THE MUSSEL FISHERY. 621 



coming in varies, but runs from 1,000 to 1,500 bushels daily, so near as I could learn the total 

 season's supply amounting perhaps to 100,000 bushels. 



This employs several boats regularly, chiefly, as I have said, those running from Fire Island 

 Inlet and Eockaway. They " float" the mussels i. e., put them in fresh water and inflate them 

 much as they do oysters before taking them to market. 



Occasionally the mussels are eaten raw, but this is in their poorest shape. Mr. DeVoe, in his 

 Market Assistant, says " they are best boiled and pickled, but, on account of their solid text- 

 ure, &c., they do not readily digest, and therefore do not jigree with many stomachs." 



Mr. Elliott remarked to me in the conversation mentioned above, that the Alaskan Indians 

 recognized very well the dangerous intestinal troubles which were likely to follow the eating of 

 Mytilus, and escaped them by extracting the byssus whenever it was green; this greenness indi- 

 cating a poisonous quality due to the convervoid food the mollusk had fed upon, The season of 

 the jear, as some have supposed, has nothing to do with these deleterious properties. 



The ordinary method of preparation in New York is by pickling. This preparation, which is 

 a troublesome and expensive matter, is done by the oyster-saloon men, who sell them to cus- 

 tomers by the quart at 25 cents, or gallon at $1. almost wholly in the city. 



Mussels to be pickled are first taken one by one and deprived of their " beard," which is .the 

 name given to the byssus, by pulling it out. This is hard work, for the byssus is strongly 

 inserted into the muscular center of the animal. They are next thoroughly washed, and after 

 that boiled for a considerable time. This finished, the animals are removed from the shells, and 

 again thoroughly washed in fresh water. They are then thrown into the pickle, and are soon 

 ready for the table. The pickle is made according to a variety of recipes, each man considering 

 his method the best, the differences depending upon the character and amount of the condiments 

 put in, with the natural "liquor" of the mussel and the vinegar which are the chief ingredients. 



From Monterey, Cal., comes word through Prof. D. S. Jordan that 5,000 bushels of mussels are 

 eaten there; this is the only note from the Pacific coast, so far as refers to civilized usage. 



A second, but perhaps equally important, utilization of mussels is by making manure out of 

 them. This is extensively done and might be largely increased with undoubted profit. The value 

 of this fertilizer and the State's natural resources in it were long ago recognized by New Jersey. 

 In the geology of Cape May County, published by the State in 1857, occur the following para- 

 graphs on this point: "There are great quantities of mussels in the creeks and thoroughfares of 

 the marshes. They are usually attached to sods and roots in the banks, entirely covering the 

 surface of such objects. They could be very easily and cheaply collected, by detaching them 

 from the sods, by the use of a sharp spade, and by loading them directly into boats. The animal 

 matter and the lime of their thin shells are both valuable for manure, and could be advanta- 

 geously used. 



The value of mussel beds for manure is given in an article from Essex County, Mass., pub 

 lished in the Country Gentleman, vol. 7, p. 155: "Thousands of cords of mussel beds are annu- 

 ally taken from the bed of the streams bordering on the sea, and used on grounds cultivated. 

 I have repeatedly witnessed the value of this fertilizer in the growing of carrots and onions. The 

 very best crops of carrots I saw the last season, more than 34 tons to the acre, had no other 

 fertilizer applied to the land. For the last thirty years I have known it applied to lands on which 

 onions have been grown, with a product varying from 300 to 600 bushels to the acre. It sells, 

 delivered several miles from where it is dug, at $4 or $5 the cord. It is usually gathered iu the 

 winter months, taken to the shore in scows or gondolas, and thence to the fields where it is used. 

 Sometimes it is laid iu a pile of several cords together, and after it has been exposed to the frosts 



