FAMILY WORKERS. 283 



in to feed with the previous tide. I made Very particular 

 inquiries into the constitution of the farm, and although disap- 

 pointed at not finding it, as I was led to expect, a vast scene of 

 perfect co-operation, I was pleased to learn that, although the 

 bouchots had many owners, there was no violent competition 

 among those who owned them. Some of these mussel-farmers 

 have three or four bouchots, and the very poorest among them 

 have a half, or at least a third share in one. The system of 

 family co-operation prevails very largely ; I found, as in the case 

 of the celebrated wahmt-trees, so often quoted, that one or two 

 families, grandfathers, sons, and grandchildren, were often the 

 owners of several bouchots, which they worked for their joint 

 benefit, dividing the profits at the end of the season. 



The farm occupies a very large space of ground, equal to 

 eight kilometres, and is laid out in four fields or divisions, each 

 of which has its peculiar name and use. There are at least 500 



MUSSEL-STAKES. 



bouchots, and each one represents a length of 450 metres, 

 forming a total wall of strong basket-work, all for the growth 

 of mussels, equal to a length of 225,000 metres, and rising six 

 feet above the mud-bed on which it is erected. 



Great pains are taken to keep the bouchots in good order ; 

 repairs are continually being made; and along the protecting - 

 wall of the cliff by which the bay is bounded, there are to be 

 seen what my guide called the trousseau of the bouchots^- 



