Kingston
The condition of the clam industry at Kingston is in many respects parallel to that at Duxbury. The clam flat area (some 600 acres) is very much smaller, but the character of the soil is essentially the same, consisting for the most part of clay, soft mud and eel-grass marshes, with a relatively small proportion of really suitable ground.
The two main flats of the town are Egobert’s and Gray’s. Egobert’s, the larger of the two, has an area of about 275 acres. Most of this is practically waste, owing to a thick growth of eel grass; but a triangular piece on the mid-southern section is bare. This portion of smooth, unshifting sand comprises about 80 acres. A few patches of clams are scattered along the outer edge, near the channel, but hardly any of these patches produce clams enough to make it profitable to dig them. The great bulk of this territory is entirely barren.
Gray’s flat is of an entirely different type. It is a long flat, with a fairly uniform width of about 100 yards. It runs through its entire length parallel to the shore, while on the other side it is separated from Egobert’s by a 300-foot channel. Like Egobert’s, it is covered for the most part by eel grass, but it is essentially different in the nature of its soil, which is mud throughout. Although the total area of the flat is about 115 acres, an irregular section of bare mud on the southeastern side, comprising 30 acres, is the only available clam territory. This section is composed of soft mud on the north and south, rather poorly suited for clam culture; but the mid section contains several acres of hard mud, which seems well adapted, and here clams are found in sufficient quantities to keep several men digging intermittently through the summer months.
Along the shore a few clam grants have been given to individuals by the local authorities. These are managed with fair success, though no business other than that of supplying the local demand is carried on. The possibilities of forming a clam industry here of importance is evident, though through lack of available territory it could never give promise of such a development as might be looked for from Duxbury or Plymouth.
Summary of Industry.
| Number of men, | 4 |
| Capital invested, | $50 |
| Production, 1907:— | |
| Bushels, | 500 |
| Value, | $450 |
| Total area (acres):— | |
| Sand, | 150 |
| Mud, | — |
| Gravel, | — |
| Mussels and eel grass, | 450 |
| Total, | 600 |
| Productive area (acres):— | |
| Good clamming, | 5 |
| Scattering clams, | 5 |
| Barren area possibly productive (acres), | 150 |
| Waste barren area (acres), | 440 |
| Possible normal production, | $18,000 |