REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 139 



Following - is a comparative exhibition of the results of the clam 

 fishery in each State during- all the years for which figures are at hand: 



Comparative statement of the yield of clams in the New England States during a series of 



years. 



Maine: 



1880 



1887 



1883 



1889 



1892 



.\i \. Hampshire: 



1880 



1887 



1888 



1889 



1892 



Massachusetts : 



1880 



1887 



1888 



1889 



1892 



Rhode Island : 

 1880 



1SS7 



1888 



1889 



1892 



Connecticut: 



1880 



1887 



Soft clams. 



Bushels. Value 



318, 

 608, 



COO, 

 595, 

 410, 



17, 



158, 

 230, 

 243, 

 210, 

 191, 



53, 900 



1889.... 

 1892.... 

 Total: 



L880 ... 

 1887.... 

 1888.... 

 1889.... 

 1892.... 



26, 

 26, 

 20, 

 23, 



623, 

 892, 



902, 

 895, 

 667, 



$101,808 

 228,490 

 227, 665 

 200,761 

 157,431 



8, 9S0 

 140 

 150 

 150 



975 



70, 195 

 121,202 

 127. 8:sS 

 137,711 

 133,529 



48, 504 



25. 030 



030 



32, 175 

 45,222 



38, 000 

 25,370 



24, 270 



24, 900 



25, 320 



273, 547 



.10,1. _•.;■.; 

 409, 953 

 395, 997 

 302. 477 





Bushels. Value 



11,050 

 35, 540 



20. 105 

 16,913 



42,000 



19,215 

 33, 029 

 29, 050 

 19,950 



49,250 



18, 887 

 18, 907 

 21,302 

 17, 120 



102,300 



73,012 

 78,101 

 07, 925 

 91,893 



$5, 525 

 21,303 



12, 549 



15, 099 



28. 075 



20,275 



20. 475 

 18,077 

 18,729 



21, 114 

 18,336 



70,000 

 55,739 

 61,620 



59, 263 



Total. 



Bushels. Valui 



608,780 

 600, 075 

 5 '5, 105 

 416,806 



17, GOO 



280 



300 



300 



1,050 



109, 070 

 200, 199 

 269, 942 

 257,744 

 246, 746 



•15,010 

 63,854 

 63, 025 



53, 900 



121,25o 

 15, 622 

 45,482 

 47,722 

 40,90 I 



72G, 229 

 905.921 

 980,253 

 963,896 

 759, U 2 



$101,808 



228,4911 

 227,065 

 200.701 

 157,431 



8,980 

 140 



1 50 



150 

 975 



81, 720 



1 12,51.5 

 I ,2. 00i) 

 150,200 



40, 729 

 58, II 5 

 58,075 



05, 497 



07,475 

 44,oi7 



46,014 



343 Hi'i 



455.971 

 471.579 

 455, 260 



402, 889 



The question of artificially raising- clams has received but little 

 consideration; the following note of Mr. Ansley Hall, field agent, on 

 the inception of clam-culture at Essex, Mass., will therefore prove of 

 interest: 



I found quite an interesting feature in connection with the clam fisheries at Essex, 

 Mass., in the shape of clam-culture. In 1888 an act was passed by the legislature 

 authorizing the selectmen of the town to stake off in lots of 1 acre or less each of 

 the flats alongthe Essex River and let them to persons desiring to plant clams, for a 

 rental of $2 per acre or lot for five years and an additional fee of 50 cents. Thus 

 far 37£ acres Lave been taken up and seeded with clams. Small clams are dug on 

 the natural beds and planted on these hitherto unproductive flats. Mr. J. Bennetl 

 Fuller states that about 500 bushels are required to plant an acre properly. During 

 the first two years (1889 and 1890) the people were slow to avail themselves of the 

 privilege of planting, for fear that after they had spent their time andlabor they 

 would not be able to secure protection from trespassers. But in 1891 and 1892 lots 

 were obtained and planted. The principal difficulty encountered has been the loss 

 of the (dams by the sand washing over them, the bottom in some localities beingsoft 

 and shifting. In 1892thero were 25 acre-: that were quite productive, about one-third 

 of the entire catch of the seel ion being obtained from them. The catch from these 

 lots is not definitely known, but is estimated at aboul els. 



The cultivated (dams possess some advantage over the natural growth from the 

 fact that they are more uniform in size and are as large as the besi of the natural 



