THE MUSSEL ElSHliRY AND PEARI.-BUTTON INDUSTRY OE THE 
MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 
By HUGH M. SMITH. 
AltboiigU the business of miinufucturiiig buttons from the shells of our native 
fresh-water mussels is of quite recent origin, it has already attained comparatively 
large proportions and seems destined to have still further growth. The fear is enter- 
tained, however, that, through indiscriminate methods, the supply of mussels may 
be so seriously reduced that the continuance of the lishery and the dependent manu- 
facturing may be imperiled. Tlie possibility of the early exhaustion of the mussel 
beds ill that part of the Mississippi Kiver which is in Iowa and Illinois has led a num- 
ber of interested persons to reipiest the United States Fish Commission to make an 
investigation of the subject, as this is the section in which the business is most exten- 
sive and has been longest established. In compliance with this request the writer 
was assigned to the investigation and visited the centers of the business in July, 1898. 
The present report is based on the observations then made. 
The principal inquiries were conducted at Muscatine, Iowa, the leading center of 
the button industry, although some other imi)ortant places, as Clinton and Davenport, 
were also visited. Many fishermen and manufacturers were consulted with regard 
to the important features of the business. The manufacturers, without exception, 
furnished detailed statistics concerning their work. Those whom it was not practica- 
ble to personally visit were corresponded with, and, with few exceiitions, tliey have 
supplied the desired data. 
The statistics herein presented relate to the calendar year 1897 and to the first six 
months of 1898, when there was a remarkable development of the button-making 
business. The figures are the first which have been collected covering this industry, 
and will prove useful in determining the changes which may take [)lace in subse- 
quent years. 
The investigation naturally embraced the following general toi»ics, which are 
hereafter specially considered: (1) The mussels utilized in button making, (LJ) the 
mussel fishery, and (3) the button industry. To these is added a chapter embodying 
a statement of the measures that appear to be demanded in order that the stability of 
the industry may be maintained. 
THE MUSSELS UTILIZED, IN BUTTON-MAKING. 
While there are probably 400 species of mussels found in the Mississippi Kiver and 
its tributaries, com[)aratively few are now utilized in or are adapted to button-making. 
The requirements of a shell, from the button-maker’s standi)oint, are sufficient thick- 
ness, a uniform color of the surface and various strata of the shell, and a degree of 
toughness that will withstand the necessary treatment without cracking or splitting. 
F. C. I!., 18U8— 19 289 
