Mussel Culture and the Bait Supply, with Reference More Especially to Scotland (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1895 Excerpt: ...of the bouchot system of mussel cultivation has already been published, but may be retold in a few words. In 1035 1 (Quatrefages, Souvenirs cFun Natural iste; Paris, 1854) an Irish barque was wrecked in the Bay of Aiguillon, near the village of Esnandes. One man, named Walton, survived. He was kindly received by the French fishermen, and lived amongst them for many years. In addition to introducing an excellent variety of cross-bred sheep to the district, by means of the surviving live stock of his ill-fated ship, this man erected traps for the capture of sea-birds and duck, which frequented the mud-flats of the bay at night. Noticing that the piles supporting his nets became coated with mussels, and that these 1 Stated as 1135 by Bertram, 'Harvest of the Sea, p. 410; London, 1865. shell-fish grew to a larger size than those on the shore, this enterprising person set up a hurdle, on which he received spat and reared the mussels for food. From this beginning, the apparatus gradually developed into what is now known as the bouchot, as seen at the villages of Esnandes, Charron, and Marsilly, and at places of less importance in the neighbourhood. Miles of mudflats are now covered by long fences of piles and wattling. The piles consist of stems of trees cut to about 12 feet in length, and averaging about 6 inches in diameter. These are sunk about half their length in the mud at a distance of 2 feet from each other. Until recently, it was customary to arrange these rows of piles in a series of V-shaped structures, the pointed end of the V being directed towards the open sea, so as to minimise the force of the waves, each arm being 200 to 250 metres in length. Professor Herdman,1 reporting on the condition at present existing, states that the V-shaped arrangement ...