The total area of clam flats in Gloucester approximates 550 acres. Of this, some 250 acres are sand, 200 mud, while there are about 100 acres of mussels and eel grass, which cannot be considered at all adapted for clam culture. Only a fraction of the whole, 75 acres, more or less, is good clamming; a scant 100 acres produces scattering clams; 275 acres are barren, though capable of producing clams; while 100 acres may never be made productive. Eight men dig regularly on these flats the year round, and 23 others work intermittently. The capital invested amounts to over $600, and the annual output exceeds 6,000 bushels, valued at $8,000. Most of the clams produced at Gloucester are shucked either for market or bait. Local legislation has no bearing on the shellfish question, and no effort is being made either to better conditions in the clam industry or to check its steady decline. The industry has fallen off greatly in the past few years. In 1875 there were 90 regular clammers, and a man could dig 6 bushels to a tide, where now 8 regular and 23 intermittent clammers find it difficult to get from 1½ bushels to 3 bushels per tide. COMPARISON OF 1907 WITH 1879. ======+============+========+======+===========+======== YEAR. | Production | Value. | Men. | Capital | Price. | (Bushels). | | | Invested. | ------+------------+--------+------+-----------+-------- 1879, | 13,978 | $5,200 | 92 | $2,000 | $0.40 1907, | 6,000 | 8,000 | 31 | 600 | 1.33 ======+============+========+======+===========+======== SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY. Number of men, 31 Capital invested, $600 Production, 1907:-- Bushels, 6,000 Value, $8,000 Total area (acres):-- Sand, 250 Mud, 200 Gravel, - Mussels and eel grass, 100 Total, 550 Productive area (acres):-- Good clamming, 75 Scattering clams, 100 Barren area possibly productive (acres), 275 Waste barren area (acres), 100 Possible normal production, $70,000 _Manchester._