36 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 
where it cannot be taken by the ordinary method of digging, but 
only by the more elaborate and unusual method of churning. In 
Cole’s river, where, under Massachusetts laws the clams are better 
protected, they are much more abundant than in the neighboring 
Rhode Island estuary,-Kickemuit river, though both are similarly 
situated and the latter has been proved by its past history to be 
a locality as favorable as the other. These facts and others indi- 
cate clearly that the decrease in the clams of the State is due 
mainly to the unlimited and promiscuous digging and not to 
changed natural conditions. 
(5) That frequent digging up of the ground is necessary, or 
that it is even a positive benefit to the clams, by rendering the 
ground soft, is probably a fallacy. The fact that often the finest 
specimens are found in hard, stony ground, or in hard clay flats, 
which are only occasionally exposed to the clam-digger at an unusu- 
ally low tide, and the observations made during the summer upon 
the growth of unmolested specimens, indicate that they grow well, 
at any rate, if left undisturbed. ‘The habits of the animal, in obtain- 
ing food, point to the same conclusion. The food is obtained 
from the water which is taken in through the siphon, and not 
from the soil in which the clam hes. So long as it is well located, 
therefore, and in communication with the water it is distinctly not 
to its advantage to be disturbed, particularly at the risk of being 
buried deep under the mud or left on the surface, a prey to crabs, 
mummichogs, star-fish, and other enemies. Clams less than one- 
half an inch long will burrow very rapidly when they are ex- 
posed on the surface of the mud (if covered by water), but those 
upwards of three-fourths of an inch will often he for along time 
without even trying to burrow, and then are not very efficient in 
getting into the mud. This method of “cultivation,” although 
undoubtedly excellent for apple trees, is not, however, equally 
good for clams. 
(6) . The breeding-season of the clam is at its height in June. 
The exact limits of the period have not been ascertained. The 
eges are extruded in great numbers into the sea-water where they 
