30 MUSSEL CULTURE 



themselves do nothing to improve the stock. It 

 should be remembered that Cromarty was at one 

 time (when the mussels suffered most severely) a 

 thriving fishing village, and mustered a far greater 

 fleet of boats than it does at present. 



The Dornoch Firth Beds. — The principal 

 beds are situated opposite the town of Tain, 

 and are held by the town, under the charter of 

 Charles IL (1671). They are supposed to cover 

 an area of about 9 acres, but have never been 

 surveyed. The inshore scalps are becoming high 

 through the accumulation of mud over the hard 

 sandy bottom. 



The yield of these beds is now far short of the 

 former supply, and cultivation has been practised 

 only within recent years. The scalps at one time 

 were much over-fished, and since some, as the 

 Black Scalp, are much exposed to danger from 

 easterly gales, considerable destruction has resulted. 

 Sales are made chiefly to fishermen from a 

 distance. 



At the village of Inver, east of Tain, there are 

 a few small beds used by the local fishermen. 



The Torlogie Beds lie to the west of Tain, 

 on the southern shore of the firth. Cultivation 

 has been practised here by the lessee, but the 



