OF MASSACHUSETTS. 85 



The Industry. 



I. The Methods. The methods of scalloping follow the historical 

 rise of the fishery. As the industry grew more and more important, 

 improvements became necessary in the methods of capture, and thus, 

 parallel with the development of the industry, we can trace a corre- 

 sponding development in the implements used in the capture of the 

 scallop. 



(a) Gathering by Hand. When the scallop was first used as an 

 article of food, the primitive method of gathering this bivalve by hand 

 was used. This method still exists on the flats of Brewster, and often 

 in other localities after heavy gales wagons can be driven to the beach 

 and loaded with the scallops which have been blown ashore. 



(b) Scoop Nets. This hand method was not rapid enough for the 

 enterprising scallopers, and the next step in the industry was the use 

 of scoop nets, about 8 inches in diameter, by which the scallops could 

 be picked up in the water. These nets were attached to poles of vari- 

 ous lengths, suitable to the depth of water. " This method," writes 

 Ingersoll, " was speedily condemned, however, because it could be 

 employed only where scallops are a foot thick and inches in length, 

 as one fisherman expressed it." 



(c) The Pusher. The next invention was the so-called "pusher." 

 The " pusher " consists of a wooden pole from 8 to 9 feet long, at- 

 tached to a rectangular iron frame 3 by IVfe feet, upon which is fitted 

 a netting bag 3 feet in depth. The scalloper, wading on the flats 

 at low tide, gathers the scallops by shoving the " pusher " among the 

 eel grass. When the bag is full, the contents are emptied into the dory 

 and th process repeated. The scallopers who use the " pusher " go 

 in dories, which are taken to the various parts of the scalloping ground 

 and moved whenever the immediate locality is exhausted. This method 

 is in use to-day, but is applicable only to shallow flats, and can be 

 worked only at low tide, where dredging is impossible. It is hard 

 work, and not as profitable as the better method of dredging. This 

 method of scalloping is used chiefly at Chatham, Dennis and Yar- 

 mouth; occasionally it is used at Nantucket and other towns. 



(d) Dredging. The greater part of the scallop catch is taken by 

 dredging, which is the most universal as well as the most profitable 

 method. The dredge, commonly pronounced " drudge," consists of 

 an iron framework about 3 by l 1 /^ feet, with a netting bag attached, 

 which will hold from one to two bushels of scallops. Cat boats, carry- 

 ing from 6 to 10 dredges, are used for this method of scalloping. These 

 boats, with several " reefs," cross the scallop grounds pulling the 

 dredges, which hold the boat steady in her course. A single run with 

 all the dredges overboard is called a "drift." The contents of all 

 the dredges is said to be the result or catch of the " drift." 



