| Number of men, | 30 |
| Capital invested, | $200 |
| Value of shore property, | — |
| Production, 1907:— | |
| Bushels, | 3,000 |
| Value, | $3,000 |
| Total area (acres):— | |
| Sand, | 125 |
| Mud, | 50 |
| Gravel, | 20 |
| Mussels and eel grass, | 5 |
| Total, | 200 |
| Productive area (acres):— | |
| Good clamming, | 25 |
| Scattering clams, | 50 |
| Barren area possibly productive (acres), | 75 |
| Waste barren area (acres), | 50 |
| Possible normal production, | $27,000 |
Eastham.
The town of Eastham is a sparsely settled community, and the clam fishery, while not large, plays a rather important part in its business activity. Six men depend quite largely upon it for a livelihood, while some 30 others dig intermittently through the summer. The same peculiar condition as at Orleans exists on the western coast. Here far from shore clams are found in considerable numbers on the shifting bars. The main source of supply, however, comes from the productive sand flats of Nauset harbor.
These flats have seeded in only in the past two or three years, but they have already shown latent possibilities of a future increase. In the so-called "Salt Pond" 2 men are employed nearly the year round in digging clams under water by a method of "churning," locally known as "rootling."
The total available area in Eastham is about 200 acres. More than half of this is sand, which includes almost all the good digging, while the mud flats are interspersed with stretches of gravel and scattering patches of eel grass.
The same abuses which have nearly ruined the Swansea fishery have begun here. Small seed clams are exported in considerable quantities to supply the summer demand of the New Bedford and Fall River districts. While this system has not yet made its ravages apparent, a glance at the Swansea report will serve to convince the most casual reader that unless some steps are taken to check this evil, the practical annihilation of the Eastham clam industry must follow. As it is, local legislation seems powerless to cope with the problem, and no laws of any kind relating to the clam fishery are in force.
Summary of Industry.
| Number of men, | 36 |
| Capital invested, | $250 |
| Value of shore property, | — |
| Production, 1907:— | |
| Bushels, | 4,000 |
| Value, | $4,000 |
| Total area (acres):— | |
| Sand, | 100 |
| Mud, | 50 |
| Gravel, | 30 |
| Mussels and eel grass, | 20 |
| Total, | 200 |
| Productive area (acres):— | |
| Good clamming, | 25 |
| Scattering clams, | 50 |
| Barren area possibly productive (acres), | 100 |
| Waste barren area (acres), | 25 |
| Possible normal production, | $30,000 |