My acquaintance with the working details of Arca- 

 chon fish-farms is due in the main to the courtesy of 

 Monsieur Garnung of Le Teiche, who kindly arranged 

 that I should have every facility to visit and inspect his 

 extensive fish-farm situated in the middle of the delta of 

 the Leyre. With true French versatility M. Garnung 

 besides owning this fish-culture establishment, owns and 

 superintends a large resin refinery, a well-equipped steam 

 saw-mill, and the electric light plant which furnishes 

 current for the street illumination of the neiohbourino- 

 town of Le Teiche ; private interests however do not 

 absorb all his attention for he still finds time to look 

 after the welfare of the town in the capacity of Mayor. 



Twice I visited M. Garnung's fish- farm and on both 

 occasions I had the advantage of his personal guidance 

 and explanations. The tarm lies just below the level of 

 high-tides, between creeks which lead down to the 

 eastern boundary of the Arcachon basin. The seaward 

 side of the farm is protected against the tide by a strong 

 embankment formed of the clayey alluvium composing 

 the surface of the delta. Its height, governed by the 

 local vertical range of the tide, is usually about 12 feet ; 

 the breadth at the base averages about 36 feet, de- 

 creasing at the summit to 6 feet. The slopes are well 

 consolidated and are further strengthened by the growth 

 of grass and sedges. On the majority offish-farms the 

 area protected by the sea-dyke is divided almost equally 

 between land and water. The largest farm at Arcachon 

 (Audenge) comprises an area of 168 hectares (415 acres) 

 under water and 172 hectares (425 acres) of grazing land. 

 M. Garnung's farm is much smaller but the same ratio 

 persists. The water area is greatly split up, forming a 

 series of irregular ponds connected by wide channels. 

 Sluice gates divide the various ponds and these differ 

 considerably in depth and in arrangement. The shallow- 

 est ponds adjoin the sluices opening to the sea, the 

 deeper ones lie landward of the former. The seaward 

 or entrance ponds as we may term them, are wide shallow 

 expanses of water ranging according to the size of the 

 farm from quite small areas up to as much as 300 to 600 

 yards long by 80 to 130 yards wide. The depth usually 

 does not exceed 18 inches and frequently is no more 

 than a foot. Towards the margins the depth is greater, 



