NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MUSSEL 63 



beds, who comes from Holland, makes all fisher- 

 men pass their mussels through this gauge on 

 the beds, and then re-spreads the remaining 

 small mussels with a shovel. 



This riddle is about 2 feet in breadth, the 

 rim, 3j to 4 inches deep, being of wood, as in 

 an ordinary gardener's riddle or sieve. Across 

 this frame, fine stout rods are placed, and at 

 right angles to these, the wires are stretched at 

 a distance of i inch from each other. This wire 

 mesh is sometimes slightly reduced, but the 

 excuse cannot here, as in the case of herring nets, 

 be shrinkage. If the riddle is intended as a 

 gauge, the i-inch space between the wires should 

 be carefully maintained. 



At King's Lynn, mussels intended for laying 

 down, which have been lifted in clusters, small 

 and great together, are first separated by hand, 

 and are then riddled and spread by means of 

 shovels. A single worker can separate six to 

 eight bushels during one ebb-tide. Transplanting 

 in a more wholesale way is also carried on, how- 

 ever, and is in ordinary circumstances all that 

 is required, provided the mussels are not spread 

 too thickly. As a general rule, we might say that, 

 if possible, no mussel should be allowed to lie 



