CIVIC PROBLEMS RELATING TO MOLLUSKS 277 



gather in solid masses in tide pools, a single find of this sort often suf- 

 ficing to plant acres of barren beach at almost no cost. Antiquated and 

 utterly destructive beach laws and customs, remains of piracy, are keep- 

 ing barren and totally unproductive thousands of acres of New England 

 beaches and flats that might, under enlightened civic management, be 

 yielding per acre from $300 to $500 worth, or more, of these delectable 

 mollusks. These places are not adapted to the culture of either sea 

 mussels or oysters. 



Hard, or little-neck, clam (quahog) Venus mercenaria. As relations 

 now stand, Venus ranks second in commercial importance among the 

 Atlantic-coast mollusks. It is par excellence the chowder clam of the 

 country, and when young it is also relished on the half shell. In range 

 Venus is a southern form, thus supplementing Alt/a. The two overlap from 

 Cape Cod to South Carolina, and from the Chesapeake southward and 

 through the Gulf of Mexico Venus lives in enormous beds, unknown 

 and consequently unutilized. This clam has short siphons (whence the 

 name "little-neck "), and buries itself only about the depth of its shell. 

 It supplements the oyster in marine aquiculture, growing best on soft, 

 muddy bottoms from between tide lines out to water ten fathoms or 

 more in depth. 1 



Scallops Pecten irradians and P. magellanicus. Epicures have assured 

 us that "the scallop is the daintiest of all foods the waters produce." 2 

 The smaller pecten, 7-*. irradians, occurs in the shallow, eel-grass waters 

 south of Cape Cod, down the southern Atlantic, and in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. While piratical methods are exterminating it from its north- 

 ern range, farther south there are quantities, totally unknown and 

 unutilized, which might support profitable fisheries. 



The northern, or "giant," scallop (P. magellanicus') lives in water 

 from 40 to 60 fathoms deep, over rocky bottoms difficult to dredge, which 



1 Kellogg figures the crop from an acre, one year after planting with small 

 seed little-necks, at 600 bushels, worth at least $3 per bushel, that is, $1800, 

 the net profit being probably about $1000. ff Present prices for this baby 

 clam are high, the clammer sometimes receiving four dollars a bushel for 

 his catch, while one who orders them on the half shell at a Boston or New 

 York restaurant pays for them at the rate of fifty dollars a bushel. "- 

 KELLOGG, Shellfish Industries, p. 229 



2 Demurrer filed in favor of Mytilus, taken in prime condition and fried 

 or roasted brown in cracker crumbs. To make a practical test and settle 

 this controversy, have both scallops and mussels prepared alike and served 

 lit a biology-class banquet. Decide by ballot at end of banquet, and print 

 result, with discussions that may arise, in local papers. 



