CHAPTER XVIII 



THE SOFT CLAM DISTRIBUTION AND 

 CONDITIONS CONTROLLING IT 



INCE the earliest times the soft, or long neck 

 clam has held a place in public esteem on the 

 north Atlantic coast above all food mollusks 

 but the oyster, and in recent years it has be- 

 come even more highly prized than formerly. One 

 curious reason for this growing appreciation is the fact 

 that it is becoming scarce. It has always been observed 

 that a leading characteristic of human nature is to desire 

 most strongly anything that is denied. On the other 

 hand, the abundant things are not often esteemed. The 

 flounder, very abundant on the north Atlantic coast, is 

 one of the finest of salt water fishes, yet the native of the 

 Maine shore will seldom use it on his table if a morning 

 of hard labor will bring him a tough and tasteless cod 

 or haddock. He may catch the flounder without effort 

 at his dock on any rising tide, but must go outside and 

 fish patiently for his cod. 



All along the New England shore, the soft clam was 

 once extremely abundant, as we learn from the quaint 

 records of the early colonists. Well into the nineteenth 

 century, beaches and flats continued to be crowded 

 with them. With the growth of the fisheries, they were 

 dug in increasing numbers for bait, and some were used 

 for food. They have continued to be valuable chiefly as 

 fish bait, but during the last decade, especially, the deli- 



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