In spring, on order to clean it ("le limer"),
the salt marsh is allowed to dry.
1  |
At first, the "oeillets" (5)(the compartments where
the salt is formed) are baled out with a "seisse"
on a tripod. |
2
|
Whatever water remains is cleared with a "bogue"
or "mouillette". |
3 |
The fine layer of silt accumulated during winter in
the "oeillet" is cleared with a "rouable", |
4
|
and the bottom is carefully smoothed cut with a wooden
shovel, a "boguette" (4), which also serves
to clean the small marsh canals called "vies", "tours d'eau" etc... |
|
Refer to the large scale diagram for the circulation
of water in the salt marsh as follows :
"étier" (1) --> "mestière"
(2) --> "fontermain" (3) --> "autermain" (4) -->
"oeillets" (5).
("étier" : canal leading water from the
sea to the salt marsh.
"oeillet" : compartment where the salt is formed.)
In a normal year, harvesting of the salt takes
place from the beginning of July to October. Water moves out of the "saumaison",
in proportion to the water evaporating in the "oeillets". The level is
topped up by small quantities of sea water to the point where saturation
is reached and then crystallization begins. |
5 |
The first salt obtained forms a fine film on
the surface: this is the "viel", fine natural salt which is taken
off from time to time by skimming the water with a "ramasse-viel". |
6 |
Then the heavier grey salt forms itself in the water
at the bottom of the "oeillet". It is brushed with water to wash it with
the help of a "cimauge"(6), and then it is
drawn back against the "tablette" (a small platform between two "oeillets"). |
7 |
The salt is drawn onto the "tablette" with a "surveillant". |
Several hours after, the drained
salt is carried out of the marsh on a wheelbarrow (in former times on a
man's back), or in a "salorge" (a hut made of earth or wood), or is made
into a large cone-shaped pile, the "tesselier" (or "toissier") which was
covered with a small amount of reeds or earth.
State of the salt industry in the Pays de
Retz (1968).
The comparative figures for active salt
production speak for themselves :
1711: 34000 salines
1968: around 20 salines, nearly all at Bouin.
Causes of decline :
- competition from salt mining.
- irregularity of the salt harvest sometimes
nil.
- above all, the depopulation of the countryside. |
