EUROPEAN METHODS OF OYSTER-CULTURE. 
399 
and hard, as it has been for ages regularly shelled, dredged over, and cleaned. There 
are many men and boats employed by the Whitstable Company, and it is usually 
arranged so that the detachment of dredgers shall spend half the week in ‘‘catching” 
the oysters for market and the remaining half in “ cultivating ” the grounds. Culti- 
vation consists in dredging over the grounds with a view to dislodging weeds and 
sediment, to keeping the ground clear and level, and to capturing the oyster enemies. 
The reshelling of ground is usually practiced during the early spring. Apparently 
no attempts are made, as on the continent, to increase the extent of cultivable lands 
by inclosing, as might easily be done, small areas near the line of low water. As seen 
on PL lxxxvii, Fig. 1, a large portion of the shore line is exposed, which in France or 
Holland would be far too great in value to lie fallow. 
It is obvious that case culture (p. 386) would be expensive and meaningless in a 
region like that of Whitstable, where danger from mud or sand, or eveu enemies, 
appears to be at a minimum. The only device for this kind of culture which might 
perhaps be practical would be to extend wire gauze a few inches from the bottom to 
permit an additional tier of oysters to be reared. During a second or third season 
the only additional process is the transfer of oysters into deeper water — i. e., 2 
fathoms — there to remain until they have become of marketable size. The larger 
oysters appear to be less endangered by sediment deposits and thrive even where 
the ground is soft enough to allow the weight of the oyster to sink it below the 
surface of the mud. The dredgers firmly believe that under these conditions the 
oyster has to some extent the power of gradually regaining the surface, and cite as 
proof of this fact that oysters in a given pi ace may be dredged in greater quantity 
after several days of rest have been given them. This power on the part of the oyster 
has been questioned by several zoologists, but the writer regards the proof furnished 
by the parks of Caneale and the Marenues as sufficiently affirmative to place the 
matter beyond question. Oysters dredged for market are finally brought to the ware- 
house of the company, and while awaiting shipment are classified, placed in loose 
baskets of netting in concreted tanks or “pits” (seen in PI. lxxxviii, Fig. 2) fed by 
tidal water.* These pits are often located for shelter in the warehouse, forming, 
in fact, a kind of masoned cellar, whose compartments of about 20 feet square may 
be refilled at high tide and retain 8 or 10 feet of water. By this method of storage a 
large number of oysters may be kept in safety for immediate demands, and serve as a 
reserve supply in case stormy weather prevents dredging. Pits of this character are 
not regarded as of value at Whitstable, either for fattening or degorgement.j 
Oyster-culture in England generally varies but little in methods from that of 
Whitstable; other localities, therefore, need be but little commented upon. At Faver- 
sham, westward, and at Herne Bay, eastward of Whitstable, sediment deposit and 
invasions of mud, and at the latter place shiftings of sand also, have been of consider- 
able annoyance. The remedy has been continual dredging of the grounds together 
with judicious shelling or macadamizing of the bottom at certain points. Weeds have 
been carefully dredged out as a means of keeping the ground clear and allowing the 
tides to wash off the depositing sediment. In regions where spat is expected to occur 
with some regularity, the greatest care is taken, by reslielling and clearing the bottom, 
to assure the greatest chance of a successful set. This character of bottom is often 
* la tlio pits of tlie Whitstable Companies’ warehouse the water (August 13) at 68° F. was of sp. 
gr. 1.0245. The temperature was here higher by 5° than the tidal water immediately without. 
t U. S. F. C. Bull., 1890, p. 380. 
