OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



71 



day. Five to ten years ago as many as 15 barrels were dug in a day by 

 one man, but this is impossible now. Even as it is, the profits are large. 

 The best quahauger in Orleans cleared in 1906 over $1,600, while sev- 

 eral others made nearly $1,400. As at Wellfleet, the Orleans quahaugers 

 receive licenses to replant their quahaugs along the shore, and it is cus- 

 tomary to thus keep them until the New York or Boston markets offer 

 suitable prices. Nearly two-thirds of these deep-water quahaugs are 

 blunts, and perhaps one-tenth of the catch is " little necks." 



(2) Pleasant Bay Industry. About 25 men dig here from ordinary 

 dories, using short rakes and tongs. The average wages are $2 to 

 $3 per day, which is considerably less than the high wages of the Cape 

 Cod Bay fishery; but many more days can be utilized during the year, 

 while the work is much easier and the necessary outlay of capital is 

 slight. Here the quahaugs run about one-half " little necks," and the 

 proportion of blunts is small. 



Little evidence of decline can be seen in Pleasant Bay, where the 

 bed of quahaugs, although raked for a long time, still shows few signs 

 of decrease. On the Cape Cod Bay side the reverse is true, and the 

 supply is gradually diminishing. 



The same town laws for regulation of the quahaug fishery apply 

 for Wellfleet, Eastham and Orleans. (See Wellfleet.) 



The main historical features of the quahaug industry at Orleans have 

 been similar to Wellfleet, the industry lying practically dormant until 

 1894, when it rapidly reached its present production. Unfortunately, 

 but little data can be obtained for comparison of the industry of 1879 

 with 1907. Ernest Ingersoll reports, in 1879 : - 



At Orleans, some few men who go mackereling in summer stay at home 

 and dig clams in winter, getting perhaps 50 barrels of quahaugs among 

 others, which are peddled in the town. 



Comparing the two years by table, we find : 



