Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1897-05-23
MONEY N MGLLUsKs.
Catching Scallops on the Massa-
chusotts Coast
An Industry That IIns Grown Exten-
sively I'm the Last Few Years
Some Interesting Par
ticulnrs.

just before the last visitors leave the.
seaside places where scallops abound
they sec men cleaning down the large
sioops and fishing boats, scraping the
bottoms and overhnuling sails and run-
ming rigging, and, II rio enough to
ask the reason why, they are told thai
the scnllop season commences on DC.
tober l.. This has been the date for
years, with the exception of 1894, when
the Massachusetts season was DELAYED
until November 1, owing TO the growing
scarcity of the mollusk and the change
i'll the season, which gives warmer
weather, us n rule, at the end of Septem-
Der and in October than was the case
years ago. AS a matter OF fact, scallops,
like celery, are notip their prime until
the frost catches them.
The great bulk.oftthe early scallops
in the New YorNaSarliet comes from
Shelter island md fscconic 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 IL
proved to some extent # the visitors
dIedge for the handsome f~an-shaped
shells 10 use in fancy work. They sci.
dom get n shell with the meat still in It.
Later on scallops come to this market
from EuZzard's bay, Monument beach,
up to Wings Neck Light, in Massachu-
sets, and still gater the eastern supply
arrives from Maine and New lamp
shire. This gear the early shipments
come from Huntington, %Smithtown and
| RTnnkh0ypn I mud -rnIlnnr frnr, thn
Connecticut coast will /. caaa.ig in
next week. The prizes ,ar, IN tive
dollars n gallon 10 l. 80 cents.
At present, while the : ..iy - rlited,
prices will be very frustrating. On DC.
tobcr ] the price vas one dollar. and
October 2 it was $3.50 in the market.
The Industry 10 not n very old one, 1t
being about twenty-five years since it
assumed large proportions, AS in the
ease of oysters. people had scnllops 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 interest in the industry, and obtained
statistics OF receipts at the various mar
kets for n term of years.
The scallops are taken from the wa
ter ut the various points by dredging
from the sides of sloops md smaller
boats. The dredge consists of I'm iron
frame holding about n bushcl, with n
coarse network Of iron rings at the back,
like nm oyster drcdge. 1t is drawn slow.
~ over the scallop ground until il is
filled, when the catch is hauled inbonrd,
the culling process commences, and the
refuse is thrown overheard. Some OF
the larger boats put out on n good day
as many as seven drehges. a good day
is estimated TO produce about thirty
bushels in the shell, and the thirty bush
els in the Shell will produce about
ninety quarts for the market. The "cyr''
OF the n~iollusk is the only part retained.
Opening the shells in cold weather l.!
hittor hard work, md the men earn
every cent they make. The shells are,
however, fairly easy to open, md for
this reason it is no uncommon thing for
men whb own skiffs TO take their en-
tire catch home, where their wives and
children all turn out to help shell them.
The shells have sharp edges, which
make most of the men wear rubber
finger cots. The knife used is of steel.
with n blade an INCH wide and nearly
three times ms long. \ good opener can
get through with 12 gallons a day, aud
the pay Is 20 cents a gallon. The small
scallops are thrown overheard.
II Is practically impossible TO get seal
lops in their natural state in the New
York markets. They arc all soaked be-
fore leaving the dredgcrs, the idea be-
ing to make them larger and whittier.
By soaking three gallons OF scnllops
they can he made to measure four raI.
Ions. but the effect OF the process on
the quality is another matter. ANY Wis
itor who has bought them ut the
grounds knows the difference between
the soaked and the unsoaked. Directly
me soaked scnllops are cooked they
Hood the pan with waterman drive many
n good housewives soul into sin BY chill
ling the fat In which she intended to
cook them. Many n time she will dry
them carefully. cracker dust and egg
them. have the fat boiling and hub.
bling, only TO drop them In and have
them coinc out patboilcd, or parstcwed.
The failure is due TO the watcr's being
tried out OF them.
The scallop Is u short-livcd mollusk.
coming to maturity and dissolution In
TWO years in its natural element, and
dying in two days when removed. Seal.
tops are very uncertain In their move.
mcnts, and the supply is therefore pre-
Curious, winds md tirlcs or my change,
OF currents affecting their number.
strongly. and sometimes entirely clear.
ing them out OF places where they have
been very prolific. The yield this year
is expected to be fully up TO the aver.
age. The American scallops arc easily
INC finest in the world, although the
hsh has been known favornbly for cen.
turtles, the larger Mediterranean variety
having been worn centuries ago in the
hats OF pilRrims.-N. Y. Sun.