THE CLAM FISHERIES. 



605 



From City Island, in East Eiver, four boats run twice a week for three or four months. This 

 makes about one hundred and twelve trips, which, with an average cargo of 300 bushels, amounting 

 to 33,600 bushels, having a market value of about $22,000. It is a more solid business here than 

 farther eastward. 



NORTH SHORE or LONG ISLAND. Crossing over to the Long Island shore, I have Mr. 

 Mather's notes and statistics : 



"Flushing Bay" clams are larger than "Little Necks," are solid and fat, and the shells are 

 dark while those of the latter are light, a difference caused by the dark mud of the bay, the 

 " Little Neck's" lying in sand. 



At Little Neck a very few soft clams are taken, but th hard clams have a very high reputa- 

 tion, and are in great demand when oysters are out of season. They are most esteemed when 

 about the size of a quarter-dollar, and are usually eaten raw. The bottom of the bay is sandy 

 and the shells light colored. 



About thirty men, from Eoslyn, occasionally rake for oysters and clams, but do not depend 

 entirely upon it. They only have a skiff and a rake apiece, and not over $75 is invested. 



At Glen Cove some clams of both sorts are got along with the oysters. 



In Oyster Bay soft clams are more plenty than in the bays west of it, but hard clams are not. 



At Port Washington I was told that about five hundred persons regularly raked quahaugs 

 in summer, and the clams were slightly scarcer than formerly. About three hundred of these 

 men rake in or near Cow Bay, while two hundred go down or up the sound for several miles. The 

 catch is from 1 to 3 bushels a day, but an average would be 2 bushels. The season lasts through 

 perhaps one hundred working days. If you say, then, that 400 bushels a day are caught inside 

 Cow Bay and 300 bushels a day outside, with 5,000 bushels caught along with the oysters in 

 winter, you have a total of 75,000 bushels. This, at an average price of 65 cents, would be worth 

 $48,750. 



Mr. Fred. Mather's summary for this north shore, in respect to hard clams, is as follows: 



