44 MUSSELS OF CUMBERLAND EIVER AND TRIBUTARIES. 



portion, and we saw a number of very good pearls from there. Little 

 River, across from Canton, Ky., is also said to yield numerous pearls, 

 which, however, are rather small. 



Our own observations, as well as the records of people engaged 

 in the pearl trade, indicate that pearling was once an important 

 occupation in the upper river. We saw in many places large piles 

 of shells left by pearlers along the river banks, and came across one 

 party actively engaged in pearling. Mr. Boepple saw a collection 

 of pearls in Rowena valued at SI, 000, and tliis represented only a 

 portion of those found in the \dcinity, since the largest and finest 

 pearls were sent directly to New York. At Butlers I^anding a store- 

 keeper showed us a very pretty collection of "rosebud" pearls, all 

 with a good luster, four of which were purple, five yellowish, and eight 

 white. 



At Clarksville, as mentioned above, we saw some very pretty 

 pearls from Red River. One of the principal merchants at Car- 

 thage buys about $15,000 worth of pearls every year. The highest 

 price he had paid for a single pearl was S2,500. They generally 

 range from $20 to $300. A shell buyer at Paducah, Ky., bought 

 $2,000 worth of pearls during the season of 1910. While genuine 

 round pearls are not common in the lower river, rough pearls and 

 baroques are usually present to the amount of three-fourths ounce 

 per ton of shells. The baroques vary from $2.50 to $3.50 an ounce. 



On account of the ground to be covered and the time at our dis- 

 posal, together with unfavorable weather while on the upper Cum- 

 berland, we did not have opportunity to devote very much atten- 

 tion here to pearl formation, though this region would prove an 

 exceptionally good location from which to attack the problem. In 

 looking over the flesh of some mussels recently killed by pearlers a 

 number of black distomid cysts, similar to those found in the Maumee 

 River (Indiana and Ohio), were observed, and these probably "figured 

 in part at least as an exciting cause. 



A study leading to the discovery and the consequent conserva- 

 tion of the peculiar conditions which favor pearl formation in the 

 upper Cumberland and its tributaries, accompanied with active 

 propagation of the southern mucket in that region, would be highly 

 desirable. The mussels are not yet so nearly exterminated that 

 gravid material can not be readily procured, though it is feared 

 that they soon will be, in view of the active depredations of the pearl- 

 ers. It is believed that mussel planting could be kept well ahead 

 of any onslaught Hkely to occur and that the resulting harvest 

 would 3deld not only an abundance of the very best button material 

 but also a plentitude of pearls, and thus prove a source of much 

 greater benefit than where mussels are reared for the shells alone. 



