42 MUSSELS OF CUMBERLAND RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES. 



Table op Gravid Specimens of Mussels Found in the Cumberland, 1911. 



PEARLS AND PEARLING IN THE CUMBERLAND. 



Just when pearling began on the Cumberland there is no definite 

 record. It has been in operation quite steadUy on the upper river 

 for at least 20 years. It is not generally carried on actively the year 

 round, but chiefly in August and September, when the water is low. 

 There are few professional pearlers, however; that is, men who devote 

 their entire time to the gathering of pearls. Most of the pearling is 

 carried on by farmers at odd times, and by men who in the winter 

 devote their energies to lumbering, chopping, or trapping. 



Hunting for pearls is confined mostly to the upper river and the 

 tributaries. It seems that the conditions suitable for pearl formation 

 are more abundantly fulfilled in small streams. 



The first sign of active pearling operations seen by the present 

 survey was encountered about Burnside. The search for pearls 

 extended above the town as far as Seven Mile Shoals and downstream 

 as far as Celina, and less actively to Carthage and beyond. A short 



