OF MASSACHUSETTS. 211 



Wellfleet coast, offers some protection from northwest winds, and the 

 hills of the Cape break the force of the easterly gales; but the full 

 force of storms from the west and southwest sweeps these bars, and 

 would seem to render them unsuitable for the growth of clams. Clams 

 are here, however, in considerable numbers, though not so numerous 

 as three or four years ago, and are dug to some extent. 



The greater part of the digging is done by intermittent clammers, 

 who obtain perhaps 2V 2 bushels per day. No permits are required, as 

 there are no town by-laws regulating the industry. 



Summary of Industry. 



Number of men, 30 



Capital invested, .......... $200 



Value of shore property, 



Production, 1907: — 



Bushels, 3,000 



Value, $3,000 



Total area (acres) : — 



Sand, 125 



Mud, 50 



Gravel, 20 



Mussels and eel grass, 5 



Total, 200 



Productive area (acres) : — 



Good clamming, 25 



Scattering clams, 50 



Barren area possibly productive (acres), ...... 75 



Waste barren area (acres), 50 



Possible normal production, $27,000 



Eastham. 



The town of Eastham is a sparsely settled community, and the clam 

 fishery, while not large, plays a rather important part in its business 

 activity. Six men depend quite largely upon it for a livelihood, while 

 some 30 others dig intermittently through the summer. The same 

 peculiar condition as at Orleans exists on the western coast. Here far 

 from shore clams are found in considerable numbers on the shifting 

 bars. The main source of supply, however, comes from the productive 

 sand flats of Nauset harbor. 



These flats have seeded in only in the -past two or three years, but 

 they have already shown latent possibilities of a future increase. 

 In the so-called " Salt Pond " 2 men are employed nearly the year 

 round in digging clams under water by a method of " churning." locally 

 known as " rootling." 



The total available area in Eastham is about 200 acres. More than 

 half of this is sand, which includes almost all the good digging, while 

 the mud flats are interspersed with stretches of gravel and scattering 

 patches of eel grass. 



