries. It is so slow 
that for all practical purposes it is theoretical rather than real, 
and need not enter into the calculations of practical men. 
Probably, aside from man’s direct influence, i. e. f as far as 
natural conditions are concerned, there has been but little 
change in the beds during the last two hundred years, and 
there will be as little more during the next two hundred. 
The very conditions which cause the destruction of old beds, 
are making new localities available. There is no doubt, that 
before man interfered, and to a certain extent now, new beds 
form in new places as old ones are smothered out; and no 
doubt there are, too, many places upon which new ones would 
grow, if tides, currents or other agency would once place 
oysters upon them. There is nothing, then, in the geological 
history of the Oyster in Acadia, to discourage systematic 
culture or vigorous efforts to protect and increase them 
It need hardly be mentioned here, that the only Oysters 
in Eastern Canada are in the waters of Acadia. The following 
table, compiled from the Dominion Fisheries Reports, shows 
for a period of fifteen years, the value of the Oyster fishery to 
each of the provinces and to all Canada.* They are officially 
considered to be worth $3.00 per barrel, and dividing the 
value by three will give the number of barrels. 
* There are Oyster-beds on our Pacific coast, but owing to inferior quality 
and lack of care, they are almost valueless. 
