MASSACHUSETTS: BARNSTABLE DISTRICT. 253 



in May. The stock of tbc company is divided into fifty sftares. One of the stockholders bought 

 the privilege of exclusive fishing in 1SSO, paying at the rate of 40 cents for every hundred alewives 

 taken. 



The eel fishery gives employment every winter to about one hundred men, belonging in 

 Waquoit and East Falmouth. A large proportion of eels taken are caught in Waquoit Bay. 

 About 300 barrels arc shipped to New York annually. 



Quahangs are plenty in Waquoit Bay, and are gathered and eaten by the villagers, but none 

 are shipped. It is estimated that about 500 bushels of quahaugs arc annually consumed by the 

 people of Falnioutli town. At Waquoit there is some business done in "seed" oysters. According 

 to Ingersoll, about 2,500 bushels of these oysters are annually raised here. 



No considerable fisheries arc carried on at East Falmouth except in winter, when about thirty 

 or forty men engage in spearing eels. A few oysters are cultivated here. About 1,000 bushels of 

 seed are annually planted, and about the same amount of oysters sold each year. 



Hatchville is 4 or 5 miles distant from the water, and cannot be classed with fishing villages. 



North Falmouth is a little village of about fifty families. The population is made up princi- 

 pally of retired captains of whaling and merchant vessels and their families. Many of the people 

 arc now farmers. There has never been any fishing business at this point. A few clams are dug 

 and an occasional hook cast for scup or bass. Prior to twenty-five years ago the hills were covered 

 with salt works. 



Very little fishing is carried on at the village of Falmouth. A weir has been in successful 

 operation here for about nine years, which gives employment to three or four men. The principal 

 part of the catch in 1879 consisted of alewives and menhaden, about 00,000 fish of each species 

 being taken. Considerable numbers of flounders, tautog, squeteague, and bluefish were also 

 caught and sent to market. 



Wood's Holl is a small village of about 530 inhabitants, situated in the extreme southwestern 

 portion of Barnstablc County. In addition to the dwellings, it contains several small churches, 

 two or three stores, a meat anil a fish market, and several other small shops. The large factory 

 of the Pacific Guano Company is located here. 



Of the male inhabitants only seven are regularly engaged in fishing, the remainder being 

 employed in the guano factory, in farming and other minor pursuits. The total number of men 

 employed by the guano company is about one hundred, but a large proportion do not belong in 

 the village, and many reside here only a few weeks or mouths. There is one ship carpenter in 

 Wood's Holl, but he finds employment in his legitimate business only at long intervals. Of sail- 

 makers, riggers, caulkers, and other like artisans there arc none. Four men are employed by Mr. 

 Spiudel, during the height of the fishing season, in icing and boxing fish. 



The. boat fishery is carried on by seven men from April until September, inclusive. As soon 

 as cold weather begins the men cease fishing and betake themselves to other pursuits piloting 

 vessels to the guano factory, hunting, &c. Only three species of fish are usually taken, namely, 

 scup, tautog, and sea bass. The total catch of each fisherman is about 15 barrels, or about 2,400 

 pounds. In audition about 0,720 lobsters arc annually taken. 



Two weirs arc employed annually in the southern part of the village, in Buzzard's Bay, and 

 two others further north, in Quamquesset or 'Quisset Harbor. All four are constructed of netting 

 attached to poles, one being arranged after the square model. About twenty men, including those 

 who ice fish, are engaged in the fishery. A great variety of fish is taken, and the proportion of 

 the different species to the total catch varies largely in different years, but the principal kinds are 

 scup, tantog, striped bass, bluefish, and flounders. 



