JO MUSSEL CULTURE 



country are concerned, the order and accuracy of 

 these local names matters little, so long as we 

 understand the method upon which the whole 

 series are worked. 



The first or outermost bouchot is in such a 

 situation as to be uncovered by water onl}^ during 

 low spring tides. At low springs, therefore, the 

 posts are placed in position, and, being at all 

 other times surrounded, or covered altogether b}' 

 water, serve as suitable places of attachment for 

 the free-floating embryos. In the genial climate 

 of western France, the fixation of the spat usually 

 takes place during February or March. By July 

 each young mussel has grown to about the size of 

 a haricot bean. The first of the series of trans- 

 plantings then takes place to the other bouchots, 

 the piles of which have wattle or basket-work 

 (locally termed clayonnage) thickly intertwined 

 to within a short distance of the ground, (The 

 space of about a foot is left to allow the soft and 

 easily silted mud to pass, without choking up the 

 wattle-work.) The seed is detached from the 

 outer posts by means of long hooks, and is tied 

 up in small bags of old netting. These bundles 

 are then taken by the boucholeur in his mud 

 punt to the second section, where they are placed 



