OYSTER-CULTURE IN FRANCE. 
381 
IV.— THE PORTUGUESE OYSTER. 
Tlie Portuguese oyster has taken an important place in French oyster-culture on 
account of its cheapness. It requires but little care — for that reason is profitable — 
and there is a growing tendency on the part of the culturists to raise this less-prized 
species in their poorer parks. Its introduction from Lisbon into France was certainly 
economical. A cargo of oysters, supposed entirely lost, was thrown overboard in the 
Garonne near its mouth. In course of time the surviving oysters gave rise to a 
remarkable bank, similar in every way to those at the mouth of the Tagus. 
The habits of this oyster have already been discussed. W e have seen, for example, 
that it differs from the flat oyster in the general angularities of its shell, coarseness in 
flesh, sex characters, and in its littoral conditions of living. Outwardly it sometimes 
resembles the coarsest varieties of the American oyster, a likeness which the sailors 
recognize, misnaming our product the Portuguese oyster of America! 
Since its introduction, in 1866, the oyster has been the subject of careful discussion. 
The culturists first feared that its hardiness and rate of increase would dislodge its 
weaker neighbor. It was rumored that the species were producing hybrids, thart dan- 
ger was imminent of loss of the valued qualities of the edulis, a notion promptly refuted 
by scientists. The most important discussions were those tending to legally restrict 
the introduction of the inferior species in regions of production on the ground that the 
tiles would become covered with its spat.*' 
Common consent, however, rather than legal measures, has kept reduced the pro- 
portion of Portuguese oysters and has diminished the chances of the less profitable 
production. Artificial production is as yet crudely developed, since attention is natu- 
rally directed in the line of greater profit.* 
As with the American species, the fry is hardy and attaches readily. In favored 
localities the annual production is remarkable, especially near the line of low water, 
the spat covering pebbles, rocks, sandy beaches, even seaweeds. Collection is often a 
general one, and is sometimes the principal industry of the poorer class of fisher peo- 
ple. One of the regions naturally favored is Bocher de Der, where it is only at the 
lowest tides of the month that the great flat rocks are exposed. It is then a curious 
sight to see as many as a thousand people, men, women, and children, engaged in 
detaching the oysters. The recult is placed for elevage at a slightly higher level in 
small parks given by the state. The loose stones of each inclosing wall, though thickly 
covered with seaweeds, are found profitable collectors and are annually overhauled. 
Vide List of Works, 51, 55, and 9, c, d, e, f. 
