304 Our Food Mollusks 



mission. The work was done with extreme care, and 

 by expert observers, beds being constructed at many 

 points on the coast and in all sorts of localities. The re- 

 sults of the earlier experiments were completely verified, 

 and as most of the work was done on flats instead of on 

 beaches, were even more favorable. 



The following quotation from the commission's re- 

 port for 1907 gives a general summary of results in the 

 case of a one inch clam : — 



" A 1 -inch clam will grow in one year to a size between 

 2 and 3 inches. Under fairly favorable conditions, with 

 a moderate current, a i-inch clam will increase to 23/2 

 inches, or a gain of 900 per cent, in volume. For every 

 quart planted, the yield in one year will be 9 quarts. 

 For beds without current, i-inch clams average about 

 2 inches, or a gain of 500 per cent. ; i.e., five quarts for 

 every quart planted. Beds under exceptionally fine con- 

 ditions have shown the amazing return of 15 quarts for 

 every quart of i-inch clams planted. Clams increased 

 in these beds from 1 to 3 inches in length. Therefore, 

 by planting clams 1 inch or over, under favorable condi- 

 tions a marketable clam can be produced in one year." 



The growth of Mya has been studied in much more de- 

 tail than that of the oyster. It is, of course, the point of 

 greatest importance to the culturist, and the possibilities 

 of increase under good conditions, as here illustrated, 

 certainly are not overstated. 



Though some practical clammers have seen the value, 

 and more recently the coming necessity, of clam culture, 

 there have been few attempts to practise it, and almost 

 none that have been thoroughgoing. The chief reason 

 for this is that it has been impossible to obtain rights to 

 clam bottoms that would be respected. 



