CHAP, ix.] MUSSEL-CULTURE. 415 



growth if transplanted earlier. In the month of July, then, 

 the boucholeurs direct their canoes towards the isolated stakes, 

 bearing the sentence, now developed into the renouvelain, 

 which they detach by means of a hook fixed to the end of a 

 pole. Care is taken to gather such a quantity as they are able 

 to transplant during low water the only time when this 

 operation can be carried on. The semence, placed in baskets, 

 is transported by means of the canoe to the fences of the 

 bouchot batard. The operation of fixing the renouvelain upon 

 the palisades of the bouchot batard is called la batrisse. The 

 semence, enclosed in bags of old net, is placed in all the empty 

 spaces along the palisades until the hurdles are quite covered, 

 sufficient space being left between the bags to admit of the 

 growth of the young mussels. The bags soon rot and fall to 

 pieces, leaving the young mussels adhering to the sides of the 

 bouchot. The mussels by and by attain a large size, and grow 

 so close to each other that the whole fence looks like a wall 

 blackened by fire. 



When the mussels grow so large that they touch and 

 overlap each other, the cultivator thins the too-crowded ranks 

 of the bouchots batard, in order to make way for a younger 

 generation of mussels. The mussels thus obtained are trans- 

 planted and placed on the empty or partially-covered hurdles, 

 and transplanted to the bouchot milieu, which is uncovered 

 during neap-tides. This operation is performed in the manner 

 already described, only the larger size of the mussels renders 

 the use of a net to enclose them unnecessary. The labour of 

 transplanting is continued so long as there remain upon the 

 bouchot du bas any renouvelain fit for being placed on the 

 bouchots nearer the shore. The work must be carried on at 

 all times of the day and night during low water, as that is the 

 only period that the bouchots are uncovered. There is also 

 the labour of replacing and covering with mussels any of the 

 palisades that may have sunk or been broken. 



