@1312 111111171 ZBtggers

The main preoccupation of the pioneer farmers during the early years of settlement was the task of clearing their lands and planting their first crops. Before long however, it became evident that the land was easily exhausted and required proper nutrients to restore the productivity. Mussel mud was one of the manures recommended as treatment for the depleted soils.

Mussel mud was a composition of shells. Oyster shells with their valuable lime content was the most common and prized ingredient. There were also clam, mussel and quahogs and myriad of sponge and protozoa, as well as algae and varied foliage. These beds of shells and decomposed matter could range in depth from three feet to thirty feet and there were millions of tons avail— able for the harvesting.

Before the early 1860’s the only way to retrieve this mud was to wade out to the mussel beds at low tide and fill scows or canoes with this fertilizer. After 1860, with the aid of mechanical dig- gers the operation took place in the winter on the ice. The equipment for mud digging was entirely of local production. In most cases the farmers themselves fashioned the stout, hand hewn frame, sills, handle and other wooden parts with lumber from their own woods, while the various metal parts such as the scoop, eye bolts, and trips were manufactured by the blacksmith at the local forge.

Walter Reid

and neighbours

- “mud digging” on the Stanley River

The mud was sold by the sleigh load. It took six or more forkfuls to load a single-horse sleigh, and at the turn of the century this was sold in most areas for about ten cents a load. The cost of a team load would be fifteen cents. The prices gradually increased and when the mud digging ceased about the 1940’s a single load cost about sixty or seventy cents.

At one time there were approximately three hundred mud diggers in operation in various loca- tions on the Island. In this area the South West River, Stanley River, and Hope River were used for mud digging. The South West River was the main area and hundreds of loads were dug by Justin Woodside and Heath Durant who owned and operated the mud diggers.

Ideally the ice should have a thickness of ten to twelve inches for safe digging. Once a good area for mud digging was found it was then secured by being “bushed” and it was understood and accepted by all that the spot was then reserved. First light would reveal sleighs lined up for the diggers to operate. These diggers were horse-power and the digging and hauling was dependent on the strength of the horses. One farmer likened the mussel mud to hauling wet cement. Using the ice lightened the load for the horses. The mud was often spread that day on the snow—covered fields or stock piled from where it could be hauled at the farmer’s conve- nience. After the mud dried in the spring it was much easier to handle than wet or “green”. Usually the pile of mud would be placed in the barnyard as grit was needed by the hens for strong egg shells.

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