BOUCHOT SYSTEM OF CULTURE 73 



the wattling ; at Tain one bouchot was covered 

 by shifting sand and another stood for ten years 

 without yielding much result — the positions 

 chosen for the erection of the posts having been 

 unfortunate ; at Inverness the result was also 

 counted unsatisfactory, and the expense in hand- 

 ling the mussels prohibitive ; at Montrose, on the 

 beds of Messrs James Johnston and Sons, the 

 bouchot was not found to work with great advan- 

 tage, trouble being experienced through the shell- 

 fish falling off the laths which were used instead 

 of branches. Mr. James Johnston, however, in his 

 evidence before the Mussel Commission, seems to 

 regard the bouchot with some favour as a supple- 

 mental method of collecting seed. The bouchot 

 erected in the Eden by Mr. Comyn had, unfor- 

 tunately, but a short existence, on account of a 

 gale and heavy flood. The writer, while cruising 

 in St. Andrews Bay, picked up some of the 

 wreckage. The experiment was, I believe, in part 

 successful, and if the model structure had been 

 driven into the ground with sufficient force, might 

 have gone far to show the result of this method of 

 culture on our coast. Professor M'Intosh had 

 previously experimented on the Eden beds in 

 a similar manner, by erecting branches at various 



