EUROPEAN METHODS OF OYSTER-CULTURE. 
389 
OYSTER-CULTURE IN BELGIUM. 
The oysters of Ostencl have long been especially esteemed for their flavor. Parks, 
or, more accurately, claires , reservoirs for oyster fattening, have been in use over a 
century. The location of Ostend has not favored the formation of natural banks, and 
the few that existed were early dredged out and destroyed. Efforts that have occa- 
sionally been made to replenish them have been fruitless in every case. Without banks 
no governmental restrictions have been laid upon dredging, and production can not 
be attempted. The Belgian coast seems in every way unsuited for planting purposes, 
and the river basins and open canals are so liable to mud accumulations that their use 
would be impracticable, uo matter how favorable the character of their tidal waters 
might be for purposes of culture. The region, in fact, is in many regards compar- 
able to that of Marennes. There is a low-lying country, a sluggish river, the Yvres, 
and a series of branching canals which freshen the tidal water and appear to be sur- 
prisingly rich in oyster -food organisms. It is not unnatural that claire culture should 
have been here introduced, and that these ponds should have been dug on either 
side of the main canals where the character of the tidal water had been found most 
favorable. 
Belgian oyster-culture is accordingly to be reviewed in its single aspect, that of 
conditioning. Ostend stands as one of the most important oyster depots of Europe, 
derives its oysters from neighboring countries, and after a few weeks or months is 
enabled to distribute them as Ostend oysters to England, Germany, and France. 
The industry appears to have grown up naturally and quietly, almost, in fact, before 
the government was aware of its importance, and perhaps mainly on this account the 
culturists are allowed to continue their operations almost entirely without state 
restrictions. Concessions for cultural purposes are rarely, if evei, obtained, the lands 
occupied by the dozen or more establishments dotted along on both sides of the 
Ostend canals being, with scarcely an exception, the property of the culturists or of 
their individual landlords. These establishments are regarded simply as private 
storehouses, whose supply of water from the canals is allowed to be taken by an 
apparently tacit permission of the authorities. 
The cultural processes of Ostend vary but little in the different establishments 
and are easily understood. As a convenient type, that of Messrs. Stichert & Stracke 
may be taken. This is courteously open to the inspection of visitors to Ostend and 
is admirably managed. It borders the canal at the side of the highway to Bruges, 
and is but a few minutes’ walk from the city. A claire basin about a hectare in 
extent has been dug out (PI. lxxxv, Eig. 1), which takes directly from and empties 
its waters into a main canal (PI. lxxxiv, Eig. 2). The basin may, at high tide, admit 
the fresh supply to a depth of about 7 feet; its bottom is level, of compact clayey mud, 
with masonry, however, near the margins; and its sides, as will be seen from the figure 
(Pl. lxxxv, Fig. 2), are carefully turfed. This is the main or reservoir basin; it 
receives the turbid water of the canal, allows the sediment to be deposited, and serves, 
doubtless, in generating oyster food. This reservoir may readily be emptied, dried, 
and cleaned whenever the deposit of mud becomes inconvenient. A corner of this 
main pond, as represented in the figure, has been inclosed by masonry walls, and it is 
