2i4 JOURNAL OF CONCHOI.OGY, VOL. II, NO. 7, JULY, I905. 



for several years, winter and summer. On one occasion, in the winter 

 of 1898 — 99, 142 men were digging mussels at one time, and up to 

 the latter part of February they obtained 500 tons. One man can dig 

 600 to 800 pounds of shells daily on such a bed. Some fishermen 

 have large house-boats which are moored at places convenient to the 

 fishing-grounds and serve as dwelling houses for the family. After 

 capture the mussels are taken ashore and boiled for fifteen minutes in 

 large iron tanks, after which the animals are extracted, and the shells 

 taken to the market or the factory. The "meats," as the animals are 

 termed, are mostly wasted, though in some places they are used as 

 food for hogs and poultry, and a certain amount are salted down as 

 bait for sea fishing. It will be readily understood that such constant 

 fishing has considerably reduced the supply of mussels in rhany 

 sections, and a period of close time is under consideration. The 

 decrease in supply has been brought about not only by the unremitting 

 activity of fishing operations during the spawning time, but by the 

 wanton destruction of shells too small for manufacturing purposes, 

 enormous quantities being left on the ice to freeze and die. Moreover 

 the growth of the shells is very slow, the time required for a "nigger- 

 head" to reach a size of three inches being not less than ten or twelve 

 years, while a shell 4*5 inches in diameter is from fifteen to eighteen 

 years old. 



The prices which the fishermen receive for the shells vary consider- 

 ably, depending on the supply and demand, and on the species of 

 shell. The standard is the "niggerhead." In 1897 the market value 

 of this species in Muscatine ranged from 40 to 62 cents per 100 lbs. 

 Shells were cheaper in 1898 than at any previous time, but in February, 

 1898, there was a scarcity of shells at the factories and prices went up 

 to $18 and $20 per ton. By July, 1898, the prices had fallen to 30 

 cents per 100 lbs. for small "niggerheads" and 35 cents for large ones. 

 The ruling prices fur other shells in 1897 were, per 100 lbs., as follows: 

 Sand shells, $170; muckets, 30 cents; deerhorns, $2; pocket-books, 

 50 cents. In 100 lbs. of sand shells there are about 900 valves; of 

 niggerheads 970 to 1,000 valves. In 1897 there were 3,817 tons of 

 mussels sold for $43,998, and more than this quantity during the first 

 six months in 1898, 



At the factories the shells are stored in covered sheds, the different 

 kinds being usually kept in separate bins. Boys then sort the shells 

 in sizes, three sizes of niggerheads being usually recognised. The 

 sorted shells are placed in barrels of fresh water for three to six days 

 to render them less brittle. The next step is the cutting or sawing of 

 the rough "blanks," during which process the shells have to be kept 

 wet with a constant jet of fresh water, The saws are hollow circular 



