54 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
26 per cent, washboards 8 per cent, and warty-backs and pistol-grips, 
or buckhorns, 7 per cent each of the catch, the balance bemg made 
up of pig-toes, niggerheads, maple-leaves, and monkey-faces. The 
first commercial fishing on this river was in 1910. 
Blue River—Some mussel fishing was done on this river near Beat- 
rice, Nebr., in 1914, a total catch of 55 tons of shells, valued at $770, 
being reported. 
South Skunk River—The 5 fishermen on this river caught 43 tons 
of mussel shells, valued at $602, and $310 worth of pearls and slugs 
from the South Skunk River near Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1914. Some 
shells were taken from the Skunk River proper in 1913, but none in 
1914, 
Shell Rock River—Mussels were taken from this river between 
Marble Rock and Shell Rock, Iowa, the total output, however, being 
only 32 tons, valued at $354, and $210 worth of pearls and slugs. 
Only 6 men were engaged on the entire stream in 1914. One-half of 
the catch was made with forks, and the remainder with hands, crow- 
foot bars, and rakes. The different species were found in the follow- 
ing proportions: Pocketbooks, 47 per cent; muckets, 43 per cent; 
blue-points, or three-ridges, 8 per cent; and a few squaw-foots. No 
shelling was done on the river previous to 1908. 
Cottonwood and Bourbeuse Rivers —The two remaining streams in 
the region canvassed were the Cottonwood and Bourbeuse Rivers. 
Shells were taken on the former river at Cottonwood Falls, Kans., 
and on the latter near St. Clair, Mo., the combined catch of the two 
rivers amounting to 65 tons, valued at $430, and $60 worth of pearls 
and slugs. 
Statistics of the mussel fishery—Complete statistics for all of the 
mussel-bearing streams of the Mississippi Valley show a total of 
10,331 persons engaged in the fishery, an investment of $540,608, 
and a catch of 51,571 tons of shells, valued at $825,776, together with . 
$376,284 worth of pearls and slugs; the total value of the products 
amounting to $1,202,060. Statistics of the mussel fishery of the 
Mississippi River and its western tributaries from Kansas northward 
for 1914, and of the entire Mississippi Valley in three sections for 
1912, 1913, and*1914, respectively, are given m the following tables: 
