234 FLSHEKIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [50] 



become rounded, and are then known to the fishermen as "snub-nosed" 

 or "bull-nosed" clams, and are sometimes a pound or more in weight. 

 Their flesh is then a dirty yellow, having lost its clean, white appear- 

 ance. Little is known, except by analogy, of the embryology of the 

 "quahaug" or of its rate of growth. Ingersoll states that the medium 

 sized sent to market are five years old, while Messrs. Foote & Co., of 

 New Haven, state that the medium-sized clams are but two years old. 

 Their rate of growth no doubt depends upon the locality ; where there 

 is an abundant supply of food and lime, and the animal is protected, the 

 growth will be rapid ; when otherwise, the growth will be slow. The 

 rate of growth is also said to influence the shape of the shell, the slower 

 the progress the greater being the convexity of the valves. During 

 the winter the "quahaugs" retire into the mud, disappearing from the 

 surface, and in the spring reappear in time for the principal fishery, 

 which begins then and extends throughout the summer, thus alternating 

 with the oyster season. 



The " quahaug" fishery is very extensive, this bivalve being, next to 

 the oyster, the most important on the coast ; but the implements and 

 methods are simple in the extreme. Many clams are gathered by hand 

 as they crawl on the flats ; many more are taken with straight rakes, 

 curved drag-rakes, and dredges. Oyster-tongs are also occasionally 

 used, but not frequently, as the clams do not live in sufficiently close 

 communities to make tonging profitable. The rakes are more generally 

 employed than any other implement, and in form and character they 

 vary with the locality. Some are merely slight modifications of the gar- 

 den rake ; others are more elaborate, having curved teeth or long poles, 

 fitting them for dragging or dredging rather than shallow- water raking. 

 Specimens of the different varieties are exhibited, but, like the other 

 clam fisheries, that of the " quahaug" utilizes many implements designed 

 originally for other purposes, such as the sea-moss rakes, spades, shov- 

 els, &c. 



"Count" clams, the largest size, bring the best prices, and in the 

 neighborhood of New Fork sell for $3 per barrel, wholesale. It takes 

 800 "counts" to make a barrel; and as 3 to 4 barrels, or 2,400 to 3,200 

 clams, is a good day's catch, some idea of the productiveness of the New 

 Jersey flats and coast is gained from the foregoing. Smaller sizes are 

 sold at 60 cents or $1 per bushel, depending on the size, and some are 

 taken so small that 2,000 are required to fill a barrel ; these, when about 

 one inch in diameter, are called " tea-clams." Another name is "Little 

 Neck," derived originally from a neck of land on the north shore of Long 

 Island, known as Little Neck, whose clams had' a superior flavor; but 

 the demand for a young, small, and tender clam which has sprung up 

 of late years, and was supplied from the Little Neck stock, has caused 

 dealers generally to apply the term " Little Neck " to all small clams. 

 They are used principally for pickling. 



The fishery is not an expensive one, the whole outfit of the " clammer" 



