The Fvod Fisherves of France. 133 
The difference between French and English oyster farm- 
ing is not much, but the little that there is is of great im- 
portance in the economy of a large oyster farm. The 
endeavour of the French is to obtain spat or brood without 
purchase ; hitherto this has not been the case in England ; 
the dredgermen are but too willing to pay for brood when 
it can be obtained, but of late years, in consequence of a 
paucity of spat, it has become scarce and ill to get. The 
new oyster farms which have been laid down in England of 
late years are all upon the French plan, and already we are 
hearing of their success, spat having fallen upon some of 
them in great plenty. Inthe Firth of Forth oyster beds 
no pains are taken to protect the oyster, the grounds are 
never overhauled or “worked,” the brood is sold by the 
hogshead to all and sundry who will come and buy it; the 
result, as may be expected, is that in Edinburgh oysters 
are scarce, are also small in size, and dear. While the men 
of Whitstable have become rich by their thrift the men of 
Newhaven have become poor from consenting to the spolia- _ 
tion of their oyster beds, which are naturally the finest in 
the world. They have at length killed the goose for the 
sake of the golden egg. 
Any attempt to find out the figures pertaining to the 
annual oyster commerce of France is generally abortive. 
No one knows exactly what these figures are, but of course 
every man forms his own opinion. An oyster merchant of 
Rochelle doing business with the growers of the adjacent 
islands of Oleron and Re, will say 250,000/, per annum, 
while a Bordeaux shipper, with large ideas, will give figures 
representing four times that sum. It is unquestionable 
that there is an immense oyster business done in France. 
Paris alone requires at present a daily supply that in the 
course of the season is said to amount to 100,000,000, and 
the large provincial towns all consume in proportion. Count- 
less numbers are besides exported, cured, prepared, and 
pickled. Official figuers state that in 1862 the three factors 
appointed by the Government for the sale of oysters in the 
grand market disposed of 67,836,900, being an increase of 
124 millions on the preceding year. We are constantly 
coming across paragraphs in the provincial newspapers of 
France, about the oyster trade. Lately the Phare de la 
Manche told us that Paris now required ten times as many 
oysters as in 1856,and that they were now double the price ; 
further, that 6,000 women get a living during the oyster sea- 
son in Opening oysters alone. The same paper also gave 
