_Method of Work._--The method of work used in preparing this portion of the report varied but little from that relating to the other shellfish, though several features made it harder to obtain accurate information. There is a more general obscurity about the history of the quahaug than about any of the other shellfish, even though the quahaug industry is commercially the youngest of all. This is due, perhaps, to the gradual rise of the industry through the discovery of new territory. The only historical record obtainable is E. Ingersoll's report on the quahaug, in 1879, in which he deals briefly with the industry in Massachusetts. Town records help but little in determining the history of the industry, as only of late years have the towns required the taking of permits. In making the biological survey, the difficulty arises of defining what constitutes quahaug ground, since scattering quahaugs are found over vast territories, but only limited areas are commercially productive. The estimates of the quahaugers, both historically and in regard to production and areas, are often erroneous and vary greatly. By the use of market reports, express shipments, estimates of dealers, estimates of several reliable quahaugers, and all methods at our command, the facts of the industry were compiled and errors eliminated as far as possible. The home consumption is hard to determine, and is merely an estimate. The area of the quahaug territory was plotted on the map, and calculations made from the plots. Whenever personal inspection was not possible, as in Falmouth, the estimates of several quahaugers were taken. _Results._ 1. _Is the Quahaug Fishery declining?_--The decline of the quahaug fishery is well recognized. Even the production figures, which, when stimulated by high prices, usually give a deceptive appearance of prosperity to a declining industry, since more men enter the fishery, show a decline in the last few years. When such a point is reached,--when, in spite of higher prices and more men, the annual production becomes less and less,--not many years will pass before the industry will collapse completely. Increased prices show either an increase in demand or a falling off of the supply. Both are perhaps true of the quahaug industry. The demand, especially for "little necks," has been steadily on the increase, and a broad inland market is gradually opening, since the quahaug is capable of long transportation without perishing. So the increased prices are a sign of the diminution of the supply, as well as of an increased demand, the indeterminable factor being what ratio the one bears to the other. The only way to determine accurately the decline in the natural supply is to compare the amount the average quahauger could dig ten or twenty years ago with the amount dug to-day. Even this comparison is unfair, as the better rakes, improved methods, etc., of the present time tend to increase the daily yield of the quahauger.