300
THE SEAS
'
*
after which they are taken back into the parks and placed in
“
ambulances.” These may hold at rst as many as 15,000
young oysters, but as growth proceeds this number is
steadily diminished by the transference of many of them
_
to new ambulances or on to the open beds. The ambulances,
.
_
being raised on legs some little distance from the ground,
protect their contents from all danger of sufocation by
mud which, under normal circumstances, is responsible
for the destruction of countless numbers of newly settled‘
spat.
The cases are examined repeatedly and all enemies
»
removed.
Meanwhile the old tiles have been scraped free
from the old coating of lime, washed, and stacked away in
preparation for the new season, before which they will
be relimed.
'
.
Oysters are not exported until they are about two years
old, and about two inches in diameter.
They are then,
course, not of marketable size but are sold to oyster
fattehing farmS of which those in the neighbourhood of
_
Marennes are the most famous.
Many also. are exported
to Spain and some to England.
Oysters which
sold
__
for immediate consumption are usually from four to ve
years old, and these are produced annually in tremendous
numbers,” and
all- 0ver France and to many other parts
.
of Europe.
The process of oyster rearing is carried on in.
many'other places along the west cOast of France, though
nowhere are the cQnditi0ns so ideal nor the industry se
ourishing as at Arcachon.
.
'
.
The “
fattening ’…’— of 0ysters forms a separate industry in
certain parts, the most important of which is in the district
round the mouth of the.River Seùdre, near Marennes and
La Tremblad—e.
Here the land is flat and clayey and
it
are
dug series of shallowbasins or “ claires,” into which
open canals through which sea water enters dh—ringsprig
tides (Plate 108). During the intervehing periods_ the water
_
THE SEAS
'
*
after which they are taken back into the parks and placed in
“
ambulances.” These may hold at rst as many as 15,000
young oysters, but as growth proceeds this number is
steadily diminished by the transference of many of them
_
to new ambulances or on to the open beds. The ambulances,
.
_
being raised on legs some little distance from the ground,
protect their contents from all danger of sufocation by
mud which, under normal circumstances, is responsible
for the destruction of countless numbers of newly settled‘
spat.
The cases are examined repeatedly and all enemies
»
removed.
Meanwhile the old tiles have been scraped free
from the old coating of lime, washed, and stacked away in
preparation for the new season, before which they will
be relimed.
'
.
Oysters are not exported until they are about two years
old, and about two inches in diameter.
They are then,
course, not of marketable size but are sold to oyster
fattehing farmS of which those in the neighbourhood of
_
Marennes are the most famous.
Many also. are exported
to Spain and some to England.
Oysters which
sold
__
for immediate consumption are usually from four to ve
years old, and these are produced annually in tremendous
numbers,” and
all- 0ver France and to many other parts
.
of Europe.
The process of oyster rearing is carried on in.
many'other places along the west cOast of France, though
nowhere are the cQnditi0ns so ideal nor the industry se
ourishing as at Arcachon.
.
'
.
The “
fattening ’…’— of 0ysters forms a separate industry in
certain parts, the most important of which is in the district
round the mouth of the.River Seùdre, near Marennes and
La Tremblad—e.
Here the land is flat and clayey and
it
are
dug series of shallowbasins or “ claires,” into which
open canals through which sea water enters dh—ringsprig
tides (Plate 108). During the intervehing periods_ the water
_