OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



47 



Dredging. So far as known, dredging is never used in quahauging 

 in Massachusetts, although it is sometimes used on sea-clam beds. It has 

 been tried, but without success, chiefly because of the uneven nature of 

 the bottom. The invention of a suitable dredge is necessary, and there 

 can be little doubt that in the future, if this difficulty is overcome, 

 dredging will be used in the quahaug fishery. In 1879 Mr. Ernest 

 Ingersoll reports in Rhode Island the use of a quahaug dredge similar 

 in structure to our rake. Evidently this form was never especially 

 successful, possibly because these dredges could not be dragged by 

 sail boats. 



Outfit of a Quahauger. The implements and boats used in qua- 

 hauging have already been mentioned. The outfit of the average 

 quahauger in each fishery is here summarized : 



Deep-water Quahauging. 



Boat, 



2 rakes 



3 poles 



$300 

 20 



Shallow-water Quahauging. 



Boat, 



Tongs or rakes, .... 

 Baskets 



$25 



Season. The quahaug fishery is essentially a summer fishery, and 

 little if any is done during the winter. The season in Massachusetts 

 lasts for seven months, usually starting the last of March or the first 

 of April, and ending about the first of November. The opening of the 

 spring season varies several weeks, owing to the severity of the weather ; 

 and the same is true of the closing of the season. 



As a rule, the Buzzards Bay industry, where digging is done in the 

 shallow waters of protected bays and coves, using short rakes and tongs, 

 has a longer season than the quahaug industry of Cape Cod, where the 

 fishery is carried on in deep and open waters. With the former, the 

 cold work and hardship alone force the quahaugers to stop fishing, a 

 long time after storms and rough weather have brought the latter in- 

 dustry to an end. 



The actual working days of the deep-water quahauger number hardly 

 over 100 per season, while those of the shallow-water fishermen easily 

 outnumber 150. The deep-water quahaugers daily earnings are two or 

 three times the daily wages of the shallow-water quahauger, but the 

 additional number of working days in part make up this difference. 



The quahaug season can be divided arbitrarily into three parts: (1) 

 spring; (2) summer; (3) fall. The spring season lasts from April 1 

 to June 15, the summer season from June 15 to September 15, and the 

 fall season from September 15 to November 1. These seasons are 

 marked by an increase in the number of quahaugers in the spring and 

 fall. The men who do summer boating quahaug in the spring before the 

 summer people arrive, and in the fall after the summer season is over. 

 The opening of the scallop season, in towns that are fortunate enough 

 to possess both industries, marks the closing of the quahaug season. 



