242 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



shell product, for it was made from periwinkle shells. 

 Suckawhock had about twice the value of wampun. 

 The manufacture of these belts of beads required an 

 enormous amount of labor. A half-inch of shell was 

 worked down into a cylindrical bead, bored with a 

 drill made of splinters of flint, and then polished with 

 great care. One hundred and eighty beads strung on 

 a sinew and woven on a strip of deerskin with twelve 

 similar rows of beads made a belt of suckawhock or 

 wampun, depending on the kind of beads used in its 

 preparation. These belts of beads were used by the 

 Indians, not only as money, but also for ornamental 

 purposes, keeping records, sealing friendships, and 

 concluding treaties. They were more useful to the 

 Indian than gold and silver are to-day. In early 

 colonial days, the colonists used this shell money as a 

 medium of exchange, giving each belt the value of 

 about five shillings. 



To-day clam shells are worth but little, but the 

 clams themselves are of considerable value. The 

 United States produces annually about ten million 

 pounds of clams, valued at two million dollars. 

 Maine, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Massa- 

 chusetts lead in clam production. Massachusetts 

 alone yields half a million dollars' worth of this shell- 

 fish. 



Four species of clams are of commercial impor- 

 tance in the United States. In Connecticut and the 

 States farther north on the Atlantic coast, more soft 

 clams (Mya arenaria) are taken than hard clams 

 {Verms mercenaria) , From Delaware southward, the 



