PEOTECTION OF FBESH-WATER MUSSELS. 13 



have had one bhiiik cut out, and these were actually cut at a com- 

 mercial i>lant, but the instance was a very rare one and was certainly 

 unprofitable. Even if the manufacturer desired it, the cutters will 

 not handle shells from which only one blank can be cut. since the 

 Avaste of time outweighs the saving of material. 



Consequently all shells less than about 1| inches in length, no 

 matter what the quality, are thrown into the discard. There can 

 he no dijference of opinion as to the fwe wastefulness of taling shells 

 of this size. 



The shells shown in the illustration are not the smallest that could 

 be found. Some shells observed in the fishermen's boats were only 

 one-half inch in the greatest diameter. Out of the water these 

 are entirely without use. The fisherman who saves them, thinking 

 that they add weight to his heap, would doubtless be surprised to 

 learn that he would have to handle several times and clean 200 of 

 such shells to add 1 cent to his earnings, for it would take nearly 

 half a million of them to make 1 ton. 



The shells in the fourth and fifth rows, counting from the top 

 in plate ii, are used at the factories when received, and are some- 

 times particularly favored where the quality is as good as in those 

 from many Arkansas rivers, and the shells will yield two or three 

 blanks of 16 to 20 lines. Such blanks are of a suitable thickness and 

 work up economically besides having a good quality. Some of the 

 shells in these two rows show how blanks of 18, 16, and 14 lines are 

 worked out, a "line " in button measure representing the fortieth 

 part of an inch. 



The use of shells taken between 1| and 2 inches in greatest diameter 

 does not, therefore, like the marketing of those under 1| inches, repre- 

 sent absolute waste, but it does denote relative waste or real short- 

 sightedness from the economic point of view. Shells of this size will 

 average about 30,000 pairs to the ton, while mussels of such a practical 

 size as 2^ inches will average only 15,000. The number of blanks ob- 

 tained from a ton of shelly of the latter size would be just the same as 

 from a ton of the smaller shells, notwithstanding that onlj' half as 

 many shells are handled. We are thus, wlven using the smaller shells, 

 depleting the mussel beds at twice the necessary rate without any 

 corresponding advantage. 



WASTE ILLUSTOATED. 



There is given below a table that will repay careful examination 

 as illustrating the wastefulness of using the small shells. While the 

 figures must be understood to be only approximate, they are based 

 upon careful weights and counts of a number of shells from several 

 localities. The shells were all " niggerheads " and were all obtained 

 after shipment to factories. 



