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bulletin of the bureau of fisheries. 
2 inches in diameter at the larger end. The stakes were trunks of trees, J to i foot in 
diameter and from 12 to 15 feet long, driven into the mud for about one-half their length. 
The meshwork covered the stakes to within 8 inches of the bottom, the space being left 
to allow free circulation of water, so as to prevent the deposition of mud at the base of 
the stakes. Bach horizontal line of branches was tightly woven to the stakes to pre- 
vent slipping up or down. They were arranged about 20 or more inches apart, because, 
if brought together closer than that, they were apt to collect mud and cause deposits 
that would interfere with navigation and perhaps seriously injure the apparatus itself. 
The length of wings to a buchot at any particular place depended, as now, on the 
nature of the bottom on which they were constructed. At present they occupy about 
one-fourth of the distance between the extreme limits reached by the water at high and 
low tides. In the Bay of Aiguillon they are now constructed about 250 yards long, and 
according to Herdman (1894), who has made an extensive study of this region, are no 
longer arranged in the V form, but in parallel rows about 30 yards apart at right angles 
to the shore. The buchots are practically made up of two divisions, one for collecting 
spat and the other for the growth and fattening of the mussels. 
Five series of buchots may be included in these two divisions: (1) Buchots d'aval, 
(2) buchots batisse, (3) buchots du bas, (4) buchots batards, and (5) buchots d’amont. 
The buchots d’aval are out in the deep water, sometimes 3 miles from high-water 
mark, and are exposed only at the lowest tides. They are composed merely of solitary 
stakes placed about 1 foot apart. They serve to catch the spat and constitute a most 
favorable place for the early growth of the mussels, since it is necessary for the 
young to be protected from long exposure to the sunlight or extreme cold. The spat 
collects on these stakes during February and March. By July the young mussels have 
attained the size of a haricot bean. 
At this time the seed mussels are scraped off the piles by means of hooks fastened 
in a handle, are collected in baskets, and transferred to the next zone of weirs, the buchots 
batisse, toward shore and ordinarily uncovered after high tides. The parcels of young 
mussels are fastened by means of old netting to the branches, where, before the netting 
decays away, they become firmly attached by their byssal threads. When the mussels 
have grown so large as to be crowded on the wickerwork, they are thinned out by removing 
the larger ones to the next higher buchots, and so on from one section to the other, each 
time transferring the mussels nearer the shore. The mussels are attached by the same 
operation already described, but are not wrapped so carefully since their size is such as to 
enable them to be more securely fastened without help of the netting. The work of 
transferringfromone buchot toanother goes on dayand night whenever low tide permits it. 
After about one year’s treatment under these conditions the mussels attain market- 
able size, which is between if and 2 inches in length. Before being offered for sale, those 
that have reached the desired size are transplanted to the highest row of buchots, the 
buchots d’amont. In this location, although left dry twice each day, they thrive well 
and can be easily handled when desired for market. The mussels on these upper rows 
become inured to exposure and consequently keep longer and fresher than those from 
