The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 193, 13 March 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1868.

Under the present state of things it would seem almost a burlesque to talk about establishing a new industry in Westport, but there can bo no doubt that if the Queensland news should happen to prove anything of a satisfactory character, not only Westport, but the whole of the West Coast goldfields will suffer a greater depression than is at present existing, before it arrives at that stage when it will begin to " suffer a recovery." The mineral resources of the Buller district are at present comparatively uuknown, and it will require time before they are materially developed. In our report of the resources of this district, published some time ago, we pointed out districts which are not only of an auriferous character, but also traversed, if we may use the expression, with other minerals—some of which are not inferior to gold in value. This being the case, and when the reaction takes place, which assuredly it will, Westport will attain a greater degree of prosperity and be more permanent in its character than ever it was. The cement beds of Charleston have proved a mine of wealth to that district, and it has been ascertained beyond a doubt that similar beds exist nearly the whole of the distance between the Buller and Addison's Flat. There is no doubt as to their being auriferous, but whether the gold in them is sufficient to prove remunerative, is another question, and one that will soon be solved, as several machines are in course of erection. Should they turn out profitable, the whole of the immense district, at present lying untouched and unworked, will be busy with the noise of stampers, and a population larger than ever will be assembled on the much abused Addison's Flat. But it is not with miners and mining that we meant to deal when we alluded to the establishment of a new industry in Westport. It is the cultivation of oyster fisheries. Some time since we brought this subject before our readers as one that would not only turn out profitable, but a mine of wealth to whoever engaged in the pursuit, and we were told that we labored under a mistake, as it was impossible to form an oyster pare near Westport, as the coast was unsuitable to their growth, it being indispensable that the ground should be rocky. The market for oysters is unlimited in the colonies, and should the present extravagant mode of collecting them in Sydney be persevered in, the oyster beds will be worn out in a very short time. In relation to the ground necessary for the formation of an oyster pare, according to a letter received from Mr Thomas Holt, of Anteuil, Paris, and addressed to the Editor of the Sydney 3£ail, rocky ground is not necessary, and Mr Holt enters into an interesting account of the oyster pares at the He de Re, which is a long narrow island, containing about 12,000 acres of poor sandy soil. Two systems appear to be in course of trial—the one as pursued by Dr Kemmerer at the He de Re, and the other as followed at the Lake Fusaro, in Italy. He de Re was stocked with 200,000 oysters, which were laid on tiles, and also covered with tiles, to collect the spat. Lake Fusaro was stocked with only 50,000 oysters, which were also laid on tiles. But the oysters were not covered with tiles the same as above. They were closely covered with wattled hurdles suspended over them attached by stakes, and lying parallel with the bed of the pare, to collect the spat. The important question to be solved by these experiments was, whether tiles or hurdles were the best collectors of oyster spat? On the tiles, which covered the 200,000 oysters in the He de Re 'Pare, there was no spat worth notice. But the hurdles, at the Fusaro Pare, from the 50,000 oysters, when taken up, -were covered with oysterlings, some as large as a sixpence, and the smallest tho size of a pin's head, but the average size was that of a fourpenny piece. There is one peculiarity connected with these experiments which is worthy of notice, and that is the preference which oysterlings appear to have for a dark color. It is said that there was one varying feature of all the hurdles, that crowded as they were with spat, wherever a light part of the wood was exposed—as where the hazel twigs were split, or where the bark was

peeled oft" in places—there was no spat, while, on the contrary, the darker the exterior of the wattling of the hurdle, the thicker lay the spat there. The same, also, with stones and bricks among the shingle on the opposite side of the pare to where all the old oysters were laid down. As a rule all the spat found there was on dark stones, or the dark parts of the bricks only. And now as to the most suitable locality for establishing an oyster pare, and in doing so we cannot do better than quote Remmerer's own words, Ho says;— There is terrain (ground) on which oysters could be bred most abundantly, but not fattened. On such terrain, which is dry, rocky, stony, &c, he says the oyster seldom grows larger than four and ahalf centimetres, after which, from the want of nourishment, warmth, and still water, it languishes aud dies. This " terrain" (the dry, stony, rocky, ground), could be most profitable for the breeding of oysters, by making enclosures (pares), stocking them with oysters for breeding, covering them with hurdles or fascines on which to collect the spat, and afterwards removing them to the enclosures or "pares" for fattening. Mr Holt then goes on to describe Dr Remmerer's own pares in the He de Re : —The terrain, or ground suitable for rearing and fattening oy,ters, is, the Doctor says, limited in extent in France. I had not the slightest idea, previously, that the salt water marshes or swamps which are covered by every tide could be turned to such a profitable account as that of fattening oysters. But there is no doubt about it. I had ocular demonstration of the fact that oysters grow and fatten rapidly on the salt-water marshes. There is abundance of insects and other suitable food, the Doctor says, in the salt-water marshes and muddy shoals for oysters, but they must not be placed near to each other. The Doctor's oyster pares or enclosures, (which I presume are models of what oyster pares should be), I examined very minutely. They are made on a salt-water marsh or swamp, and are just like the beds in a vegetable garden, except that they are not quite so large. The Doctor told me that an oyster bed should be about three (3)' feet wide, with an interval of two or thee feet between the beds which would serve as a footpath, so that the beds could be inspected without treading on the oysters. But the chief reason for this spaca—two or three feet—being left is, that the oyster may get plenty of nourishment, which would not be the case if the beds were too near each other. He also said, for the same reason, that the oysterlings should be placed on the beds, not less than three (3) inches apart. Also the water in the pares (for rearing and fattening oysters) should not exceed five inches, or at the very most eight inches in depth. The Doctor's oyster pares, are situated in a sheltered bay, and surrounded by a mud wall, through which the sea water can be let in at the flood tides, and out at the ebb tides. I asked the Doctor's overseer how often he changed the water. He said every fourth day. I then asked, if you did not change the water at all, what effect would it have on the oysters? His reply was, that the water would evaporate, and nothing but salt would remain. I then said, as evaporation is going on during the four days, the water must become daily more and more saline ; do you think that this must necessarily have the effect of giving the oysters a stronger flavor ? He thought so Do you not think, I asked, that the oysters would have a much finer flavor if you had a stream of fresh water constantly running into your oyster pares ? He had no doubt about it, but he added, we have no fresh water here, and it is not possible to get any. This accounts for all the oysters I have eaten at La Rochelle, and on the He de Re, having such a very strong flavor. Pliny, who wrote about 2000 years ago, said, (if I remember the quotation correctly) that there could be no good oysters where there was no fresh water. And an old oysterman on the G-eorge River and Botany Bay, once told me, in answer to my question, as to what was the cause of the flavor of the oysters being so much superior at one place than at another in the immediate neighborhood, that the goodness of the oysters arose from a stream of fresh water, running on the oyster bed. He said, there were always good oysters where there was fresh water. I thought a gentlemen, of whom we were asking for some information about the tie de Re oysters, made a very unjust, if not spiteful remark, when he said that they were only spoiling the oysters by putting them into their fattening pares —they were not so strong, and had a much better flavor formerly. But now I can see that he had some reason for what he said, and it arises from the water in

the fattening pares becoming more impregnated with salt than the water of the sea, in consequence of the evaporation. In other parts of France farmers have devoted a portion of their land to the formation of fishponds, for the breeding of carp and other freshwater fish, and we are told that these ponds pay better than anything else. It will thus be seen that nearly the whole of the sea-coast, both north and south of the Buller, and Constant Bay could be turned to profitable account ; while in such localities as at the junction of the Orawaiii, Buller, Totara or Nile Rivers with the sea, where the fresh wator would have au opportunity of flowing over the beds, there are sites for the growth and cultivation of this most delicious of molluscs almost unequalled, The expense would be but trifling to men who had any other omplnymont, whUo the Coat of Stocking, which would only necessitate the gathering of spat in the first instance, need not exceed a few pounds. The Nelson Government would only be too happy to aid in such a project by granting a sufficiency of land for the purpose, while as*we have said before the market is unlimited. The experiment is worthy of trial, and it will be found that if there are treasures on the earth, there is also a mine of wealth in the sea, if only the pains are taken to search for it. In conclusion, as to the advantage of the cultivated oyster over the oyster found in a state of nature, Dr. Kemmerer says : —On the terrains, vaseux, marais, aud marneaux (muddy, swampy, and marly ground, &c.) oysters will grow become of a beautiful form and color (light green), such as gourmands love to look on. Taste them, the doctor says, and you will then know the difference between the oysters fed in pares (enclosures), and those in a state of nature.