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Part III. — -Seventh Annual Report 



Binny may be regarded as a peninsula joined on to the Basin by the 

 Briggs of Binny. Mussels thrive very well on it, so long as they are in 

 what the mussel gatherers called the 1 seed ' condition, but the adults will 

 not attain any great size on it. 



On the east side of the Briggs of Binny two experimental bouclwts have 

 been erected. 



2. Broad Water Bank. — This is Messrs Johnston's best mussel growing 

 bank, and lies between the Southesk on the south and the Steinschell Burn 

 on the north. It is separated from the West Steinschell Bank by a connect- 

 ing branch of the Southesk and Steinschell Burn, and the eastern point 

 of it, as marked on the map of the ordnance survey, is now lopped off by 

 a small hollow, and called by Messrs Johnston's foreman, Bob Millers Bank. 

 The soil here is sandy gravel with a thick coating of mud overlying it. 

 Its upper end is opposite the middle of the Guano Bank, and it stretches 

 as far eastward as the lower end of the Big Bank. In length it is 500 

 yards, and its greatest breadth is about 300 yards. The mussels are 

 transferred to it from such banks as the West Steinschell and the Sticks 

 Burn, the particular bank selected depending on the relative abundance of 

 the mussels on each. When we visited the bank in March 1889, it was 

 in good condition for laying down mussels upon it, as most of it had lain 

 fallow for the past one and a half years in order that the surface of it 

 might be worn down. When mussels of an inch and a half are laid down 

 on it they soon attain a length of two inches, and become well filled. 



3. R. Miller's Bank. — This is a bank of sandy gravel, and formerly was 

 in continuation with the Broad Water Bank. Seed is taken off the upper 

 corner of it, but otherwise it is not fruitful at present. 



4. Sticks Burn Bank. - The ground of this bank is all clay and very 

 soft. The extent of the bank utilised as mussel growing ground is about 

 450 yards long and 250 broad. The Sticks Burn flows between it and 

 the West Steinschell Bank, and the Southesk divides it from the Guano 

 Bank on the east ; mussels have been transplanted to it for the last ten 

 years, but in order that they may come to maturity, it is necessary to 

 transfer them to the Broad Water Bank. 



5. West Steinschell Bank. — The mussel carrying ground to the west of 

 the Steinschell Burn extends from Dronner's Dyke in a curve to the head 

 of the Sticks Burn. At Dronner's Dyke the mussel area is 10 yards 

 broad, gradually increasing till it is half a mile opposite the mouth of 

 Steinschell Burn. The bottom is entirely of clay and is very soft. The 

 manager of the beds has had the whole of this vast area filled with 

 mussels, but he regards it only as a reservoir to store mussels till they are 

 required for transference to the Broad Water Bank or the bed of the 

 Steinschell Burn. The mussels take too long to grow as the bank is too 

 high. The mussel manager by planting mussels close to the edge of the 

 Steinschell Burn has diverted the course of that Burn more to the eastward, 

 and has added a strip of 50 yards broad to the Bank within the last 

 thirty years. The consequence is that a corresponding breadth of 50 

 yards has been taken off the eastern side of the river bank. 



6. East Steinschell Bank. — The gravelly ground immediately below 

 Dronner's Dyke, and to the eastward of Steinschell Burn, was covered in 

 1887 with mussels, which were taken from the bed of the river. At the 

 lower or south end the breadth is about 20 yards, gradually increasing to 

 about 200 yards beneath Dronner's Dyke. The length of the ground is 

 about 400 yards. Although the mussels have lain for two years there is 

 no preceptible increase in size. As the mussels don't succeed on this 

 experimental bank the manager thinks they must be shifted soon. 



7. Scaud Man's Head Banks. — The gravelly, sandy, and muddy ground 



