PRODUCTION AND COLLECTION OP SEED OYSTERS 
239 
could attend to. For the next 10 years oyster cultivation was confined to the shallow 
waters of the rivers and harbors and consisted in the transplanting and growing of 
seed from the natural beds and the planting of shells for the collection of set or spat. 
The success of oyster culture on this small scale and the discovery in 1865 that 
the deeper waters of Long Island Sound were suitable for growing oysters and col- 
lecting spat soon led to the development of extensive deep-water oyster farming in 
Connecticut. By 1880 the early method of oystering on 2-acre plots with dug out 
canoes and tongs was supplanted by a great system of deep-water oyster farms 
extending from Greenwich to Branford, on which were operated steam-driven vessels 
capable of dredging from 200 to 800 bushels of oysters a day. Thousands of acres 
of ground in the harbors and sound were leased to the enterprising oyster growers 
who converted these barren unproductive bottoms into valuable oyster growing 
areas. The acreage leased from the State for oyster culture in 1881 was 33,988; in 
1910, 74,514; and since has declined to 54,212 in 1927. The production of oysters 
in Connecticut increased rapidly with the development of oyster farming, reaching 
a maximum of 3,948,100 bushels in 1908, which was valued at $2,582,940. Since 
then oyster production has shown a steady and alarming decrease, the chief cause of 
which has been the lack of seed oysters and the repeated failure of setting. This condi- 
tion has led to the recent investigations conducted by the bureau at Milford, Conn. 
One phase of this investigation dealt with the physical conditions affecting the 
spawning of the oyster and the distribution and setting of the larvse (Prytherch, 1929). 
The second phase of the work, which is taken up in the present paper, deals with 
the experiments for increasing the production of seed oysters and improving methods 
for collecting them. The general plan of these experiments was to demonstrate the 
method of restoring inshore grounds to their former condition as prolific oyster 
setting areas through the establishment of spawning beds and the use of improved 
methods of spat collection. Various types of spat collectors were planted on the 
tidal flats and in the channel, arranged in different formations. Setting on the 
collectors was studied to determine the best setting areas and the zone in which the 
greatest numbers of spat could be collected, and the results obtained on each collector, 
the cost of material, handling expense, durability, etc., was compared to determine 
which type of collector is the most efficient, cheapest, most practicable, and best 
adapted for use on a commercial scale. 
The experiments which are discussed here were made in 1925, 1926, 1927, and 
1928 in cooperation with the Connecticut Oyster Farms Co., who generously supplied 
and planted oysters for a spawning bed and furnished men and boats for putting 
out the collectors. The spawning bed, containing approximately 1,000 bushels of 
oysters, was located in the harbor just below the laboratory and was situated partly 
on the tidal fiats and partly in the channel. The harbor is practically unpolluted 
so that it was possible by its rehabilitation to study the oyster in an environment 
very similar to that in which it thrived in years past. 
PHYSICAL CONDITIONS IN MILFORD HARBOR 
Milford Harbor is located on the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound and 
lies about half way between two great oyster producing centers, Bridgeport and New 
Haven. The general topographical and hydrographical features of the harbor are 
shown in Figure 24. This small body of water covers approximately 80 acres, about 
half of which consists of tidal flats which are exposed at low tide. The water in the 
