26 INL.\XD FISHERIES. 



larvfe. Tlie explanation of this instinct is doubtless that by stick- 

 ing- to solid objects, such as stones, shells, sea-weed, etc., the young- 

 stand a better chance of surviving- than if they settled indiscrimi- 

 nately to the bottom to be lost in the mud and slime. 



These four facts taken tog-ether sugg-ested the possibility of 

 arrang-ing- an artificial barrier Avhicli would precipitate and hold 

 the young as they are carried ag-ainst it by the tides. 



Of several experiments in this direction one was successful be- 

 yond all expectations. About the middle of May a small box with- 

 out a bottom was placed on the shore at about half-tide mark, and 

 covered with galvanized wire gauze having a mesh the size of 

 mosquito netting. On the 14th of August the box was examined 

 and was found to contain a set of small clams so thick that they 

 practically touched one another. From an area of one square foot 

 1,302 clams were taken, the total bulk amounting to three-quarters 

 of a pint. Some of them were preserved and are photographed 

 natural size in figure 1. Most of them were taken to the house- 

 boat and sowed in a sand-box which was suspended about 18 inches 

 below the surface of the water. The growth was extremely rapid, 

 as may be seen by reference to page 43. 



This result is of especial value from the fact that there were 

 practically no clams to be found in the vicinity of the box, and 

 from the fact that the season was comparatively a poor one for the 

 clam-set. 



If the experiment j^roves all that it promised, the problem of 

 obtaining a supply of seed-clams is solved. There may, more- 

 over, be other and cheaper methods of catching the spat and pre- 

 cipitating a set than that of using wire gauze. In two or three 

 cases a considerable set was caught in sand-boxes which lay on 

 shore uncovered but with sides projecting above the surface of 

 the sand on the inside as well as on the outside, and in one of the 

 land tiles which projected a few inches above the surface 13 clams 

 of this year's set were found (the tiles Avere only 2 or 3 inches in 

 diameter). Further experiments will be tried during the coming 

 season. 



