The Soft Clam 279 



It is in New England that the soft clam is most prized, 

 and during the cold months it is marketed alive in the in- 

 terior towns as well as on the coast. It does not live long- 

 out of water in warm weather, but in a temperature near 

 the freezing- point, will keep alive for weeks. Near the 

 shore it is eaten during the summer, steamed and baked 

 and in chowders. Immense numbers are cooked and 

 canned, suffering- much less change of flavor in the 

 process than oysters do, and the solid " meats " and 

 chowders thus prepared are shipped to all the northern 

 states. Recently, also, " clam juice," the mucus drained 

 from the bodies of shucked clams, has been canned or 

 bottled, and is widely used as a broth, especially by in- 

 valids, for with most persons it is readily digested, and 

 its flavor is pleasant. 



Exactly as in the case of the oyster, this, one of the 

 most valuable of marine foods, has so nearly approached 

 destruction that it is time to plan for its future produc- 

 tion by artificial means. By aiding nature, the shores 

 have been made to produce more and better oysters than 

 they ever bore when uncared for by man. As yet, clam 

 culture has not been practised on a commercial scale, 

 but for a number of years the preliminary study of the 

 creature's life history and habits has been carried on un- 

 der the auspices of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, and 

 by the state commissions of Massachusetts and Rhode 

 Island, and the result, as was expected, is that a method 

 of culture has been devised and tested, and has proved 

 to be entirely successful. Not only is this true, but it has 

 proved to be very much easier and cheaper to rear the 

 soft clam than the oyster, as will be shown. When the 

 conservative New England states become sufficiently 

 aroused to repeal their antiquated and absurd colonial 



