The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-20
SOFT CLANS AND ROUND CLANS.
some Successful Experiments in Bed
 ding Long Clama

l other than oysters has been going on at such rate along the coasts of Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island, and in Long Asland sound, that attempts are being Hlaue to repair the mischief by artificial propagation. The mollusks referred to are long clams, round clans and scol- lops' some advice on the subject has been gwen by the United States fish 1 commission, and results quite remarka- pie have already been accomplished. For example, at Essex, Mass, a number of lots of one acre were staked oit a few years ago on the flats of the ' Essex river and we're let to various persons at a nominal rental of $2 per acre TOT term of years. Long clans or small size, obtained from natural beds, were planted on these unproduct- i've flats 800 bushels to an acre. The lots in question now yield 2,50O barrels per annum. It is found that the culti- Vated clans are as large as the best ones Of natural growth, and more uni form in size; they fetch $175 a barrel against $l.5O for ordinary clans, as sold py the packers. One acre of flats well seeded is worth $1,000 to-day It is be-
 leVed that the industry can be prose- cuted on an extensive scale and with large profit. A long clam attains a size of two inches in a year.
 The long clam, or squirt clam, so familiar to picnic parties at the sea- shore, is otherwise known as the ''soft" clam, and to the English as the sand gaper" or "old maid" It is an animal of very wide distribution, occurring all the way from South Carolina to the Arctic ocean, where seals, walrus, polar bears and Arctic foxes feed upon it. It IS nowhere so abundant as on the New England coast, however. Successful attempts have been made to plant clans in the neighborhood of Bridge port flats being plowed and seeded with small ones. Three years after this was done the areas planted were as full as colander of the holes which mark the burrows of the mollusks. Digging | down, the clans were found shoulder to shoulder and actually piled on top of each other. Such a bank is very res munerative, yielding an interest as regular as field of corn or tobacco The income obtained is much greater per acre, and the land never has to lie 1 fallow.
 | If one examines a soft clam freshly l captured, there will be found projecting | from one end blackish wrinkled lump which, on being irritated, quickly with draws throwing out at the same time little stream of water. But put this | forbidding- g-looking creature in a shall l low pan of fresh sea water, and leave it l a fnYU hn1r,,c Then the blackened tube gradually pro- l trudes from the shell and slowly ex- 1 tends itself to a length of several inches. Now it is easy to see that the l organ has two openings at the end, 1 beautifully fringed with appendages l like little feelers. The organ really 1 consists of two tubes leading to the | hody of the clam, and, if you observe the openings closely, you will see cur rent of water flowing into one of them and another current flowing as steadily | out of the other.
 As the soft clam lies in his burrow, he pushes his tubes into the sea water l above, and sucks in a stream which l bears not only the microscopic particles
 of organic matter that serve as his l food, but also the oxygen which he re- l quires. Flowing out, the current car | ries with it the excrementitious matter. With this animal it is never long be- tween drinks, which may account for | the adage, Happy as a clam"
 Tn the spring the eggs of the clam
 issue into the cavities of the outer gills.
 Here they develop and form little papery shells. At this stage the young ! nlo alN t1 1,o
 seen with the naked eye Presently
 they are discharged into the water, and by this time they are ready to take care of themselves, anchoring them- selves to the bottom by slender threads
 and holding against the current. Soft
 clans betray their hiding places to the knowing hunter by emitting occa- sional squirts of water, when the retir- l ing tide has left the banks bare. Hogs
 root them out and devour great quan-
 titles of them. They are widely distrb- | uted and an important food product
 and it would be a great pity if this ele-
 ment of marine wealth and industry
 should be wiped out.
 It may be that some day method
 will be devised for propagating the
 round clam. or "quahaug," which is | likewise threatened with extinction along the New England coast and else
 where Its mode of breeding is the 1 same as that of the soft clam. Natur- | alists say that the round clam has a
 fair gift of locomotion, and can trave l pretty fast when it wants to- It at tains middle size, so as to be fit fol
 eating in about five years. Long be- | fore Columbus came to America the | Indians had found a great many uses for the quahaug. They employed the
 shells as utensils and implements, such
 as arrow points, paint holders and | spoons. The purple eye and edge they l utilized for wampum, and in the manu- l facture of war belts and insignia of
 authority The meats were dried for | trade purposes. Historians aver that
 the coast tribes conquered by the Six
 Nations were obliged to pay regular
 tribute In clans, which were dried in
 the sun on pieces of bark. Some years
 ago factory was started in New Jer-
 sey for preserving clans and oysters
 by drying and granulation. It is said
 that the dessicated clam meats thus
 put up were excellent for soups and l chowders but for some reason they did | not find favor and the industry was
 abandoned.
 |
 CARPENTERS AND JOINERS.
 New York, Sept. 19.-The tenth gen