222 
THE BOOK OF FISHES 
Photograph by Keystone View Co. 
J: OYSTER CULTURE, 
A MOUNTAIN OF OYSTER SHELLS READY FOR PLANTING 
HAMPTON, VIRGINIA 
An essential of oyster farming is to spread on the bottom cleKr material for the attachment and tern 
porary support of the young oysters. When first hatched, they are free-swimming, microseopie creatures 
but m a few hours they fall to the bottom and are lost unless they can adhere to a firm, clean surface while 
making their shells and undergoing development. 
SEVEN POINTS OF OYSTER CULTURE 
Reduced to its simplest terms, oyster 
culture in the United States consists in 
(i) acquiring suitable submerged bot¬ 
tom, (2) cleaning and preparing that 
bottom for the growth of oysters, (3) 
sowing thereon shells or other material 
( cultch ) for the attachment and 
growth of the young oysters, (4) insur¬ 
ing the production of larval oysters by 
the proximity of natural or planted beds 
of adult oysters, (5) protecting the oys¬ 
ter beds from enemies, (6) transplant¬ 
ing as occasion requires to prevent over¬ 
crowding and to facilitate growth and 
fattening, and (7) culling and sorting 
for market. 
A prevalent practice among oyster 
