BIOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY 181 



seed clams planted per acre is considered sufficient (Kellogg, 1900-a). 

 Belding was able to obtain a yield of eight quarts of clams for every quart 

 of seed clams planted. 



Protection of the small clams against enemies and adverse weather is a 

 vital factor in farming, but little can be done other than selecting locations 

 for beds in sheltered areas. The young clams are most vulnerable before 

 they bury themselves. Oyster drills and snails, crabs, horseshoe crabs, and 

 starfish destroy small clams. Skates and sting rays excavate clams from the 

 beds. The writer found the stomach of a sting ray from Delaware Bay to 

 contain about a cupful of Mya siphons. Bottom feeding fish may devour 

 numerous small clams before the latter bury themselves. There has been 

 some concern in northern areas over the destruction of young clams by 

 ducks feeding on the flats. 



Clams are at depths from a foot to two feet below the surface and are dug 

 by hand labor, raking or digging. Mechanical means might be devised if the 

 industry were expanded sufficiently to demand more efficient methods. The 

 soft, fragile shells require careful handling and present an additional prob- 

 lem in employing mechanical devices. 



Clams are marketed either in the shell or as shucked meats. A bushel of 

 soft clams will yield about 16 pints of meat. 



DISCUSSION 



Although soft clams have never been harvested in marketable quantities 

 from North Carolina, this fact should not discourage the investigation of 

 such a possibility. Scattered clams are found throughout some of the areas, 

 and extensive beds of these clams may exist. They are dug for home con- 

 sumption by persons living along Core Sound and Bay River and at Ocra- 

 coke. At least one bed of soft clams of unknown size exists in Bay River. 



Where there are tides clams are generally found in the intertidal zone 

 on flats and beaches. A difficulty in Pamlico Sound is that it is practically 

 devoid of tides; any beds that exist are below water and the clams are not 

 so easily dug, nor by the same methods, as they are on mud flats at low 

 tide. In the regions adjacent to the inlets where a rise and fall of tides 

 occurs, a simple survey of the exposed flats would readily determine the 

 presence of these clams. 



The decline and scarcity of soft clams in the New England states has 

 stimulated research and appropriation of funds for rehabilitation of this 

 resource. An economic result of the decreased supply has been a higher price 

 for clams. The presence of native clams may be an indication that clam 

 farming could be successfully carried out in North Carolina and should be 

 investigated. The establishment of successful soft clam farming would 



