﻿14 
  

  

  MUSSEL 
  EESOUKCES 
  OF 
  THE 
  ILLINOIS 
  RIVER. 
  

  

  The 
  washboards 
  are 
  large, 
  but 
  badly 
  spotted; 
  the 
  muckets 
  and 
  

   blue 
  points 
  have 
  good 
  luster 
  and 
  are 
  good 
  button 
  shells. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  hard 
  day's 
  work 
  to 
  get 
  500 
  pounds 
  of 
  

   shells, 
  while 
  but 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  a 
  man 
  could 
  dig 
  a 
  ton 
  per 
  day. 
  

  

  The 
  bed 
  above 
  the 
  dam 
  has 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  water 
  from 
  10 
  to 
  20 
  feet 
  

   and 
  rather 
  high 
  mud 
  banks. 
  The 
  current 
  is 
  about 
  2 
  miles 
  per 
  hour. 
  

   An 
  hour's 
  work 
  with 
  bars 
  and 
  hooks 
  on 
  this 
  bed 
  yielded 
  128 
  shells, 
  

   as 
  follows: 
  

  

  Pink 
  hatchet-back 
  2 
  

  

  2 
  

  

  1 
  

  

  1 
  

  

  1 
  

  

  1 
  

  

  1 
  

  

  Floater 
  

  

  Buckhorn 
  

  

  Slough 
  sand-shell 
  . 
  

  

  Deer-toe 
  

  

  Squaw-foot 
  , 
  

  

  Lady-finger 
  

  

  Total 
  128 
  

  

  Blue 
  point 
  60 
  

  

  Mucket 
  25 
  

  

  Three-ridge 
  10 
  

  

  Warty-back 
  5 
  

  

  Pig-toe 
  5 
  

  

  Washboard 
  4 
  

  

  Paper-shell 
  4 
  

  

  Maple-leaf 
  2 
  

  

  Rock-shell 
  2 
  

  

  White 
  heel-splitter 
  2 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  a 
  few 
  small 
  beds, 
  2 
  to 
  3 
  acres 
  in 
  extent, 
  between 
  Lacon 
  

   and 
  Chillicothe, 
  yielding 
  mostly 
  washboards 
  and 
  three-ridges. 
  

  

  Peoria 
  Lake. 
  — 
  From 
  Chillicothe 
  to 
  Peoria, 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  20 
  miles, 
  

   the 
  river 
  broadens 
  into 
  a 
  lakelike 
  expanse, 
  called 
  Peoria 
  Lake, 
  hav- 
  

   ing 
  a 
  varying 
  width 
  of 
  from 
  a 
  few 
  hundred 
  yards 
  to 
  nearly 
  2 
  miles. 
  

   The 
  slow 
  current, 
  the 
  large 
  volume 
  of 
  water, 
  the 
  good 
  average 
  depth 
  

   and 
  soft 
  mud 
  bottom 
  are 
  suitable 
  for 
  mussel 
  growth, 
  and 
  there 
  are 
  

   consequently 
  many 
  fine 
  mussel 
  beds 
  and 
  an 
  enormous 
  quantity 
  of 
  

   shells, 
  making 
  this 
  at 
  present 
  probably 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  mussel- 
  

   producing 
  districts 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Although 
  the 
  bottom 
  is 
  

   covered 
  with 
  dead 
  shells, 
  there 
  have 
  been 
  taken, 
  during 
  the 
  latter 
  

   part 
  of 
  1911 
  and 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1912, 
  many 
  tons 
  of 
  good 
  shells 
  by 
  the 
  

   lately 
  devised 
  dip-net 
  method. 
  Just 
  what 
  has 
  caused 
  the 
  mortality 
  

   of 
  so 
  many 
  shells 
  at 
  this 
  point 
  and 
  elsewhere 
  on 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  not 
  

   known. 
  When 
  the 
  dip-net 
  is 
  brought 
  up 
  and 
  the 
  catch 
  is 
  emptied 
  

   into 
  the 
  boat, 
  the 
  shells 
  are 
  sorted, 
  the 
  dead 
  ones 
  being 
  thrown 
  back 
  

   into 
  the 
  river, 
  thus 
  keeping 
  the 
  bottom 
  continually 
  covered 
  with 
  

   them. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  state 
  where 
  the 
  mussel 
  beds 
  are 
  located 
  in 
  Peoria 
  

   Lake; 
  in 
  fact, 
  they 
  appear 
  to 
  be 
  pretty 
  well 
  distributed 
  over 
  the 
  entire 
  

   bottom. 
  Certain 
  localities, 
  however, 
  are 
  much 
  more 
  productive, 
  

   while 
  they 
  vary 
  to 
  a 
  considerable 
  extent 
  in 
  abundance 
  of 
  species. 
  

  

  At 
  Cliillicothe 
  there 
  was 
  on 
  shore 
  a 
  65-ton 
  pile 
  of 
  shells, 
  taken 
  from 
  

   the 
  local 
  beds, 
  with 
  the 
  following 
  percentages: 
  Blue 
  points 
  50 
  per 
  

   cent, 
  washboards 
  25 
  per 
  cent, 
  mixed 
  shells 
  25 
  per 
  cent, 
  the 
  latter 
  

   consisting 
  mostly 
  of 
  three-ridges, 
  muckets, 
  warty-backs, 
  pig-toes, 
  

   slough 
  sand-shells, 
  and 
  rock-shells. 
  On 
  the 
  entire 
  pile 
  not 
  more 
  than 
  

   two 
  or 
  three 
  niggerheads 
  were 
  seen. 
  The 
  washboards 
  were 
  tolerably 
  

  

  