130 Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners 



in width. From Sillery Bay to the head waters of the river 

 the width averages about one mile. Four small tributaries 

 enter from the south and five from the north. The currents are 

 tidal in origin and attain a velocity of .17 to .25 mile per hour 

 in the main channels. Over the oyster grounds which with 

 one exception are situated near the shore, the observed veloci- 

 ties ranged from .04 to .14 mile per hour. The density of the 

 water during the period covered by the survey (November 16- 

 26) varied from 1.0082 to 1.0114, very little difference having 

 been noted between the density near the mouth of the river and 

 that of its head waters. The period 'covered by the survey is 

 that when the water in this section may be expected to contain 

 more salt than at any other season of the year. This is due to 

 the fact that the quantity of fresh water entering the rivers and 

 Bay is then at its minimum. During the spring the density of 

 the water is probably as low as T.004. 



During the survey of Magothy River, oyster grounds were 

 surveyed and examined in seventeen localities, but ten of these 

 were found to be so" depleted as not to yield a livelihood to 

 tongmen. The area of these depleted grounds aggregated about 

 one hundred acres. The total area of the seven oyster grounds 

 which were charted and buoyed as natural bars, is two hundred 

 and twenty-six acres. The oyster grounds are located on both 

 sides of the river in a belt parallel with the shore, the average 

 depth of water over them being about ten feet. Their inshore 

 boundaries are in a depth of about five feet and the bottom is 

 hard, but the depth of the off-shore boundaries is about sixteen 

 feet and the bottom sticky. 



Magothy River has long since ceased to be a center for ex- 

 tensive tonging operations on account of the depleted condition 

 of the oyster grounds, and hence offers an excellent opportunity 

 for oyster culture on a limited scale. There are probably 

 three hundred acres of bottoms on which oysters can be success- 

 fully grown from planted seed* 3 and the difficulty of protecting 

 private oyster grounds is probably less in this river than in any 

 other section in Anne Arundel County. 



43See page 182. 



