They would have what you call a bobsled. It would not be a sleigh exactly, but you could stretch it out, you know, and every sleigh had a team of horses. I remember they used to haul it all the way up to St. Margarets , the mussel mud. Very often sometimes, they used to stop to feed the horses over home. They always used this road.* It was hauled in across by Ben (Lewis) any that was going east. (25) By 1939 or '40, mussel mud digging was about over, with a great deal of the mud in the rivers pretty well dug up. (26) In his Brief History of St. Peters Bay , C. C. Pratt suggests that another reason for the decline of the industry was the growth of the potato industry during World War one. As the shells from the mussel mud tended to scab the potatoes, other ways of fertilizing the land were looked into. (27) According to Don Anderson , brothers Joe and Jimmy Lewis were the last two people to have a mud digger on St. Peters Bay . They were located just west of the boundary of the present day on the Bay. (28) The success of the mussel mud industry was talked about for many years in the St. Peters area. One amusing story concerning Shirley Sutherland and his experience with Mussel Mud was relayed by his son John: Harry Thompson of Southampton met his friend Shirley Sutherland at a senior's function one night in St. Peters . Harry said to Shirley, "Shirley, I still owe you five dollars for your last load of mussel mud," (that had actually been received 35-40 years previously). Shirley proceeded to tell Harry that if he bought him a drink, he would consider it even. Harry did so and replied "You never know when you are going to meet St. Peter - and it would be best to have all the bills paid at that time." (29) The Island's farmers continued to work, without much help, assistance, or guidance at a provincial level. In 1901 this changed with the establishment of the Provincial Department of Agriculture. That same year an " Act for the Encouragement of Agriculture" was passed which led to the formation of The Farmers Institutes. In its initial year, 20 branches of The Farmers Institutes were established across the Island, one being located at St. Peters Bay . * This "road" is now the current driveway to Hilda Lewis ' residence. This road used to continue through the woods to her father's residence, ( Robert Lewis ) in Cable Head East which she refers to as "over home.' It was well traveled at one time but now is quite overgrown and in places impassable. Ben Lewis is her brother that took over their father's farm and lived in the old Lewis homestead. This home s currently occupied by Ben's grandson, Chris Lewis . 96