FISHERIES OF KEY WEST. 63 



of the mouth of Lossmans River; depth, 3 to 7 feet. Bottom rather 

 hard mud; small broken shells. Clams widely scattered. Dead 

 clamshells were very plentiful. 



IIi</hland Paint. — One and one-fourth miles southwest of High- 

 land Point; depth, 6 feet. Bottom sticky mud; eelgi-ass. Clams 

 abundant. 



Rodgers River. — One and one-half miles west of Rodgers River; 

 depth, 44 feet. Bottom sandy mud. Clams abundant. Two miles 

 southwest of Rodgers River; depth, 5 feet. Bottom sandy mud. 

 Clams fairly abundant. 



Shark Point. — One mile W. by N. of Shark Point; depth, 5 J feet. 

 Bottom sticky mud. Clams scattered. Two and one-fourth miles 

 SSW. of Shark Point ; depth, 5 feet. Bottom hard sand. No clams. 



Along the coast of the Ten Thousand Islands the shore slopes very 

 gradually into the Gulf. At 1 mile offshore the depth varies from 

 4 to 7 feet at mean low tide, and fi»om there to the 5-mile line the 

 slope is about 2 feet per mile. Because of this small depth of water 

 the clams can readily be taken over the entire bar. The offshore 

 part of the bed, however, has never been worked, for clams are to be 

 found in great abundance near shore where the water is very shallow 

 and protection is afforded from the sea. 



The bottom of most of the clam bed is of rather firm gray mud, 

 on top of which is a stratum of silt several inches in depth. Eel- 

 grass thrives in nearly all places where clams are abundant. In 

 most places where this grass is absent few or no clams are present. 



Two methods are used in procuring the clams — hand digging and 

 dredging. No tongs are used in this region, for the clams are too 

 abundant and accessible to require such apparatus. Furthermore, 

 the consistency of the soil, which is a sticky mud, would render tong- 

 ing difficult. 



Digging clams by hand was the sole method used before the advent 

 of the dredge. After the dredge came into use hand digging was 

 resorted to from time to time only when the dredge became tempo- 

 rarily disabled. From 1919 to 1922 considerable hand digging was 

 done owing to frequent breakdowns of the dredge and its inability 

 to supply the two canneries with sufficient clams. During this time 

 from 10 to 15 diggers were employed. They received 40 cents for a 

 5-peck basket' of clams and could dig, according to the individual, 

 from 10 to 20 such basketsful a clay. 



Hand digging can be done at all times except, perhaps, when the 

 tide is at its highest point. The diggers keep pace with the tides, 

 working away fi'om shore during the ebb and toward the shore 

 during the flood. To work with any degree of comfort, the maxi- 

 mum depth of the water should not be much gi-eater than an arm's 

 length. 



The clams are located by wading about in the water, for which 

 reason this method is sometimes called " treading clams." The 

 clams are so plentiful that a digger can work within a small area 

 for days at a time. When a clam is located with the foot it is 

 removed from the mud with a 2-tined fork having a 6-inch handle. 

 Each hand digger is equipped with a small flat-bottom boat, in 

 which the clams are deposited after they are dug. The boat is 



83357°— 24 5 



