The quahauger averages perhaps 100 working days in a year, as in a strong wind and choppy sea it is impossible to rake in the deep water. A good fisherman expects to rake from 2 to 3 barrels of quahaugs a day. Five to ten years ago as many as 15 barrels were dug in a day by one man, but this is impossible now. Even as it is, the profits are large. The best quahauger in Orleans cleared in 1906 over $1,600, while several others made nearly $1,400. As at Wellfleet, the Orleans quahaugers receive licenses to replant their quahaugs along the shore, and it is customary to thus keep them until the New York or Boston markets offer suitable prices. Nearly two-thirds of these deep-water quahaugs are blunts, and perhaps one-tenth of the catch is "little necks." (2) _Pleasant Bay Industry._--About 25 men dig here from ordinary dories, using short rakes and tongs. The average wages are $2 to $3 per day, which is considerably less than the high wages of the Cape Cod Bay fishery; but many more days can be utilized during the year, while the work is much easier and the necessary outlay of capital is slight. Here the quahaugs run about one-half "little necks," and the proportion of blunts is small. Little evidence of decline can be seen in Pleasant Bay, where the bed of quahaugs, although raked for a long time, still shows few signs of decrease. On the Cape Cod Bay side the reverse is true, and the supply is gradually diminishing. The same town laws for regulation of the quahaug fishery apply for Wellfleet, Eastham and Orleans. (See Wellfleet.) The main historical features of the quahaug industry at Orleans have been similar to Wellfleet, the industry lying practically dormant until 1894, when it rapidly reached its present production. Unfortunately, but little data can be obtained for comparison of the industry of 1879 with 1907. Ernest Ingersoll reports, in 1879:-- At Orleans, some few men who go mackereling in summer stay at home and dig clams in winter, getting perhaps 50 barrels of quahaugs among others, which are peddled in the town. Comparing the two years by table, we find:-- =======================+=================+=============================== |1879. |1907. | -----------------------+-----------------+------------------------------+ Annual production, |150 bushels, |33,000 bushels. | Value of production, |$82.50, |$41,350. | Number of men, |A few, |75. | Location, quahaug beds,|Pleasant Bay, |Cape Cod Bay and Pleasant Bay.| Market, |Home consumption,|New York and Boston. | =======================+=================+=============================== SUMMARY OF INDUSTRY.