Field. — The Sea Mussel Industry 137 



transplant the mussels from crowded situations to more 

 extensive areas where food is abundant. It is in this 

 manner that mussels are grown for the market in Eng- 

 land and for that reason is often spoken of as the British 

 method to distinguish it from the French or buchot 

 method. The practice is to collect young mussels from 

 salt water and sow them on artificial beds in favorable 

 localities. The best regions for planting are estuarine 

 flats where there is plenty of sand and gravel covered 

 with mud rich in diatoms, infusoria and spores of algae. 

 Care should be taken to avoid planting the beds where 

 they will be uncovered at low tide or subject to the ill 

 effects of floods, gales, shifting sands or frost. 



The advantages of the bed system are being recognized 

 in other countries. It is recommended in Belgium, Scot- 

 land and Norway. Some of the progressive fishermen in 

 this country have recently put the transplanting method 

 into practice with great success in certain regions of 

 Long Island Sound. In one case a fisherman was paid 

 by an oysterman to remove great quantities of mussels 

 which were growing on and about his oyster beds. The 

 fisherman carefully planted them at the mouth of Oyster 

 Bay and three years later dredged them up by the hun- 

 dreds of barrels which he sold in New York at a net 

 profit of $.75 per barrel. For two months he was able 

 to market 100 barrels daily which will indicate the 

 income he was able to derive from this business. It is 

 needless to say that this man is still cultivating mussels. 



The yield from a crop of mussels is something enor- 

 mous and difficult to comprehend. In agriculture corn 

 is considered one of the most prolific and valuable of 

 farm products, producing in maximum 246 bushels to 

 the acre. If marketed at $.75 per bushel the farmer 

 realizes $184.50. However, when compared with a crop 

 of mussels this yield appears small. Estimates for the 

 English beds allow an average yearly production of 108 

 tons per acre, valued at $262.00. Mr. Geo. A. Carman 

 reports that the artificially planted mussel beds in the 

 vicinity of New York produce from 4,000 to 6,000 bush- 



