SEA MUSSEL MYTILUS EDULIS. 239 



is often spoken of as the British method to distinguish it from the bouehot system or 

 French method. The practice is to collect young mussels from salt water and sow them 

 on artificial beds in favorable localities. The best regions for planting are rich estuarine 

 flats where there is plenty of sand and gravel covered with mud rich in diatoms, In- 

 fusoria, and spores of algae. Care is taken to avoid planting the beds where they will be 

 uncovered at low tide or subject to the ill effects of floods, gales, shifting sands, or frost. 

 Furthermore, the individuals should not be placed so near together that one must lie 

 on another. In this crowded condition the food supply is cut off from a large number 

 of the shellfish and death or arrested development results, destroying the good effects of 

 transplanting. 



Harding (1883) and others believe that the spat will not mature in anything but 

 pure sea water, but that for fattening the full-grown mussel brackish water of the den- 

 sity 1. 014 is the most suitable. It is very doubtful, however, if brackish water is ad- 

 vantageous in perfecting the development of the mussel. The finest mussels ever 

 seen by the author were cultivated in the water of the open ocean where there was no 

 dilution with fresh water. In Menemsha Pond, Marthas Vineyard, Mass., where the 

 mussels are fat and of unusually large size, the specific gravity of the water varies from 

 1.021 to 1.023. f n this particular locality the author has found many individuals which 

 exhibited an annual growth of an inch in length for the first three years of their ex- 

 istence. In Oyster Bay and Long Island Sound first-class mussels of excellent quality 

 are grown in water where the density varies from 1.017 to 1.018. In these localities 

 there is some dilution of the sea water, but not to the extent recommended by Harding* 



The advantages of the bed system of cultivation are now being recognized in other 

 countries. Bjerkan (1910) is recommending this method in Norway and figures samples 

 of transplanted shellfish to show the splendid results obtained. Figures 192 and 193 

 (opp. p. 202) are views of an old mussel which had shown little or no signs of growth for 

 years, but when transplanted added on the new portion of the shell, which is conspic- 

 uously shown in the photograph. Figure 191 (opp. p. 202) represents the exceptional 

 growth which took place in a young mussel during a period of seven months after 

 being transplanted at Morecambe, England. 



Some of the progressive fishermen in this country have also recently put the trans- 

 planting method into practice with great success in certain regions of Long Island 

 Sound. In one case a fisherman was paid by an oysterman to remove great quantities 

 of mussels which were growing on and about his oyster beds. The fisherman carefully 

 planted them at the mouth of Oyster Bay and three years later dredged them up by the 

 hundreds of barrels, which he marketed in New York City at $1.25 per barrel. After 

 paying all his expenses he found that he had left a net profit of $0.75 per barrel. For 

 two months he was able to ship 100 barrels a day, which will indicate the income he was 

 able to derive from the business. It is needless to say that this man is still cultivating 

 mussels. 



For harvesting the mussels a rake or dredge is used. In England the rake is recom- 

 mended as the better instrument to employ for the reason that it does not crush the 

 shells nor stir up sand over the bed. In size it has a breadth of about 18 inches, with 

 teeth 1 inch apart. It has a handle 20 to 25 feet long and a wire net bag attached 

 behind it for holding the catch. The mussels are sorted by means of a riddle, which is 

 a sieve having a i-inch iron mesh. After the mussels have been separated by hand 



