FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1929 757 



per cent of the total quantity and 48 per cent of the total value. The 

 shells taken in Louisiana, as well as those in California, are mainly 

 from reefs containing deposits of many thousands of tons of dead 

 oyster shells. Whole and crushed shells are often used for road-building 

 purposes, although crushed shells are used mainly for poultry feed, and 

 the shell dust resulting from the crushing operation is sold as lime. 

 The value of the production in 1929 was somewhat greater than the 

 average for the years 1921 to 1928, although the production has 

 remained fairly constant throughout this period. 



Production of oyster shell products, 1929 



states 



Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Penn- 



sylvanii 



New Jersey 



Maryland- - 



Virginia, North Carolina, and South 



Carolina 



Florida and A labama 



M ississippi 



Louisiana, Texas, and California 



Total 



Crushed oyster shell 

 for poultry feed 



Tons 



6, 947 

 8,073 

 41,908 



28,4^7 

 16,427 

 27, 670 

 132, 780 



262, 232- 



Value 

 %1\,1H) 

 77,2^3 

 319,991 



266, 173 



112,349 



202, 132 



1, 174, 145 



2, 223, 853 



Oyster-shell lime 



Tons 

 1,990 

 2,258 



20, 217 



I 25, 378 

 4,180 

 4,518 

 13, 9t3 



Value 

 $9, 176 

 9,576 

 54,444 



179, 184 

 9,445 

 4,418 

 34, 403 



72, 534 



300, 646 



Total 



Tons 

 8,937 

 10, 331 

 62, 125 



53, 805 

 20, 607 

 32, 188 

 146, 773 



■334, 766 



Value 

 $80, 956 

 86, 859 

 374, 435 



445, 357 



121, 794 



206, 550 



1,208,548 



2, 524, i 



' Of this amount, 13,545 tons valued at $115,474 were reported as "burned" lime. 

 Production of oyster-shell products, 1921 to 1929 



FRESH-WATER MUSSEL-SHELL PRODUCTS 



In 1929 statistics of the fresh-water mussel shell industry were 

 obtained for the first time in connection with the canned fishery 

 products and by-products survey. The value of the products of this 

 industry amounted to $6,144,515. Of this value pearl buttons alone 

 accounted for 94 per cent. The remaining 6 per cent consisted of 

 crushed shell for poultry feed, lime, cut shells, stucco, and colored 

 shell and colored shell chips used for decorative purposes. The total 

 production of finished pearl buttons amounted to 20,205,073 gross 

 valued at $5,795,863. The production in Iowa alone accounted for 

 67 per cent of the quantity and 71 per cent of the value of the buttons. 

 Iowa also accounted for the greater portion of the production of other 

 products. 



Mussel shells utilized in the above production amounted to 54,352,- 

 000 pounds, valued at $1,324,919. Shells were taken in 19 States in 

 the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes region. The larger producing 



