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Part III. — Ninth Annual B.e'port 
v.— ON BOUCHOT MUSSEL CULTURE AND THE BOUCHOT 
EXPERIMENT AT ST ANDREWS. By J. H. Fullarton, 
M.A., D.Sc. 
The mussel famine which has been felt by the East Coast fishermen 
for the last few years has drawn attention to mussel cultivation, and 
the methods of cultivation, whereby a regular and sufficient crop of 
mussels might be obtained in Scotland for all Scottish wants. Hitherto, 
mussel culture has been carried on only at one or two points on the 
Scottish littoral, but descriptions of how the mussel crop can be in- 
creased, discussions on the methods that should be adopted to effect 
this, and experiments illustrative of the methods to prove or disprove 
allegations as to one or other method, all help forward towards a 
solution. The two methods of increasing, by cultivation, the mussel 
supply are the bed and bouchot methods. The bed system, as carried 
out at Montrose for the past thirty-five years, has been already described 
by my colleague, Mr Thomas Scott, and myself,"^ and I propose now to 
deal with the bouchot system. 
In 1889 the Fishery Board, in order to test the merits of the 
bouchot system, had a bouchot erected in the estuary of the Eden 
under the superintendence of Mr F. Comyn. This bouchot was the 
second that was erected, the first structure on the Leuchars side of 
the Eden having been destroyed by a gale shortly after it was set up. 
Before noticing what has been shown by the bouchot which is still 
standing, further particulars may be given regarding the bouchot system 
as developed on the French coast. 
FRBNcEf Bouchot System. 
The bouchot and bouchot mussel culture are peculiarly French, although 
mussels are also obtained by bed culture \ but it may be said that the 
French system of myticulture is conducted by means of bouchots. The 
Dutch nation, which also rears and sells large quantities of mussels as 
well as oysters, cultivate mussels on the bed system, which is similar 
to the Scottish bed system as seen at Montrose or in the estuary of 
the Eden. In recent years much has been written on bouchots, but 
most of the information given is ancient, and the letterpress and 
drawings of ' Culture des Monies ' in M. Felix Fraiche'sf Guide Pratique 
de VOstreicidteur have been largely borrowed by the writers. Moreover, 
the advocates for the application of the bouchot system to Scotland 
have avoided the financial aspect of the question, and have not com- 
pared the relative costs of bed and bouchot systems. 
The Bay of Aiguillon, situated some miles north of La Rochelle, 
is classic ground, for it was here that bouchots were first constructed, 
and it is here that they are most fully developed. Bouchots are not 
confined to this part of the French coast. I have also visitcid them 
to the north of the embouchure of the Garonne, some distance south 
of Rochefort, but in the latter place the mussel industry is subsidiary 
to oyster culture, while at Aiguillon the mussel reigns supreme. To 
visit the Aiguillon bouchots. La Rochelle is made the starting-point, 
and the centres of the culture are Esnandes, Charron, and Marsilly. 
* Seventh Annual Report of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 
i Librairie Scientifiq'ue, Iridustrielle et Agricole. 15, Quai Malac^uais, Paris. 
