Preface v 



fields on our shores, no connected account of which has 

 been published so far as I know. So I have given con- 

 siderable space to the history and present condition of 

 our oyster territory, and have ventured some suggestions 

 concerning its future development. 



The chapters on the life history of the soft clam, Mya, 

 the conditions governing its growth, and on clam culture, 

 constitute an account of my own work begun in 1898 at 

 a time when practically nothing was known concerning 

 the biology of the form except through analogy. This 

 work was suggested by Dr. H. C. Bumpus, now Director 

 of the American Museum of Natural History of New 

 York, for the United States Fish Commission. In 

 Rhode Island, successful experiments on the growth of 

 Mya have also been carried on by Professor A. D. Mead. 

 The short account of the growth of the hard clam, Venus, 

 is also from observations that I published in 1903. Sev- 

 eral facts concerning the life histories and growth of the 

 soft clam, hard clam, and scallop have been supplied by my 

 friend and former pupil, Mr. D. L. Belding, Biologist of 

 the Massachusetts Fish and Game Commission, who has 

 had these forms continually under observation since 1905, 

 and who has experimented on a very large scale. Some 

 of these facts Mr. Belding has not yet published. Some 

 observations by Mr. J. R. Stevenson, another of my 

 pupils, have been quoted. 



The attempt has been made to present the great possi- 

 bilities of clam culture, and to call attention to legislative 

 changes that are necessary to inaugurate it. Biological 

 knowledge assuring its success is at hand, while many 

 thousands of acres in New England entirely adapted to it 

 now lie barren and unproductive. It would be fortunate 

 if by some means there might be extended to other parts 



