246 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



Since 1898 there has been a falling off in the extent of 

 the industry, so that national and state investigations have 

 been made to determine how the industry may be revived, 

 or even increased beyond its former best output. The 

 outcome of the investigations was to recommend the in- 

 crease of the productiveness of the flats by planting small 

 clams on parts of the flats entirely unproductive, and 

 to determine the time required for small clams to grow 

 to a suitable size for market. From experiments already 

 carried on in Maine and Massachusetts, the practicability 

 of planting unproductive beds has been demonstrated. 

 The rate of growth of the clam, also, has been determined 

 approximately, although that depends somewhat on the 

 character of the flats and the currents of water. The 

 recorded growth of a clam five-sixteenths of an inch in 

 length was to a length of one and one-half inches within 

 a month; a clam two inches long increased to four inches 

 in sixteen months ; a certain number of medium-sized clams 

 increased to more than three times their volume in a year 

 in a bed with practically no current. 1 



In the year of 1902, the yield of soft clams for New 

 England was 777,023 bushels, valued at $395,178. Dur- 

 ing the next three years the quantity of the output fell off 

 to 637,585 bushels, but the value increased to $406,252. 

 The output of quahogs for 1905 was 196,033 bushels, valued 

 at $336,709. Razor clams were worth $1,620. The total 

 value of the New England clam fishery for 1902 was 

 $744,581, ranking sixth in the value of the different fish- 

 eries of these States. 2 



1 Maine Report, Sea and Shore Fisheries, 1905 and 1906; Mass. 

 Report, Fish and Game, 1906, pp. 68-96; Investigation of the Lob- 

 ster and Soft-shell Clam, p. 210. 



2 Fisheries of the New England States for 1902 and 1905. 



