Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-10-24

Is IN a fair way to become as rare as
day in June. Unhappily the clam
less Grandmother is already no
stranger to our shores. But who can
contemplate with equanimity that fu-
ture toretold by sensational journals,
in which the red tomato shall triumph
altogether and the chowder be per
manentiy put On the board with Ham
let left out?
Hoping to find silver lining to thai
dark culinary cloud, l sought author.-
tative information at the State House.
My talk with DR.. Field of the Fish
and Game Commission convinced me
that the situation is both better and
worse than it has been represented. 1t
is not the soft clam alone which is
turning its back upon Massachusetts,
but the whole train of shore-dinner
shellfish-the oyster the quahaug, or
Little Neck, and the precious scanop!
| shall not hereafter mention the dis
affection of the oyster, because his
case has been already exhaustively
treated in the Transcript. Suffice 1t
to say that he is practically gone.
Over against this disheartening
news we may set the assurance of
the Fish Commission that the whole
army Of decamping bivalves may yet
be induced to change their minds and
stay with us a little longer if only we
will consider our ways and be wise.
The primary cause of the failure O.
the shellish supply is an increased de-
mand. Other things like severe win
ters and the pollution of fats with
the refuse of cities, have taken a
hand in the mischief. But a lively
sale and good prices have been the
most potent factors, because they
have made the fishermen greedy. So
greedy that they forgot to look ahead
even for a single season. In their
hurry to snatch the last dollar they
have been taking and selling infant
CLAIMS and infant scallops, a proceed
ing absolutely fatal to the welfare Of
tho fisheries.
In the case of the scallop, there is
plenty of law to prevent the untimely
taking off of seedlings; but, unfortu-
nately, the statutes neglect to defire
the word seed" Fishermen know
well enough when they are taking
scallops which should be left to in
crease and multiply; for, though the
youngsters get most of their growth
during their first summer, so that they
are not easily distinguishable in size
from their elders, yet there is q
bright look to the shell, which is thin
and clear of stony eaworms-serpula.
! think, is the proper term-which adj
vertises conspicuously the fact that
they have not yet weathered an Amer
lean winter And yet, so long as the
law sets no date for their coming o.
age, nobody can be prosecuted for
dredging up young scallops And
dredged up they are in appalling mum
bers. At Chatham this season, where
fifteen boats are steadily engaged ia
scallop-ishing and the shells are
brought in at the rate of fifty bushels
a day, this seasons catch has con-
sisted altogether of seedi
How serious a matter this is an
pears only when one takes into ac-
coun&that seal!op born during the
past summer has not spawned. Left
until next June or July it would pre-
sent the world with scallop-eggs to
the number OF 100000. To be sure
many of these eggs would die, and OF
those that Matched a comparatively
small majority would come to years
of discretion. And yet, 100000 seal
Top possibilities taken out of the
world for each young scallop wrong
fully dredged up, and fifty bushels OF
such taken daily at Chatham! The
thing is too awful to contemplate!
The case is nowhere else so bad as
at Chatham. Cape Cod as a whole
takes only s $40 per cent of seed
But the fact remains that the law
should be amended, and that speedily
so as to make the words "seed-scal-
lops apply to all under one year old
Legislation does not enter into the
plans of the Commission for the amali-
Grafton of the condition of the clam
Instead of protecting him further by
law they aim to make him a CONNER
cial pet DR.. Field points out that it
is both easier and cheaper to raise
artificially than to cultivate oysters.
much as clam-farming has been neg
lected in the past. The original out
lay is insignificant and the profits Of
the work fall between $500 and $1,000
per acre. Nothing short of very In
tensive land farming can show figures
like these 1t would not be difficult to
multiply the present output by ten
and dispose of every bushel OF 1t, if
only the hundreds of acres of flats
now left barren could be seeded down
with clans.
But here we come to the difficulty
If clam-farming, or gardening" as
the Commissioners prefer to say, is
to be developed, the farmer must
first have assurance that his seeded
flats will be secure from molestation,
for nobody is eager to raise claims
that the first man with a rake can
take away And this is precisely what
Massachusetts is unprepared to give
Mollusk fisheries are at present legal
ly placed in the hands, not of the
State, but of local town governments,
where they are susceptible to all the
petty squabbles and jealousies which