THE CLAM FISHERIES. 597 



winter being very inild these all lived through it, which they probably would not have done had 

 the frosts been very severe, for the water was only 2 to 4 feet d .>. There were none in the 

 deeper water ofl' shore. The same season a similarly innumerable generation of young quahaugs 

 was deposited at East Point, in Raritan Bay, New Jersey, where they were so thick that you could 

 not pick up a handful of sand which did not contain a hundred or so. 



Opinions along shore vary as to their rate of growth. Some men would tell me they increased 

 in size very rapidly, others would say slowly. The situation undoubtedly makes- considerable 

 difference, but it is probable that the middling sized quahaugs sent to market are at least five 

 years old, and that they attain great age if undisturbed.~Tue rapidity of its growth has an effect, 

 it is said, on the shape and appearance of the shells. Those that grow fast are wedge-shaped 

 with only a slight convexity, while one that grows slowly becomes more globose or gibbous. The 

 shells of these will be found much heavier and thicker than the others, and their flesh (in old age 

 at least) shows a turbid, orange-brown, nasty tint, and is very tough, in high contrast to the 

 creamy whiteness and tenderness of younger and more thrifty specimens. These heavy and 

 almost worthless old fellows are called " bull-noses." Sometimes they exceed a pound, avoirdupois, 

 in weight. 



At the approach of cold weather in September the quahaugs begin to " settle " or sink down 

 from their position on the surface of the bottom to another about 2 inches below. Here they 

 remain until the approach of spring. 



12. APPARATUS AND METHODS OF GATHERING QUAHAUGS. 



The procuring, consumption, and sale of quahaugs is a constant and persistent industry along 

 the whole extent of our coast south of Cape Cod, wherever the conditions are suitable or people 

 live near the beach; yet, from the nature of their home, and the fact that they must be taken 

 with the help of heavy instruments, it employs a less number of hands, no doubt, than does the 

 annual search for the soft clam. Although there are many oystermen who never seek for qua- 

 haugs, and a numerous body of the clamming fraternity who are not interested in oyster-culture, 

 yet it is largely true that the same men are to be found in the ranks of both industries at different 

 seasons of the year. Upon the whole I should regard the army of men who gather the hard clams 

 as a superior class to those who dig the soft clams. This is owing, as I have already said, to the 

 greater difficulties in the way in the present case. Women and children cannot do much at it 

 because of lack of strength; lazy, useless men will not attempt it because it involves too much 

 exertion and steady diligence. Yet I was told that in the Great South Bay of Long Island the 

 clammers were of a very low grade of morality, as a rule, being mostly foreigners who had failed 

 at everything else, and who in this hand-to-mouth employment proved themselves far from valu- 

 able citizens. But I think this is an exceptional instance, and I believe that in the great majority 

 of cases the men who gather hard clams are the stout-armed native oystermen and farmers who 

 live adjacent to the water and make this a regular summer occupation. In a letter to me during 

 the year 1875, my kind and venerable friend, Prof. Samuel W. Lock wood, of Freehold, N. J., gives 

 me a picture of this as familiar to him then at Keyport. 



"They go after hard-shelled clams from Keyport in squatty, one-sailed vessels, called "cats," 

 dragging clam-rakes, which are thrown out and drawn in by the wind. The ground extends in 

 Earitau Bay from Sandy Hook to South Amboy. A good day's catch would be from 3 to 3 bar- 

 rels of 'count' clams that is, clams of such size that eight hundred will till a barrel, and at 

 wholesale worth about 83. All below this size are sold by the bushel, at from 60 cents to $1, 

 depending more on demand than size. These are sometimes so small as to count two thousand to 



