18 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 
growth. This bed was the largest upon which we operated, and 
it was exposed only at exceptionally low tides. The fourth local- 
ity was selected because it appeared to be a place where the native 
clam grew with greater rapidity. There was a free circulation of 
clear water, and the soil was of varying consistency, ranging from 
light sand to a deep slimy mud. 
In all the above cases, alternate squares, each containing one 
hundred square feet, were “cultivated,” the soil spaded over to 
the depth of a foot, and all large stones removed. The soil was 
then raked, and by means of a movable frame divided into small 
squares measuring one foot along each side. 
Seed clams were taken from different localities, some from the 
warm water of shallow estuaries, others from the cooler water of 
the coast line, and still others, ‘paper shells,’ from protected 
sandy coves. All the clams, several thousand in number, were 
carefully measured, sorted into sizes, and registered. In trans- 
planting, care was taken to place the clams not always under the 
most favorable conditions, and a record was kept of the exact spot 
in which each clam was placed. In each of the four localities the 
clams were distributed some according to their source, others ac- 
cording to their size, some were crowded together, and others were 
given a superabundance of room. Some were driven deep into the 
mud; others were placed near the surface. Some were placed 
where they would be always covered by the water, and others were 
placed near the high-tide mark. At the end of the season, as a 
further precaution, signs were placed over the beds, prohibiting 
people from molesting them, and there is, up to the present time, 
no evidence that the beds have been disturbed. It is now our 
purpose to leave these beds until the clams have been in their new 
environment for at least a year, when they will be remeasured, 
their rate of growth recorded, and we shall then possess some idea 
as to the feasibility of planting and protecting the young until they 
are of marketable size. 
