1 84 THE OYSTER. 



our results with those which had previously been ob- 

 tained by Winslow and others. 



In 1878 and 1879 Lieutenant Winslow found that 

 there were about .419 oysters to the square yard in 

 Tangier Sound, or one oyster to every two and three 

 hundred and eighty-'six thousandths square yards. 

 As the beds of Tangier Sound showed, at that time, 

 indications of exhaustion, this number, .419 to the 

 square yard, is less than it would be upon uninjured 

 beds, and it is probable that the beds outside the 

 Sound would have given a much greater number at that 

 time. If we now find that the average is below this 

 number, we can safely assume that the difference is 

 entirely due to the injury which the beds have sus- 

 tained since 1879, and we may thus form some esti- 

 mate of the time which will be required for their com- 

 plete destruction. We made use of the method which 

 was employed by Winslow in his examination. A 

 dredge, a yard wide, was dragged slowly over the 

 bed until we ascertained that we were upon the oyster 

 grounds. The dredge was then emptied, lowered on 

 to the bed, and as soon as it began to take hold of the 

 bottom it was timed, and the rate of the steamer was 

 also ascertained by the ground-log. The area covered 

 was not the same in all cases. Where oysters were 

 abundant the steamer was stopped and time was taken 

 as soon as the dredge was full. In other cases five 

 minutes were allowed to pass and the steamer was then 

 stopped. The dredge was then hauled in, and the 

 oysters were counted and measured. 



