814 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [62] 
the shore, for by this time they have acquired sufficient vitality to endure 
frequent exposure to the air. They are fastened in their new positions in 
the same manner as at first, or, perhaps, only saddled upon the branches, 
where theyremain until they have attained a marketable size, which takes 
place in about a year after this last change. At this period, when they are 
strong enough to endure an exposure of several hours every day, they are 
transferred to the high crawls, to give place to the next generation, and 
also to have them at 
hand to supply the de- 
mands of consumers. 
Thanks to this system, 
the reproduction, rear- 
ing, gathering, and 
sale go on simultane- 
ously and without in- 
termission. But it is 
from July to January 
that these transactions 
are carried on and 
== = the mussel is most es- 
Fic. 21.—False crawls (bouchots batards) loaded with mussels. teemed as food. 4 In 
February the spawning season begins, after which they are poor, 
tough, and not desirable. Those mussels are also much superior in 
quality which grow on the upper portion of the hurdles, while those 
which grow close down to the mud are more like the sea-mussels in 
flavor. Such, in afew words, is the history of the industry founded by 
Walton upon the flats of the bay of Aiguillon, an industry which has 
continued to the present time and extended gradually to all portions of 
the bay, occupying an area of 8 kilometers, with a length of hurdles of 
225,000 meters, averaging 2 meters in height, and bringing ease and 
comfort to the surrounding communities of Esnandes, Charron, and 
Marsilly. 
According to M. D’Orbigny, the elder (Les habitants des communes de 
Vanse de V Aiguillon, &c., La Rochelle, 1835), each crawl or double hurdle 
costs for construction 2,049 franes; the demands for labor, supplies, and 
inspection are 1,136 franes, and the production each year from the sale of 
mussels 1,500 franes, making a yearly gain from each crawl of 364 franes, 
upon a yearly capital of 3,185 franes, the legal interest of which at 5 per 
cent. would be only 159 franes. 
It must be admitted that there are few classes of labor where the re- 
turn for capital invested is at the rate of 114 per cent. The methods 
invented by Walton, and imitated by his successors, are so simple, so 
rational, and so well adapted to the nature of the lands occupied, that 
it would be somewhat difficult to find anything to change or improve 
upon. All possessors of emergent lands can thus, by carefully imitating 
these methods, arrive at the same or similar results, and there remains 
