Evening journal., 1897-06-01
MONEY IN MOLLUsKs.
Catching Scallops on the Massa.
chusetts Coast.
An Industry That Has Grown Exten-
siveIy In the Last Few Years
Some Interesting Par
tfculars.

just before lnc ldSb NlolloiS ltdNr bhC
seaside places where scallops abound
they see men cleaning down the large
sloops and fishing boats, scr1ping the
bottoms and oyerhauling sails and run
ming rigging, and, If -urious enough to
ask the reason why, they are told that
the scallop season commences on Oe-
tober ]. This has been the date for
years, with the exception of 1894. when
the Massachusetts season WIS delayed
until November 1, owing to the growing
scarcity Of the mollusk and the change
in the season, which gives warmer
weather, as a rule. at the end of Septem-
Der and in October than was the case
years ago. AS matter of fact, scallops,
like celery, are not in their prime until
the frost catches them.
The great bulk of the early scallops
in the New York market comes from
Shelter island and Peconic bay, where
visitors in summer may see them lying.
shells and fish mingled, by hundreds of
thousands in five feet of shoaling water.
There are many more empty shells than
full ones, say the fishermen, and this IS
proved to some extent IL the visitors
dredge for the handsome fan-shaped
shells to use in fancy work. They sell
dom get shell with the meat still in IT.
Later on scallops come to this market
from Buzzard's bay. Monument beach.
up to Wings Neck Light, in Massachu-
sets, and still later the eastern supply
arrives from Maine and New Hamp-
shire. This year the early shipments
come from Huntington, Smithtown and
Brookhaven, l.. l., and scallops from the
| Connecticut coast will be coming in
next week. The prices vary from two
dollars n gallon TO twenty-five sents.
At present. while the supply is limited.
prices will be very ductuating. On DC
tober 1 the price was one dollar. aud
October it was Sl.oO in the market.
The industry is not a very old one, II
being about twenty-five years since IL
assumed large proportions. As in the
case of oysters, people had scallops at
their doors, but did not care to take the
trouble to gather them to eat, much less
try to market them. Four years ago
the United States government evinced
an interestin the industry, and obtained
statistics of receipts at the various mar
lSets Tor term Of years.
The scallops are taken from the wa
ter at the various points by dredging
from the sides Of sloops and smaller
boats. The dredge consists of an iron
frame holding about a 5ushel. with n
coarse network of iron rings at the back.
like an oyster dredge. 1t is drawn slow
ly over the scallop ground until IL is
filed. when the catch is hauled inboard,
the culling process commences, and the
refuse is thrown overheard. Some OF
the larger boats put out on a good day
as many as seven dredges. A good day
is estimated to produce about thiry
bushels in the shell, and the thirty bush.
els in the shell will produce about
ninety quarts for the market. The eye
OF the molluslS is the only part retained
Opening the shells in cold weather II
bitter hard work, and the men earn
every cent they make. The shells are
however, fairly easy to open, and fol
this reason it is no uncommon thing foi
men who own slkifTs to take their en-
tire catch home, where their wives anC
children all turn out to help shell them
The shells have sharp edges, whicl
make most of the men wear rubbe
finger cots. The knife used is Of steel
with blade an ipch wide and nearl,
three times as long. A good opener cui
get through with 10 gallons a day. ant
the pay is 20 cents a gallon. The smal
scallops are thrown overheard.
1t is practically impossible to get seal
lops in their natural state in the NeH
York markets. They are all soaked be
fore leaving the dredgers. the idea be
ing to make them larger and whittier
BY soaking three gallons of scallop
they can be made to measure four ga
Ions, but the effect of the process o
the quality is another matter. Any vi.
itor who has bought them at tn
grounds knows the difference betwee
the soaked and the 1nsoaked. Direetl
the soaked scallops are cooked the
flood the pan with water,and drive man
4, a good housewives soul into sin by chi
, ling the fat in which she intended I
, cook them. Many time she will dr.
them carefully, cracker dust and eg
, them. have the fat boiling and bul
! bling, only to drop them in and hay
them come out parboiled. or parstewe'
The failure is due to the waters bein
tried out of Them.
r The scalIop is a short-lived mollus
= coming to maturity and dissolution
a two years in its natural element. al
e dying in two days when removed. Sea
n lops are very uncertain in their NOV
i ments, and the supply is therefore pr
T oarious. winds and tides orany chang
+ of currents affecting their number
- strongly, and sometimes entirely clea
e ing them out of places where they ha
IS been very prolific. The yield this We
u is expected to be fully up to the ave
t age. The American scallops are east
tho finest in the world. although Il
fish has been known favorably for ce
turies, the larger Mediterranean varie
y having been worn centuries ago in 4
IT hats of pilgrims.-N. Y. Sun.