OF MASSACHUSETTS. 215 



Total area (acres) : 



Sand, 400 



Mud, 



Gravel, ........... 



Mussels and eel grass, 



Total, 400 



Productive area (acres) : 



Good clamming, .......... 



Scattering clams, 



Barren area possibly productive (acres), 200 



Waste barren area (acres), 194 



Possible normal production, $21,000 



Chatham. 



Chatham can no longer be considered as the best clam-producing town 

 of southern' Massachusetts. In 1879 Chatham produced a greater 

 quantity of soft clams than all the rest of the Cape; to-day all has 

 changed, and the annual output is far less than several other towns of 

 the Cape district. 



The town of Chatham is situated in the southeastern portion of Cape 

 Cod, and includes that part which is commonly called the " elbow " of 

 the Cape. It is surrounded on the north, east and south sides by the 

 ocean, while on the south the peninsula known as Monomoy Island 

 extends for 9 miles. 



The clamming territory of Chatham is situated in Stage harbor, 

 Pleasant Bay and at Monomoy Point. 



In Stage harbor clams are found along the sides of the Mill Pond, 

 comprising possibly an acre, and in the eastern end of the harbor 

 toward the dike, where about 3 acres of flats are thickly set. 



An extended area of sand flats are found in Pleasant Bay. But 

 small parts of this area furnish good clamming, and the Common Flats 

 on the inside of Monomoy Island, where once there were acres of good 

 clams, now lie entirely barren except for a small patch of set just 

 north of Brant Island, comprising about % of an acre. Here are 

 about 100 acres of barren flats which only need planting to be made 

 productive. 



The commercial clam fishery of the town is carried on at Monomoy 

 Point, where 5 acres of the best clamming in Massachusetts is found. 

 The Powder Hole flats, formed of coarse, clean sand, are thickly set 

 with clams of all sizes, and furnish excellent digging. A good clammer 

 can obtain from 5 to 6 bushels per tide from these flats. 



Clams are dug at Chatham during the fishing season chiefly for bait. 

 Such digging lasts through the fall and winter. In the summer, clams 

 are dug only for food, as no cod fishing is conducted in the warm 

 months. From 10 to 15 men were engaged in clamming during the 

 summer of 1907, travelling from Chatham to Monomoy Point in power 

 or sail dories. Practically all the clams dug came from the Powder Hole 



