68 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



Next to the sorting table lies the clam mincer, which is a large food 

 chopper operated by electricity. The large dark clams, used for 

 chowder and canned minced clams, are minced in this machine. The 

 potato peeler is situated next. After peeling, the potatoes are diced 

 by hand as are the other vegetables. Onions and seasoning are also 

 prepared by hand. 



The various cookers, retorts, filling machines, capping machines, 

 etc., are similar to those used in any modern vegetable or fruit can- 

 nery. The chowder is cooked in a 400-gallon glass-lined iron cook- 

 ing pot and is kept stirred by a glazed propeller that reaches nearly 

 to the bottom of the pot. The canned whole clams are cooked in six 

 large steam retorts, each of which has a capacity of 900 No. 2 cans. 

 After the canned product has been cooled in a tank of water the cans 

 are labeled, packed in boxes, and brought to the opposite end of the 

 building for shipment. The cases of clam products leave the canneiy 

 on a ball-bearing declined roller track which delivers them to a 

 freight boat to be carried to Key West for shipment via coastwise 

 steamship. 



The State of Florida levies various taxes on the catching and pre- 

 paring of clams. Besides a tax of 2 cents per barrel on all clams 

 removed from the waters of the State, taxes are payable each year 

 on runboats, dredges, process kettles, etc. The shellfish laws are 

 published in booklet form, and are obtainable from the shellfish 

 commissioner, at Tallahassee, Fla. 



The clam resources of southern Florida can bear considerably 

 more fishing. The chief drawbacks at the present time to the further 

 utilization of the product and the expansion of the industry are the 

 inaccessibility of the beds to transportation lines and their remote- 

 ness from northern markets. 



In the Northeastern States the quahaug has been gradually declin- 

 ing in abundance and rising in value. Along our North Atlantic 

 coast the small clam beds have been far from adequate to keep pace 

 with the ever- increasing demands for this popular mollusk in the 

 fresh state. The large clam beds of the Ten Thousand Islands, Fla., 

 however, are practically virgin and await development. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY.* 



FISHES AND FISHERIES. 



Adams, A. C, and William Converse Kendall. 



1891. Report upon an investigation of the fishing grounds off the west 

 coast of Florida. Bulletin, U. S. Fish Commission, Vol. IX, 18S9 

 (1891), pp. 289-312. Washington. 

 Babboue, Thomas. 



1905. Notes on Bermudian fishes. Bulletin, Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, Vol. XLVI, No. 7, pp. 107-134, 4 pis. Cambridge. 

 Bigelow, Henry B., and Willl\m W. Welsh. 



1924. Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. Bulletin, U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, 

 Vol. XL, 1924, Part I. Washington. [In press.] 

 Brice, John J. 



1898. The fish and fisheries of the coastal waters of Florida. Report, 

 U. S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, 1896 (1898), pp. 20.3- 

 342. Washington. 



" This biljliograjjhy was prepared to include those publications that relate directly to 

 the Florida, fisJieries or that will serve a useful purpose in amplifying the informatipn 

 given in this paper. 



