CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Part I . Commercial fresh-water mussels 15 



Qualities of fresh-water mussel shells 15 



Varieties of commercial shells 17 



Quadrula class 19 



Niggerhead group 20 



Pimple-back group 23 



Pig-toe group 24 



Blue-point group 25 



Washboard group 26 



Lampsilis class 27 



Mucket group 28 



Pocketbook group 30 



Sand-shell group 31 



Miscellaneous groups ^;^ 



Bullhead group ^t^ 



Heel-splitter group ^;^ 



Elephant 's-ear group 34 



Noncommercial species 35 



Summary 36 



Publications treating mussel resources of various streams 37 



Part 2 . Fresh-water mussel fishery 38 



Value and extent of the fishery 38 



Some local and temporary aspects of the fishery 41 



Depletion of the mussel resources 44 



Apparatus and methods of fishery 46 



Bar and crowfoot hooks 46 



Principle of captiu^e 46 



Description of apparatus 46 



Hooks and mode of making them 47 



Bar and lines 48 



The mule 49 



Boats 50 



Operation of the crowfoot bar 50 



Advantages and disadvantages of the method 52 



Dip-net drag 53 



Origin of the method 53 



Description of apparatus 53 



Operation of dip net 55 



Advantages of the dip-net method 55 



Shoulder rake 56 



Shell tongs 56 



Fork 57 



Dredge 57 



Local modifications of methods 58 



Summary of methods of fishery 59 



Shore equipment and processes 59 



13 



