OF MASSACHUSETTS. 75 



actually the town gains nothing in the quahaug fishery, as Orleans has 

 practically no productive grounds on the bay side, and the Orleans 

 quahaugers fish in the Eastham waters. 



The quahaug territory of Wellfieet comprises about 2,500 acres, and 

 approximately takes up all the harbor, wherever there are no oyster 

 grants, running from the " Deep Hole " between Great Island and In- 

 dian Neck southward to the Eastham line. Outside of these limits a 

 few quahaugs are found on the flats of Duck Creek and along the shore 

 flats of the town. They are more abundant on the north side of Egg 

 Island, where they are taken in shallow water with ordinary hand 

 rakes. The best quahauging is found in the channel extending from an 

 imaginary line between Lieutenant's Island and Great Beach Hill south 

 to Billingsgate. The greatest depth at low tide is 4^2 fathoms and the 

 general average is about 3 fathoms. In this channel are found most 

 of the " little necks," small blunts and small sharps. 



Outside of the oyster grants, quahaugs are found south of Great 

 Island, north of Billingsgate Island on the west side of the harbor, on 

 Lieutenant's Island bar and at the mouth of Blackfish Creek. A few 

 quahaugs, both sharps and blunts, are raked with 25-foot rakes in the 

 shallow water 6 to 8 feet near the beach, usually on a sandy bottom. 



The principal market for Wellfieet quahaugs is New York, though 

 many are sent to Boston and other parts of the country, even to the 

 middle west. Quahaugs have been shaped from Wellfieet to Mil- 

 waukee and arrived in good condition after ten days. 



The annual production is 33,000 bushels, one-sixth of these, 5,500 

 bushels, being " little necks." There were 140 men engaged in the 

 fishery in 1906, and 145 permits were granted in 1907. The average 

 yield for a day's raking is 4 bushels, although an exceptional quahauger 

 can sometimes rake 7 bushels. 



Practically all the raking is done in deep water, with rakes the 

 handles of which are often 47 feet long. Each quahauger has a set of 

 handles of various lengths for different depths of water. Both power 

 boats and " cats " are used here in quahauging, the power boats possess- 

 ing considerable advantage over the sail boat. Thirty-eight power boats 

 and 62 sail boats, both single and double manned, are used at Wellfieet. 



At present there is every indication of a declining fishery. Until 

 the last three years the industry has been steadily on the increase since 

 1894. The maximum production was reached a few years ago, and the 

 industry is slowly on the decline, unless the opening up of new beds 

 gives it a fresh start. Unfortunately, all the quahaugers do not realize 

 the possibility of this seemingly inexhaustible supply giving out, and 

 believe it will continue forever; but any one can see that it is impos- 

 sible for the natural supply to continue when such inroads are yearly 

 made, and that it is only a question of time when the best business 

 asset of the town will become extinct. 



For years there has been an antagonistic feeling between the qua- 



