22 MUSSEL CULTURE 



Cramond Island Beds. — These beds, which 

 are known to have been of great extent round the 

 mouth of the river Almond, have met exactly the 

 same fate as the Musselburgh beds. Patches still 

 occur to the west side of the river mouth. 



A bed in the neighbourhood of BURNTISLAND 

 has also vanished. 



Another private bed in this locality is that of 

 Aberdour, granted to the Earl of Morton by 

 the Board of Trade in 1870 — the same year as the 

 Duke of Buccleuch's bed mentioned above. The 

 grant, in this case, is for a mussel fishery. 



The Eden Beds, St. Andrews. — The scalps 

 situated in this most suitable estuary are of wide 

 extent. The most important beds are those of 

 the south shore, owned and worked by the Cor- 

 poration of St. Andrews. The quality of the 

 Eden mussel is much esteemed. The ground is 

 naturally firm, and is overspread by the fine silt 

 of the river. This silt affords rich feeding, but 

 has now accumulated to such an extent that many 

 of the beds are too hi^h to render the best results, 

 being exposed too long by the falling tide. The 

 fishermen of St. Andrews have the legal right to 

 be supplied with bait from these beds. The price 

 averages about is. per basket, exclusive of cartage. 



