Morning journal and courier., 1893-08-28
OYSTER CULTURE IN ITALY.

where the Bivaires Were First
Grown Tor Market ArtthciaIiy.
From tho Washington siAr.l
The oysters of the Gulf Of TArentum
were known and appreciated in prehistoric
of them in the lake near Naples for puT-
poses Of culture. The modern industry
is carried on extensively only at Tarente.
Here = wide and shAilow gulf opens to the
Mediterranean on the south At the head
of the body Of water Is an almost land
locked bsy-the Mare PIocolO-Whish has
for ages ben famous for Its oysters This
If literally o EmAll oyster bearing ReR,
wonderfully adapted for the purpose, the
narrow outlet into the gulf serving As q
foodgste. II Is about seven niles scross,
the greatest depth being hardly NOPE than
forty feet, and aversglng from eighteen to
twenty-four feet. The bottom is of firm
sand.
In this bsy are produced most of the
seed oysters, which are sfterwRrd reared
to marketable size in bays aud tidal ponds
OF the southern coast As one approaches
the city of Tsfeute the whole surface of
oyster stakes- These are observed 10 pAss
into distant perspective In regular nnes
and to mark of the water rurfsce Into
squares as of 9 checker board. TIE en-
eacs=-e1 saus formed measure Aboat sfteen
feet square. They are leased at fifty oents
year, and each lessee secures as many &c
he can cultivate. They are rented from q
joint stock company, which has obtained
the leasehold Cf the entire bottom of the
bay for an annual payment of ten thou
sand dollars.
The subdivision of the water area into
such small sections is tbs result of comps-
titlon. Oyster culture here Is conducted
on a system exactly opposite 20 the French
method. The French rear the mollasks in
shadows along shore, between the levels Of
high and low water-of course or q hori-
gontal plane. On the other hand the Ital-
ians grow the bivalves vertically. They
produce than In all depths of water and
make the number of oysters reared In a
given space correspond in proportion to
the volume of water and not to the supsr-
hcial area.
To make this clear, suppose that q man
has leased space CT fifteen feet square
At each corner he drives into the bottom
three posts in the form Of & tripod. tied
together at the top. Between the tripods,
from corner TO c0TnsT, scross and back,
are stretched ropss horizontally, g; or near
the surface. Tbis ample contTiSance
forms a structure from which loose bun
dies of hsEsl or gorge boughs are suspend
ed. On these ''fkscinea," as they srs
called, the young oysters during the early
days of their existence, when they are free
swimming animals, fnd g suitable lodg-
ment.
The water of the bay lie warmer than
Ia f l. ak l. q.
oysters keep on spawning from April to
October, 50 that the supply of yoang fry
or spst is unlimited. Any firm object
suspended from the surface Immediately
becomes covered With them. When the
bundles of bouGhs have collected a crop of
youthful sdherent bivalyes the "fsscines"
ere pulled up snd broken into twEgs with
ont disturbing the oysters.
The twigs are then woven into ropss,
which are again suspended In the water as
before. Thus from the light Ecaffolding
already described will depend many long
strings of twIgs covered with oJsters snd
extending from near the surface almost TO
the bottom 1t is easily seen that this
method utiiizes the available space ard
floating food with the utmost possible
economy.
The 'tfasoIae." srs prepared duT5ag tie
winter In spring they are put out TO col.
lect 'spst." One ytss iA;sr, when they
have become thick'y covered with yunns
oysters, they sTe taken sshore. The work.
men now proceed TO cut them to pieces,
ehopping each bough with ita attached
mUllusks into tEigs Ab,lt eight inches
long. These oyEgsT bsarIRg twisss are mex:
| placed in baskets and are carried TO other
| operators, who splice them tsg .thsT iBg-n.
iously between strands of rope. 60 that
4 4
| ranged the rope bristles dramatically
| with oysteTs. Finally the ropes made in
this way are conveyed in boats to the scNf
foldings and put In place.
The growing conditions OF the oysters
are now as favorable ss possible. The
heavily burdened rupss swing and TibTste
In the currents, allowing esch biTAlTe to
escape accommodating sediment and to Ee-
| cure an equal shsrs of the vclnme of the
floating food. Their growth is wonderful.
ly rapid. An oyster three fourth Of 81
inch In diameter In March, when suspen-
ded In the water until Oa.ober, has 81.
tanned by that time four times its original
size, and has thus become marketable.
Two years and q half, however, are gene
rally allowed 70 produce An oyster Of the
beat grade In the market of Tarente.
| Another advantage which tbs cnlfuristl
claim for this system is the ease with
which the entire product of an enclosure
can be oysrhaulsd, cleared of attached
mussels, bryozoAns and ascidIEns, and, IL
general-ihe oysters being in plain sight
guarded from dangerous enemies. Th,
economy of space is great. A single ron,
fourteen feet long will serve to rear two
Thousand marketable bivAlves. Some ot
the oysters become detached from th,
scaifoldIpg for further growth, as are alsc
such grown oysters as it is found convsn
lent TO remove from the ropes during th,
process of overhsuling.
| As has been said, an important branch
of the industry consists In the expectation
of SEED oysters as well as of oysters o.
nearly marketable sizs which are intendeS
for fsttening In other localities. tn,
young bivalves, from half an inch TO on,
inch In diameter, sell for thirty centH pc,
thousand. Oysters two years old fetch
eighty cents per hundred. The nverss,
number of full-grovn oysters produces
from each 'fsscins" Is about Eve hundred
The annual yield of the entire bed Is TWEEN
ty million oysters.