28 MUSSELS OF CUMBERLAND RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES. 



A few rods below the bar there were several good-sized shell 

 piles left by muskrats, from which we obtained an exceptionally 

 fine lot of butterfly-shells (P. securis). From Martinsburg to Celina 

 there were a few pearlers' piles which increased in size and number 

 of shells as we approached the latter place. 



The Obey River, a tributary from the south wliich enters the Cum- 

 berland at Celina, Tenn., and the Cumberland itself in the vicinity of 

 Celina, were examined by Mr. Boepple in 1910 and again in 1911. He 

 covered the lower 26 miles of the Obey River, beginning at Grass Lot 

 Shoals, where no mussels were found. At Martins Bar a large collec- 

 tion was obtained representing 22 species, of which the southern 

 mucket and the pocketbook were the most abundant. The bottom 

 here was firm coarse gravel. At Holmes Bar 24 species were secured, 

 the southern mucket being still the most abundant. The current was 

 swift and the coarse gravel bottom was covered with a rich vegeta- 

 tion, in which the mussels were- especially abundant. The southern 

 mucket is the only shell in this river worthy of commercial considera- 

 tion, the others being too scarce. JVIr. Boepple estimated that when 

 niggerheads are worth S30 per ton these muckets would be worth $50. 



From 12 to 15 years ago there was considerable pearl fishing on the 

 Obey River, and a local fh'm said that then one could easily get a 

 wagonload of mussels a day. But now the larger mussels are gone 

 and the small ones have only small pearls. Fourteen of these pearls 

 which were examined weighed from 2 to 4 grains each, but were of 

 extra quality. 



In the Cumberland, 1 mile below Celina, there is a fair-sized mussel 

 bed which has been worked for 10 years, entirely for pearls. The 

 most valuable commercial species is still the southern mucket, and 

 this is also regarded as the best pearl bearer. 



Mr. Boepple examined a large bed near Butlers Landing and 

 secured 13 species, but the specimens were all too badly eroded and 

 spotted to have any commercial value. A storekeeper here had a 

 number of pearls which he had taken in trade, and he showed us an 

 assortment of 4 purple, 5 yellow, and 8 wliite ones, of the rosebud 

 type, all of which had an exceptionally good luster. 



About 3 miles below Butlers Landing we found the fh^st pile of 

 commercial shells we had seen, but they were all old shells, since no 

 active clamming had been carried on for two years. There were 6 or 

 7 tons in the pile, most of them of second quality, the Ohio River 

 pigtoe being the most common, with the southern mucket and the 

 Cumberland pigtoe (Q. cooperiana) close seconds. There were fully 

 2 tons of culls, 98 per cent of which were elephant-ears and the purple 

 warty-back. Mr. Boepple secured a fine collection of shells from this 

 bed with the crowfoot dredge, and among them were 3 specimens of 



