OF MASSACHUSETTS. 41 



were tested. The results from nearly every bed were excellent, and 

 showed the ease of culture and the great profit which would result if 

 larger areas were thus worked. 



The results obtained from the experiments of the commission alone 

 are sufficient to prove the practicability of quahaug farming, even if 

 there were no other proofs. As it is, there have been many tests made 

 by the oystermen, both outside and inside the State. Some years ago 

 the oystennen near New York realized the possibilities of raising qua- 

 haugs on their oyster grants, and to-day Massachusetts ships many 

 barrels of " seed " quahaugs out of the State to these far-sighted busi- 

 ness men, who reap large returns by replanting these small " little 

 necks." The Massachusetts oystermen have not been slow to realize 

 the large returns afforded by quahaug culture, and some have planted 

 many bushels of the " seed," thus turning their grants into partial 

 quahaug farms. These men have proved that this style of farming is 

 practical, and that as a money-making proposition the quahaug is far 

 ahead of the oyster. 



As affairs exist to-day in Massachusetts, a few men alone have the 

 privilege of raising quahaugs, while the rest stand idle. Theoretically 

 and legally, no one has the right to plant and raise quahaugs in the 

 State; but practically and secretly it is done with great success. Who 

 can blame the oysterman for raising quahaugs with his oysters, in 

 view of the fast-declining quahaug industry? Rather by so doing he 

 is helping perpetuate the natural supply. The objection to this pres- 

 ent system of secret quahaug farming is its unfairness. A few men 

 are enjoying the privileges that many others should likewise enjoy. 

 There is plenty of room, and quahaug farming might as well be carried 

 on openly, to the benefit of all. 



"While the oystermen have made a move toward general quahaug farm- 

 ing, and have shown the great possibilities that this system possesses, 

 the quahaugers have also exhibited a tendency in a similar direction. 

 The originators of the town law in Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet, 

 which provides for the leasing of 5,625 square feet of flat for bedding 

 the catch, and thus makes possible the advantage of a favorable market, 

 probably did not imagine that this was .the first great step on the part 

 of the quahaugers towards shellfish farming. The success of this scheme 

 has here opened the eyes of the intelligent quahaugers to the even 

 better possibilities of quahaug culture, and any well-devised scheme 

 of shellfish farming will be favorably received. 



The main impulse that makes people turn to quahaug culture is the 

 steady decline of the industry, especially during the last few years. In 

 the previous pages of this report there have been shown: (1) the 

 actuality of the decline; (2) the causes of this decline. The proof of 

 the decline is so generally apparent that it has created a popular de- 

 mand for a fair system of quahaug farming, to check the diminution 

 of the present supply. 



