186 THE MOLLUSK FISHERIES 



markedly different in general characteristics. The flats of Newburyport, 

 while few in number, are broad, continuous, and have a great degree 

 of similarity throughout. The flats of Ipswich, on the other hand, 

 are divided into a great number of relatively small sections, widely 

 diversified in character, and scattered along an extensive coast line. As 

 these flats are in many respects the most interesting and important of 

 any town in the State, it seems well to examine them in detail. 



Four distinct divisions can be distinguished in the clam territory of 

 this town: Ipswich River, Plum Island, Green's Creek and Roger 

 Island, and Essex River flats. 



Taken in the order named, the Ipswich River has in itself a great 

 variety of clam ground. Both sides of the river for nearly 3 miles are 

 fringed with bars, mainly of mud though sandy near the mouth. Some 

 of the mud flats are so soft that they are practically barren, or given 

 up largely to mussel beds; while much of the sand, as, e.g., the main 

 portion of the High Sands, is too shifting to be valuable. The larger 

 part of these river flats are, however, productive. 



The Plum Island division comprises Lufkins, Point Peter, Appletons, 

 Foresides and several other minor flats. Of these, Lufkins is very 

 important. It occupies a semicircular depression on the coast of Plum 

 Island, and, owing to its peculiar location, the swift current which 

 flows past its outer edge makes a double eddy at both ebb and flood 

 tide. These eddies sweep gently over its broad surface, and deposit 

 a fine silt which has made the characteristic soil a hard, bluish clay. 

 This is the only important clay flat of this region. The total area of 

 Lufkins is 46 acres. The outer border to the north is mud, becoming 

 soft ; to the south, sandy. The portion near shore is, as has been stated, 

 a clayey soil, and it is here that clams are found abundantly. An ex- 

 ceptionally good set of 1 to 2 inch clams occupies from 3 to 4 acres 

 of this portion. Though clams are numerous, the exceeding hardness 

 of the soil makes digging rather difficult. 



Point Peter, or " P'int " Peter, is also an important flat, comprising 

 altogether 28 acres, though about 7 acres of the outer portion extend 

 far into the current, and are of so shifting and sandy a nature as to 

 be practically worthless. Most of the remainder is mud, varying from 

 sand and hard mud on the outside to soft mud in the creeks that lead 

 into the main land. The central portion of the flat is peculiarly 

 adapted to the culture of clams, however, and is very productive. 



Appleton's flat comprises about 6 acres of hard sand, verging into 

 mud, thickly strewn with old clam shells. It lies at the mouth of 

 Perkins and Pine Creeks, which run for about a mile into the main 

 land of Plum Island, and contain nearly 25 acres each of fairly pro- 

 ductive mud flats. Appleton's is a valuable flat, and the clams dug 

 here are large. 



The Foresides is a thatch island a little over a mile in length, lying 

 in the mid channel of Plum Island Sound. The flats which surround it 



