OYSTER TRADE. The management of the oyster fishery presents many peculiar features. The bast kind of oysters in this country are the small variety called Natires ; they are found near the mouths of the rivers Colne, Blackwater, and Crouch, in Essex ; the Swale and the 31edway, in Kent ; the Ouse, in Sussex; in Southampton Water; and at other places in all the three kingdoms. The artificial beds are usually supplied with the produce of the coast of Normandy, whence the spat or spawn is gathered. The spawn, when first cast, somewhat resembles in appearance a drop of fat; it is composed of an immense number of minute oysters, each of which becomes about a quarter of an inch long in three days, as large as a shilling in three months, as a half crown in six months, and as a crown in twelve months. They are stated to attain their highest degree of perfection when three years old. The oyster is found in the seas of most countries, but never at any great depth, and seldom far from the mouth of a river. The fish ing for oysters is permitted from the 1st of August to the end of April.
The fishing, or, to use the more correct term, the dredging, is carried on to a large extent by small sailing- and row-boats—they usually dredge in company, as the oysters lie within comparatively small spaces. The dredge is a net on a wooden or iron frame, and is weighted according to the nature of the bed, varying from 12 to 18 pounds. It is thrown by one man, while another rows. The beds or banks are found in the British Channel ; off the Isles of Wight and Jersey ; on the count of Wales; off the French coast. In Scotland they are found hi the Frith of Forth; in Ireland, in Carlingford Bay, the oysters from which have a high character for excellence. France has
also numerous artificial beds, but the fishermen also dredge in the Channel, where frequent disputes arise between them and the English fishermen respecting boundaries. The most esteemed natural beds in France arc those off the coast of Brittany, at Dieppe, and Cancalle, near St. Male.
So far as regards the London supply, the oysters are brought prin cipally from the Esters coast and rivers; but the Milton, Fevershans, and Burnham oysters are most highly esteemed. None are Rent from the north of England ; but broods are sent from thence to be fattened in the artificial beds. The sale at Billingsgate is enormous. At Southampton there is a wide margin of muddy shore at low water, en parts of which oyster-beds are formed. Oysters are brought from the Jersey fishery, laid down on thistle beds to fatten, turned and attended to every day, taken up when wanted, opened, placed in tin cane, and sent tip to London by railway. Theme oysters are used for pickles and sauces, and not eaten in the ordinary way.
The oyster trade in England has been of considerable importance for centuries, and now ranks next to the herring-fishery. The dredging, the laying down spawn in the artificial beds, and attending to and gathering the oysters, and the packing for market, give employment to a large number of persons ; while the rapid conveyance afforded by railways enable the inland towns to obtaiu oysters perfectly fresh and in excellent condition ; and at Christmas the quantity transmitted in barrels as presents demands additional accommodation, not only from railways, but from every other means of inland transmission.