322 Our Food Mollusks 



the name " hard clam " is readily understood when one 

 examines the thick, heavy shell. 



Though often found between tide lines, the hard clam 

 occurs in greater numbers in deeper water, where it is 

 continually submerged. In many localities in which con- 

 ditions are favorable, it grows at a depth of at least 

 fifty feet, and the outer limit of its distribution is prob- 

 ably considerably farther. It burrows into the bottom, 

 but only deep enough to cover the shell. It is found in 

 sand, but more often where there is considerable mud. 



A primitive method of finding these clams was " tread- 

 ing " or feeling in the mud for them with bare feet. It is 

 very slow work, unless clams are numerous and the water 

 shallow. The fishing is usually done from boats. In- 

 frequently oyster tongs or dredges with long teeth are 

 used, but the implement commonly employed is a large 

 rake' with long steel tines. The handles of these rakes 

 are sometimes sixty feet long for use in forty or fifty feet, 

 of water. To operate such a rake requires immense 

 muscular strength, but on many parts of the New Eng- 

 land coast, where the fishing is done, irregularities of the 

 bottom prevent the use of dredges. 



For many years quahaugs have been cooked and mar- 

 keted in cans, and there is a large demand for them in 

 the form of canned chowder. At one time an effort was 

 made to market their dried and granulated flesh. It was 

 said that this material, convenient in form for soups and 

 chowders, had much merit, but it failed to find favor. 

 During the last few years there has been a rapidly in- 

 creasing demand for small individuals to be eaten, with- 

 out cooking, from the half-shell. In restaurants and 

 hotels these are called " little necks." 



Venus will live out of water very much longer than 



