Improvements in Ostreaculture and Means and Apparatus for Use therein.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 30th Apr., 1889-Accepted, 13th July, 1889
Improvements in Ostreaculture and Means and Apparatus for Use
therein.
I, LUIS FALERO, of 100 Fellows Road, South Hampstead, in the County of
Middlesex, Artist, do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as
follows:-
My improvements in ostreaculture relate to the general installation, as well as to
the arrangement of details, and are characterized by certain new features, herein
after described, whereby the rearing and fattening of oysters are effected under hygienic
conditions, and a greater output, for a given bed surface, is obtained.
1. Given a natural, or artificial, basin or reservoir, periodically covered with sea-
water at the time of the tides, and left dry-or partially emptied when required by
means of water gate and locks-the first condition for a good rearing consists in the
construction of a bottom upon which nud cannot accumulate (at least in the places
where the oysters are deposited) and which permits, by its disposition, of the easy and
thorough cleansing of its whole extent without disturbing the oysters-disturbance
being very prejudicial to them.
Mud being the most mortal enemy of oysters, the spat can always develop even
amongst the mother oysters, provided the bottom be always free from mud, especially
in closed spaces or ponds where the molluses, whilst still young, are protected from
their marine enemies.
All oyster beds are at present made with a flat or curved bottom, with slight
inclines, in whatever manner the bottom may be prepared, upon which the oysters are
deposited in a more or less uniform layer.
All these bottoms ultimately silt up, in spite of the stagnation channels (bassins
de stagnation) which are provided in the most perfectly constructed installations, and.
will, at last, smother the oysters if care be not taken to clean the bottom frequently,
which is always difficult and costly, generally necessitating the disturbing of the
oysters, and always preventing the collection of the spat.
Now, in order to remedy these evils, my first improvement consists in constructing
or forming the bottom of inclined tables, of sufficient height above the soil, sepa-
rated from each other by gutters or working passages, contrived at a lower level,
in which the mud from the tables will necessarily accumulate, and can therefore
be removed with the greatest facility, all the gutters uniting in one point, where
the mud can be washed out automatically, or removed mechanically. By this
construction or formation of inclined tables, the mud will be readily carried off by the
lightest currents of water, and will fall into the gutters thus securing a perfect
limpidity of the water in which the oysters are bathed, and the tables which serve
them as a bottom will be always sufficiently clean even when the surrounding water
is charged with mud.
This new bottom for beds, parks, basins, or the like, for the culture of oysters,
may be economically made with argillaceous earths, rammed between two planks,
then levelled to the desired inclination by the use of a moulding board, and finally
covered or faced (as well as the gutters which separate them) with a layer of concrete,
bydraulic cement, or conglomerate, as calcareous as possible in order to encourage the
growth of the molluscs. A groove or furrow is formed at the foot of the tables to
hold the collectors hereinafter described.
The tables being moulded as a solid mass, in block, of conglomerate, as well as the
gutters, according to a constant profile, determined by the moulding board, the whole
may be faced with vitrified material which has the hardness of granite and is more
unchangeable in sea wator, thus constituting thereafter an indeformable bottom of

page_text: nlimited durability. But cement, or any other substance unaffected by sea water,
may be used.
The oysters placed on these tables will be always protected from the mud, which,
as before stated, will accumulate in the gutters or working passages, and will flow
off naturally either by the slope of the gutter, or by the cleansing easily affected as
may be found necessary, as there will be no oysters to smother.
2. Spat collectors. As soon as the lacteous condition of the oysters has been proved,
the collectors may be prepared. These, according to my improvements, are formed
of an assemblage of surfaces so disposed as to shut in the tables within an enclosure
or continuous wall which shall prevent the scattered, or emitted, spat from being
carried off laterally by the currents, or by its own motion, and falling into the gutters
and being lost. But, on the contrary, shall compel such spat to remain upon the
surface circumscribed by the tables, the object being to form a continuous wall
surrounding the bed of the mother oysters, and high enough to prevent the young
from escaping over it.
The means for providing this barrier-necessary for the preservation of the spat
are numerous, and all very simple. For instance, a row of tiles placed vertically
along the edge of the tables might suffice; but for these I may advantageously
substitute a series of plates or planks of sufficient height, and of any width, limited
only by the weight or stiffness of the material employed. These plates take into the
grooves which run at the foot of the tables, and are supported against the edge of the
tables simply by their own weight, said plates being placed one beside another in
such a way as to form a continuous wall.
The plates may be slabs of stone, slate, glass, metal, wire gauze, terra-cotta, or
vitrified earthenware, or may be of conglomerate, or of artificial material, such as
cement or of basketwork cemented in frames, or they may be made of planks of
wood tarred and coated, and in fact of any material possessing the necessary
resistance to sea water.
If it be necessary to increase the surface for the fixation of the spat, the inner
surface of the plates may be furnished with projections, or additions destined to
increase such surface or space. Rectangular or curved plates, adjacent one to the
other, fill up the space between the two walls, and may be kept in position by means
of rods extending from one large plate to another, or by any other suitable form of
supports. Wire gauze coated with any suitable substance, unattackable by sea water,
can be folded upon itself so as to offer very large surfaces. I can also form a roof
of large surface of basketwork coated with a protecting substance; in fact I can
arrange various devices, especially in the form of plates, suspended above the oysters,
and which will ensure the fixing of the spat in this surface or space. Squares of
cloth, or other fabric, or of wire gauze coated with cement and suspended by wires,
may be employed, as may likewise besoms, suitably arranged. These surfaces, as
well as the interior walls of the lateral plates will become charged with tho
whole of the annual spat of the oysters and will permit of its ready collection.
Such a collector is novel and its efficacy is evident; it constitutes the second
characteristic feature in my improvements, and has for its object to oppose a material
and absolute obstacle-by means of a wall-to the carrying away of the spat, and
by the addition, in the enclosure wherein it is kept, of surfaces sufficient for naturally
fixing such spat without permitting it to cause excessive encumbrance.
3. Fattening hives. Practice having taught that the accumulation of oysters in a
limited space and their encumbrance in compact banks, especially if the oysters lie
upon one another, or touch too closely, prevent the freedom of their movement, the
regularity of their growth, and their very existence, it is impossible to fatten to
commercial size at the end of three years at least, a number of oysters exceeding
150 per square metre if they be symmetrically placed side by side with minute care,
in such a way that they shall not injure each other.
Now, by the means I am about to describe, and which constitutes the third
characteristic feature of my invention, it will be possible henceforth to fatten the
oysters until of adult age, and whilst keeping them ranged side by side, without

page_text: touching each other, as many as 2000 oysters, and more, per square metre of the
whole surface of the bed-with a depth of only about 8 feet 2,250 oysters to the
square metre-can be laid giving 22,500,000 to the hectare (2 acres).
The means employed to this end consist in forming a sort of hive with horizontal
or other suitably arranged element forming shelves, stages, or cells, upon or in which
the oysters are disposed in as many stages as may be desired, the only limit being
the depth of the water covering the molluses in the basins or the like, and which may
be anything, provided the depth does not exceed 30 feet.
The elements employed to form this hive consist of a kind of tray, drawer, table,
or shelf made of glazed earthenware or other like suitable substance, and provided
with feet or ledges on their under surface, and with lateral flanges or rims on their
upper surface.
The said feet or ledges, and the flanges or rims, are so contrived as to
interlock with the adjacent elements, at top, at bottom, and at the sides, and to thus
form a structure of any number of superimposed stages, floors, or tiers, suitable for
assembling the oysters.
The stages or cells thus disposed permit the water to circulate freely, and allow the
light to penetrato to any depth oven through forty stages.
These hives may also be used as collectors.
With such a hive, as I have described, the following essential conditions which are
necessary to a good rearing are fulfilled:
Immersion in water, free from mud and from too strong currents.
The ranging of the oysters, and their withdrawal with facility.
Free circulation of air and light to all the oysters.
Each mollusc is left in a depth of water sufficient for its nourishment.
The free movements of the molluscs are not restrained or impeded.
Capability of construction in materials unaffected by sea water, that is to say
containing neither wood, nor nails, nor any ironwork.
Strength, stability, and manufacture in materials more dense than sea water.
The carrying on of all operations and surveillanco without disturbing or taking the
apparatus to pieces.
Incapability of silting up and therefore not requiring cleansing.
4. I have furthermore designed special tools for the charging and the withdrawal
of the oysters in the rearing and fattening hives, and also for cleaning the surfaces
thereof, and of the beds. These comprise a sort of rake with cheeks, and having
the form, in working section, corresponding with the surface over which it is
to act.
If the plane form bas been chosen for the stages which will then constitute, when
united, level beds of considerable length, the rake will be made of wood hardened
rubber, or other suitable material, and may be provided with a base thus permitting
the rows of molluscs to be pushed forward, and by a single backward movement to
withdraw all that is found upon the bed for which said tool is shaped.
For removing the spat fixed to the hive, the tool I employ consists of a blade fixed,
at a suitable downward inclination, to a block of wood, or other appropriate material,
to which a handle is attached, the said blade being curved or angular, according to the
section of the elements of the hives, or of the tables.
Dated this 7th day of November 1888
ERNEST DE PASS, Fel. Inst. P.A.,
68, Fleet Street, London, Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
0 Improvements in Ostreaculture and Means and Apparatus for Use
therein.
I, LUIS FALERO, of 100 Fellows Road, South Hampstead, in the County of
Middlesex, Artist, do hereby declare the naturo of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and, ascertained

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My improvements in ostreaculture (oyster culture) relate to the general installation,
as well as to the arrangement of details, of artificial oyster beds, and are characterized by
certain new features, hereinafter described, whereby the breeding, rearing, and fattening
of oysters are effected under hygienic conditions, and a greater yield or output for a
given bed surface is obtained."
Given a natural or artificial pond or reservoir, periodically covered with sea water
at the time of the tides, and left dry, or partially emptied, when required, by means
of water-gates and locks-the first condition for a good rearing consists in the
construction of a bottom upon which mud cannot accumulate (at least in places
where the oysters are deposited) and which permits by its disposition, of the easy and
thorough cleansing of its whole extent, without disturbing the oysters-disturbance
being very prejudicial to them.
Mud being the most mortal enemy of the oyster, tho spat can successfully develop, even
amongst the mother oysters, provided the bottom be always free from mud, especially
in closed spaces or ponds, where the molluscs, while still young, are protected from
their marine enemies.
Artificial oyster beds are, as a rule, at present made with a flat or curved bottom,
with slight inclines, in whatever manner the bottom may be prepared, upon which the
oysters are deposited in more or less uniform layers.
All these bottoms ultimately tend to silt up, even in the most perfectly constructed
installations; and the accumulated deposits will, at last, smother the oysters if care bo
not taken to clean the bottom frequently; this operation, which is always difficult and
costly, generally necessitates the disturbing of the oysters and always renders difficult,
or prevents, the collection of the spat.
And in order that my invention may be clearly understood I proceed to describe
the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 represents, in transverse section, the improved bottom for oyster beds,
specially designed to effect the object of my invention, and forming tables upon which
the oysters are deposited.
Fig. 2 represents a similar section, with the addition thereto of certain alternativo
contrivances, hereinafter fully referred to, for the collection and retention of
the spat.
Fig. 3 represents in perspective view, and end section, a specially devised receptacle
or hive, heing a cellular structure, which is hereinafter fully referred to, as being
employed for the reception, accumulation, and development of the oysters.
Figs. 3, 3, are perspective views of two forms of parts constituting the said hive
or cellular structure.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the before mentioned parts, and the base
upon which they are placed, such base preventing any accumulation of mud deposits
underneath.
Figs. 5 and 6 show tools which I prefer to use in connection with my system or
improvements in oyster culture.
Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view, or general plan, of my improved installation,
comprising, by way of example, six equal ponds, formed by five inside partitions
of masonry, and provided with the necessary sluices for permitting the communication
of the water from one pond to the next.
Fig. 8 is a transverse section, on a larger scale, taken on the line,, of fig. 7, and
shewing one sluice gate and the sea wall.
Now, in carrying out my system or invention, and in order to remedy the evils
above mentioned, my first improvement consists in constructing or forming the
bottom of inclined tables or slabs T, which are built up at sufficient height above
tho soil and are separated from each other by gutters or working passages G,
constructed at a lower level. In these gutters or passages the mud from the tables
will accumulate, and can therefore be removed with the greatest facility. All these
gutters are arranged to dischage at certain points (such as 8, 81, 8, see fig. 7.)

page_text: where the mud can be washed out automatically through the external wall A, to the
sea, or removed mechanically. By this construction or formation, the mud will be
readily carried off the surface of the inclined tables by the lightest currents of water,
and will fall into the gutters G, thus securing a perfect limpidity of the water in which
the oysters are bathed, and the tables which serve them as a bottom will be always
sufficiently clean, even when the surrounding water is charged with mud.
This new bottom for ponds, beds, parks, or the like, for the culture of oysters, may
be economically made with argillaceous earths, rammed between two planks, then
levelled to the desired inclination by the use of moulding boards, or other suitable
means, and finally covered or faced, (as well as the gutters which separate them) with
a layer of concrete, hydraulic cement, or conglomerate; being of a siliceous character
for the gutters, and calcarous for the tables, in order to encourage the growth of the
molluscs. A groove or furrow c is formed at each side of the base of the tables
or slabs to hold what I respectively term "plain" and " compound collectors," and
which are hereinafter fully described.
The tables or slabs T, being moulded as a solid mass in block, of conglomerate, as
well as the gutters G, according to a constant profile determined by the moulding a
board, the whole may be faced with a vitrified material which has the hardness of
granite, and is more unchangeable in sea water, thus constituting thereafter a
suitable bottom of practically unlimited durability. But cement, or any other
substance unaffected by sea water, may be used, where it is found more economical or
convenient to do so.
The oysters placed on these tables or slabs will thus be protected always from mud,
which, as before stated, will accumulate in the gutters or working passages G, and will
flow off naturally, either by the slope of the gutter, or by the cleansing, easily
effected, as may be found necessary, as there will there be no oysters to smother.
The profile of the tables, instead of being inclined, as shewn, may be convex,
pyramidal, or of any other projecting form that will provide the required inclined
surfaces for receiving and retaining the oysters.
,,
A stagnation pond is shewn in fig. 7, marked X; it serves also as a feeding pond,
and at its bottom is laid a bed of rockwork, or an artificial labyrinth of vitrified
material, so arranged as to create currents and give motion to the sea water, the
result of which is the withdrawal of the mud held in suspension in the sea water by
the sea water itself. This stagnation pond also acts as a filter or purifyer of the
water previous to its entering the oyster beds. The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th ponds
are, respectively, the fecundation pond, the " one year" oyster pond, the "two year
oyster pond, and the "three year" oyster pond. In the 6th pond is the fattening
hive or cellular receptacle which is hereinafter fully referred to, and in which the
output of the establishment, or the whole harvest of the year, is brought to the state
of fully grown up oysters, which are fattened and kept in good hygienic condition,
and stored in great numbers ready for sale during the year. Through this pond a
suitable proportion of fresh water can be advantageously directed at the time of
fattening, without altering the normal conditions of the other ponds.
The production of the establishment is thus made continuous and equal annually,
as every year the contents of one pond will arrive at maturity and will be stored in
the "Hive" for fattening, and will be kept there ready for consumption; while
every year another pond will be furnished with my collectors, on which the prolific
oysters will deposit their spat in entirety, and consequently in great excess of the
demand for the maintenance of the annual production.
. In commencing to work an installation, such as I have described, I may purchase
spat, likewise oysters of one years' growth, oysters of two years growth, and oysters
of three years growth, still under commercial value, in order to stock such installation.
Then, at the end of the first year, I would be able to supply oysters of commercial
size which have been improved for one year in my beds. The sales of the second
year would be of oysters having been two years improving in the beds; the sales of
the third year would be of oysters improved for three years, and consequently the

page_text: fourth years' sales, and the following yearly sales, would be of oysters bred and
grown in the establishment. Or I may commence differently, that is to say, I start
by laying on one of the beds a certain number of prolific oysters so that the beds
may be stocked entirely with their first fecundation; in such case the oysters bred
in the establishment would take four years before reaching commercial size. Or I
may purchase only spat and stock the entire establishment-the lives excepted-
with the same. In such a case it would take four years to bring the oysters to
commercial size.
The sea water, aerated and cleansed by the feeding pond, enters through sluices
into the second pond, where the "tables" are arranged in alternate order in such a
way as to cause and preserve a constant direction to the current. After its rapid
circulation along all the tables of this pond, the water is directed into the second
pond, and so on until it is discharged through the locks of the sixth pond, facing
an open space of, at least, the same cubic capacity as the six ponds together, and
protected from the direct flood and furnished with a lock. This space is not shewn
in the drawings, it being of variable disposition according to the locality, and its
shape having no importance, provided the capacity be sufficient.
By these means the sea water always circulates through the whole extent of the
ponds, in strong or slow currents at will, and in one direction during the whole time
of the rise of the tide. Then the water is kept in the ponds at a suitable level, in
accordance with the conditions of the atmosphere, until the current is reversed some.
time before the next tide, thus keeping the oysters in the normal condition of nature,
and then, at the return of the tide, the same operations are repeated.
Spat Collectors. As soon as the lacteous condition of the oysters has been proved
the collectors C may be prepared. These collectors are formed of an assemblago of
surfaces so disposed as to shut in the "tables" within an enclosure or continuous
wall which will prevent the scattered or emitted spat from being carried off laterally
by the currents, or by its own motion, and falling into the gutters G, and being lost;
but on the contrary, will compel such spat to remain upon the surface of the tables
circumscribed by collectors C; my object being to form a continuous wall surrounding
the bed of the mother oysters, and high enough to prevent the spat and young
oysters from escaping over it.
The means for providing such a barrier-necessary for the preservation of the
spat are numerous and all very simple. For instance, for the "plain" collectors a
row of tiles placed vertically along the edge of the tables or slabs will, in some cases,
suffice, as seon at C, fig. 2, but for these I find it advantageous to substitute a series
of plates p, or planks, of sufficient height, and of any suitable width, limited only by
the weight or stiffness of the material employed. These plates take into the
grooves c which run at the base of the tables or slabs, and are supported against
the edge of these tables or slabs simply by their own weight, said plates being
placed one besido another, in the manner shown in fig. 2, as to form a continuous
wall.
The so called plates may be slabs of stone, slate, glass, metal, wire-gauze, terra-
cotta, or vitrified earthenware, or may be of conglomerate, or of artificial material,
such as cement, or of basket-work, or cloth, cemented in frames; or they may be
planks of wood, tarred and then conted with cement, and in fact of any material
possessing the necessary resistance to sea water and of suitable surface to encourago
the growth of the spat.
In cases where it may be necessary to increase the surface for the fixation of the
spat, compound collectors may be advantageously employed and formed of plates
whose inner surface are furnished with projections, or additions, destined to increase
such surface. Rectangular or curved plates, R, as shewn in fig. 2, adjacent ono to
the other, fill up the space between the two walls, and may be kept in position by
means of rods 7, extending from one large plate Cx to another, or by any other
suitable form of supports. Wire-gauze, coated with any suitable substance, such as
cement, which is not liable to be injured by sea water, may be used, but is not

page_text: recommended; it should be folded upon itself so as to offer very large surfaces. In
some cases I forin a roof P, of large surface-sec fig. 2-which may be of basket-
work, coated with a protecting substance: or other like devices may be used
especially those in the form of plates suspended above the oysters, and which will
ensure the fixing of the spat on their surfaces. Squares of cloth, or other fabric,
thin sheets of cellulose, coated with cement, and suspended by wires, may be employed,
as may likewise besoms B, or bunches of twigs, suitably arranged, as shewn with
reference to fig. 2. These surfaces, as well as the interior walls of the lateral plates,
will become charged with the whole of the annual spat of the oysters and will thus
permit of its ready collection. The use of a collector arranged as above described
constitutes an important feature in my improvements, and it has for its object, as
before stated, to furnish a bed for receiving and holding the spat, and to interpose
an obstacle, by means of a wall, so as to obviate the danger of such spat being
carried away.
My third improvement relates to cellular structures which I term "Fattening
Hives."
By means of my "Fattening Hives" shewn in fig. 4, it is possible to fatten the
oysters until they reach the required size and condition, whilst keeping them ranged
side by side, without touching each other, I find that about 2000 oysters, and in
some cases more, may be fattened in each square metre of the whole surface of the
bed, with a depth of only about 8 feet of water, giving over 20,000,000 oysters to
the hectare (2 acres).
I construct the fattening hive H, see fig. 3. with horizontal or other suitably
arranged shelves, stages, trays, or cells, upon, or in, which the oysters aro disposed,
in as many stages as may be desired, the only limit being the depth of water
covering the molluscs in the ponds, basins, or the like, and which may be anything,
provided such depth does not exceed 30 feet.
The shelves or trays, or stage may be advantageously made of glazed earthenware,
or other like suitable substance, see figs. 3ª and 3b; they are provided with foet or
ledges, on their under side, and with lateral flanges, or rims f¹, on their upper
surface. The said feet or ledges, and the flanges or rims, are so contrived as to
interlock and to thus form a cellular structure of any number of superimposed stages,
floors, or tiers, suitable for receiving and retaining the oysters. These stages, thus
disposed, permit the water to circulate freely and allow the light to penetrate to
any depth, even through forty stages.
These hives may also be used as collectors, as the spat emitted inside the hive
cannot escape from such a structure.
The proper distance from the shore at which such an installation, as I have described,
should be placed, must be such that the walls circumscribing the same just emergo
from the water at spring tides, while they are low enough to be touched by the
water at neap tides.
The tools I prefer to employ for charging the oysters in the rearing and fattening
hives, and for withdrawing them therefrom, also for cleaning the surfaces of such
hives, and of the beds, are shewn in figs. 5 and 6; they comprise rakes, having
the form, in working section, corresponding with the surface over which they
are to act.
If the plane form has been chosen for the shelves, stages, or cells, which will then
constitute, when united, lovel beds of considerable length, the rake shewn in fig. 5
will be used, and is made of wood, hardened rubber, or other suitablo material, and
provided (or not) with a base s, thus permitting the rows of molluscs to be pushed
forward, and by a single backward movement, permitting the withdrawal of all that
is found upon the bed for which the said tool is shaped.
The tool I employ for removing the spat fixed to the bive, is shewn in fig. 6, and
consists of a blade t, fixed, at a suitable downward inclination, to a block, x, of wood,
or other appropriate material, to which a handle is attached, the said blade being
curved, or angular, according to the section of the elements of the hives, or of the
tables.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained my Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, I claim :-
1. The general arrangement and combination of parts constituting the improved
installation or means for use in ostreaculture, or oyster culture, substantially as
herein before described, and shewn with reference to the drawings.
2. The improved construction, arrangement, and use of gutters and tables, such as
those shewn in section in fig. 1, for oyster beds, parks, ponds, or the like, substantially
as described, and for the purposes set forth.
3. The construction arrangement, and use, of spat-collectors, substantially as
described and shown in fig. 2; and the combination of the same with the improved
tables as set forth and above described.
4. The construction, arrangement, and use of the fattening hives, substantially as
described and illustrated in figs. 3, 3ª, 3b, and 4.
Dabad 31, 2044 a..
A1 1000
Dated this 30th day of April 1880.
1000
ERNEST DE PASS,
68, Fleet Street, London, Agent for the Applicant.