FRESH- WATER MUSSELS AND MUSSEL INDUSTRIES. 



43 



In the Cumberland River ^ the Ohio River pig-toe is reported to run as high as 

 95 per cent of the catch from one bed, while the valuable southern mucket is found 

 in the proportion of 40 per cent in some beds in this river. 



An unusual export demand, causing a high price for the best shells, will tend to 

 throw the domestic trade back upon second-grade material, and thus stimulate the 

 fishery in regions of inferior-shell product. On the other hand, a slack in exports such 

 as now prevails makes the best shells more readily available to American manufac- 

 turers and discourages the fishery for poorer shells. 



Taking the principal mussel streams previously listed, we find the average price 

 per ton for shells on the bank in the years 1912-1914 to be as follows. These figures 

 are of value now only as indicating the relative values of shells from the several rivers. 



Relative Vai^ues of Shells in Various Streams, Based on Surveys of 1912-1914. 



River. 



Fox 



Whdte, Arkansas 



St. Francis 



Muskingum 



Mississippi 



St. Croix 



WTiite, Indiana. . 



Pecatonica 



Black 



Year. 



Average 





ton price. 



1913 



$22.09 



1912 



20.44 



1913 



20.39 



1912 



20.00 



1914 



19.47 



1913 



18.87 



1913 



17. 79 



1913 



17-31 



191a 



17.19 



River. 



Year. 



Wabash 



Rock 



Illinois 



Okaw 



Ohio 



Cumberland 

 Tennessee. . . 

 Neosho 



1913 

 1913 

 1913 

 1913 

 1912 

 1912 

 1912 

 1912 



Average 

 ton price. 



16. SI 

 16.01 

 14.9s 

 14.70 

 12.88 



11-73 

 II. 18 



9-97 



Since mussels are always sold by the ton, it is of interest to note the number of 

 shells constituting a ton in selected cases. No general statement is possible, since 

 the number necessary to make a ton varies with the species, the size, and the thick- 

 ness. The washboard shells of the upper Illinois averaged about a pound a pair, 

 while those of the lower river averaged less than half a pound but were of better 

 quality. The following counts are selected from a table given by Danglade and from 

 counts made by the writer : 



Species. 



Locality. 



Number of 



pairs of shells 



(from one 



mussel) per 



ton. 



Washboard 



Do 



Blue-point 



Do 



Warty-back 



Do 



Niggerhead 



Do 



Yellow sand-shell . . . 

 Lake Pepin mucket . 



Chillicothe, HI . . 



Hardin, 111 



ChilUcothe, lU . . , 



Hardin, 111 



Meredosia, 111. . . 



Florence, 111 



do 



Clarendon, Ark . . 

 Madison, Ark . . . , 

 Lake City, Minn . 



2,000 

 4,800 

 3,000 

 6,800 

 14, 200 

 17, 200 

 7,400 



20, 500-27,000 

 6,000 



12,000-14,000 



The table next following shows the number of pairs of shells (equivalent to num- 

 ber of mussels) of different species and sizes and from different localities, making a 

 ton as weighed and measured at a factory. The data comprised in this table are not 



o Wilson, Charles B., and Clark, H. Walton: The mussels of the Ctimberland River and its tributaries. U. S. Bureau 

 of Fisheries Document No. 781, 63 pp., i pi. Washington, 1914. 



110306°— 19 3 



