46 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



clams in the late afternoon, because, wdth the approach of darkness, 

 the eels, crabs, and other enemies come in shore. We have often 

 sowed them in the water over the beds with good results. 



Tabulated Results of Experiments Upon the Bate of Burrowing 

 Under Different Conditions. — The tables which are here repub- 

 lished are arranged from careful experiments made in the summer 

 of 1900, and subsequent practice in planting has given them 

 general substantiation. 



The clams selected for these experiments were separated into four classes 

 which are given successively in the tables, viz.: 



I. Large, .50-70mm. (2-2f inches) in length; \ 



II. Medium, 3.5-50mm.; / Set of 1899 or 



v previous to 

 III. Small, 25-35mm.; ^ ( that date. 



IV. SmaU set of 1900, 20-30mm. j 



To insure the protection of the clams while exposed, and to prevent them 

 from washing away, boxes with 8-inch sides and i-inch wire mesh bottoms were 

 inverted over the beds. All the clams were sowed on the surface just as the tide 

 was beginning to rise. 



The attempt was made to determine the value of the following conditions for 

 each class of clams: 



a. Sowing clams immediately after digging. 



b. " " kept 24 hours out of water (dry). 



c. " " "24 " in sea- water. 



d. " " in soil softened by previous digging. 



e. " " " not dug up. 

 /. " "in gravel. 



g. " " in sand. 



For convenience in referring to the tables, these letters are placed in the first 

 column. 



An examination of the experiments here tabulated shows some interesting 

 results which may be stated briefly as follows: 



Of the three classes of clams which were more than one year old the smaller 

 specimens were most successful in burrowing, the middle ones next, and the 

 largest clams least successful. The fourth class composed of specimens a few 

 n^onths old were slightly less successful than the third. 



