WHERE PEARLS ARE FOUND 41 



mussels "shed" the pearls. The exact cause of these 

 peculiar circumstances is not really known and such con- 

 ditions have not been reported from the pearl fisheries 

 of other States. 



Arkansas has been thoroughly worked and shells are 

 scarce as compared with earlier times. Mr. George S. 

 Glass, of Peoria, Illinois, who took his outfit to Arkan- 

 sas last summer, said that 300 pounds of shells per day 

 was a good catch now in the locality where he worked. 

 Some nice pearls are still found there, however. A let- 

 ter from Mr. John Risley, of Peel, Arkansas, dated Feb- 

 ruary 26th, 1913, stated that he found a 6o-grain pearl 

 in White River last summer. He said the pearl was im- 

 perfect and he sold it to an Arkansas pearl buyer for 

 $500.00. Possibly the defect was a very serious one. 

 It is impossible to tell the value of a pearl without seeing 

 it, but it is to be hoped that he got all the pearl was 

 worth. This is only one of the very many valuable 

 "finds" of the Arkansas pearl fisheries. 



All things considered, Arkansas has been, is now and 

 will probably always be one of the best pearl States. 



Connecticut is not prominent as a pearl State, although 

 about fifteen years ago there was a "pearl fever" near the 

 headwaters of the Mystic River, where a few pearls 

 were found. 



Florida has not been worked. A letter from Mr. J. 

 H. Holmes, a large dealer in marine shells, in Clear- 

 water, Florida, stated that he did not know of any pearl 

 hunting having been carried on in that State. He said 

 the Unios there were small and there were no beds of 



