68 MUSSEL CULTURE 



shell-fish grew to a larger size than those on the 

 shore, this enterprising person set up a hurdle, on 

 which he received spat and reared the mussels 

 for food. From this beginning, the apparatus 

 gradually developed into what is now known as 

 the bouchot, as seen at the villages of Esnandes» 

 Charron, and Marsilly, and at places of less 

 importance in the neighbourhood. Miles of mud- 

 flats are now covered by long fences of piles and 

 wattling. The piles consist of stems of trees 

 cut to about 12 feet in length, and averaging 

 about 6 inches in diameter. These are sunk 

 about half their length in the mud at a distance 

 of 2 feet from each other. Until recently, it 

 was customary to arrange these rows of piles in a 

 series of V-shaped structures, the pointed end of 

 the V being directed towards the open sea, so as 

 to minimise the force of the waves, each arm 

 being 200 to 25*0 metres in length. Professor 

 Herdman,^ reporting on the condition at present 

 existing, states that the V-shaped arrangement 

 has been generally given up for the more simple 

 and compact arrangement of parallel rows. He 

 says : ' The rows are about 30 yards apart, and 



^ Report upon the Methods of Oyster and Mussel Culture in use 

 on the West Coast of France, Proc. and Trans. Liv. Biol. Soc. 

 viii. 1893-94, p. 121. 



