THE OLAM FISHERIES. 587 



large demand has recently sprung up from Boston and other towns for clams as food. From June 

 to September of 1880, 40 barrels a week were shipped in shell from Ipswich to Salem, and between 

 December and March 60 barrels a week to Boston and elsewhere. From December 1 to April 1 

 280 gallons a week were shipped open to be eaten, chiefly to Boston." 



The present prices realized by the diggers are as follows, for various uses : 



To be eaten : 



For clams in shell, per barrel $1 00 



For clams shelled, per gallon . 25 



As bait : 



Sshelled, fresh, per barrel 4 00 



Shelled, salted, per barrel 3 00 



Shelled, per water-bucket 50 



Mr. Wilcox estimates the clam outfit of the locality to be worth $1,650, comprised in thirty- 

 five dories, fifteen small boats, and sundry implements. The product of the digging in 1880 he 

 gives as follows : 



750 barrels shelled : $3,000 



480 barrels in shell 480 



4, 480 gallons 1,120 



Total 4,600 



This, he says, equals 11,500 bushels, which would give an average price per bushel of 40 cents, 

 and average annual receipts for each of the one hundred and twenty-five diggers of about $37. 



From the clam flats in Essex and Annisquam Eivers about 20,000 to 25,000 bushels are annu- 

 ally gathered. Some of these are salted for bait in the fisheries from Gloucester, but the greater 

 part is shipped to Boston either in the shell or "shucked." 



BOSTON AND VICINITY. In Boston Harbor clams are much depleted, owing to the fact that 

 they are remorselessly dug the year through, chiefly by a class of ignorant foreigners who go down 

 the harbor for the purpose. July and August are the most productive months, there being a large 

 demand for the " clam -bakes," which picnic parties from the cities indulge in on the various beaches. 

 All the clams got in Boston Harbor are very small because they are allowed little chance to grow; 

 in March and April they are hardly worth eating. It is difficult to judge of the amount caught in 

 Boston Harbor annually, but I think 40,000 bushels is not far out of the way. 



South of Boston, Plymouth and Duxbury beaches form the first important stations. The whole 

 shore there, a citizen of Plymouth said to me, was " saturated " with them. The young clams would 

 sometimes whiten a flat " as though it had snowed." He had known them gathered by simply dig- 

 ging a regular trench and picking up the mollusks thrown out. The digging is mainly done in the 

 winter, when a large class of men are employed every day. They sell them, opened, at 10 cents a 

 "bucket" or pailful for small ones. Large ones are now scarce, not being given time to grow, 

 and are kept in the shell for the Plymouth and Boston markets. But great quantities of clams 

 not bigger than a dollar are hawked through the interior by peddlers. 



At the time of my visit they were very scarce, and the tide allowed digging only very early in 

 the morning or late at night ; and the total catch of 1880, according to Mr. Wilcox, was only 5,000 

 bushels at Plymouth and 5,000 at Duxbury, worth about 50 cents per bushel, or $5,000. 



CLAM FISHERIES AT CAPE COD. At Harwich, says Mr. F. W. True, there are fifteen men who 

 rake in winter at Pleasant Bay. They average 75 bushels each, or 1,125 bushels in all, worth nearly 



This brings us to Chatham, one of the most important places on the coast for soft clams. My 

 statistics concerning it are based on the reports gathered by Mr. True. 



