A History of Elmsdale, Elmsdale West, and Brockton, Prince Edward Island

In February or early March, when the ice was about three feet thick and could with- stand the weight of a loaded sleigh; the mussel mud digger was set up over a hole about ten by sixteen feet which had been cut with a hand “ice saw.”

The homemade digger had a frame made of heavy timbers and a long handle, the length of which depended on the depth of the bed. The iron forks used to lift the mud were made by local blacksmiths. At the top of the digger frame were a block and chain attached to a capstan.) which was wound by horsepower. Two men were needed to operate the digger. '

Farmers dressed in warm layers of winter wool often left home before dawn to reach the digging site in early morning. They gathered with their sleighs near the great wooden mud digger to get a load of mussel mud. The digger operators worked on a first come, firstserved basis. The time spent in waiting for their load was used to

graze.

Blanche Warren Coll.

A mud digger on the Mill River ice

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