252 GREAT UTILITY OF THE MUSSEL. 



The little mussels that appear in the spring are called" 

 seeds, and are scarcely larger than small beans till toward 

 the end of May ; but at this time they rapidly increase, and 

 in July they attain the size of a full-grown bean. They are 

 then fit for transplanting and are placed in bags made of 

 old nets, which are set upon the fences that are not quite so 

 far advanced into the sea. The young mussels spread them- 

 selves all round the bags, fixing themselves by means of 

 those silky filaments or threads, called byssus, by which the 

 little animals attach themselves to rocks or other substances. 

 In proportion as they grow or become crowded together 

 within the bags, they are cleared out and distributed over 

 poles lying somewhat nearer the shore, while the full-grown 

 mussels, which are fit for sale, are planted on the beds near- 

 est the shore. It is from this part of the mussel-beds that 

 the fishermen reap their harvests, and every day enormous, 

 quantities of freshly gathered mussels are transported in 

 carts or on the backs of horses to La Rochelle, whence they 

 are sent to all parts of France. 



As an instance of utility, the common mussel maintains 

 the long bridge across the Torridge River, near its junction 

 with the Taw, at the town of Bideford in North Devon. At 

 this bridge the tide runs so rapidly that it cannot be kept 

 with mortar. The corporation therefore keep boats em- 

 ployed to bring mussels to it, and the interstices of the 

 bridge are kept filled with them. The bridge is supported 

 against the violence of the tide by the strong threads of the 

 byssus which these mussels fix to the stonework. 



Closely connected with this subject is that of Oyster farm- 

 ing, which is practiced quite extensively in England and 

 France as well as in our own country- A single visit to the 

 shores of Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Long Island 

 and Connecticut would amaze one who had not given this 

 subject much thought, and convince them that it was a 



