198 Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners 



are well worth the small cost of carrying them on. The plan 

 for completing these investigations is as follows : 



A STANDARD TO BE ESTABLISHED. 



No practical value can be attached to the result of a single 

 examination of the food contents of the water of a locality or 

 to the results of a series of examinations covering but a short 

 period of time, because the food value of the water of every 

 locality changes more or less with the seasons. A standard 

 food value to be obtained by making numerous examinations 

 of the water over certain natural oyster bars, the value of 

 which for oyster production is known, covering every month 

 for a series of years, is needed to which to refer all isolated 

 examinations. Having such a standard of food value of water 

 with which to compare the results of examinations of the food 

 contents of water from localities where barren bottoms are situ- 

 ated, it should be possible to ascertain not only that such bot- 

 toms will or will not be valuable for oyster culture, but also the 

 quantity of oysters they will support per acre. 



It is proposed to establish such a standard for the food 

 value of the waters of the Chesapeake by making systematic 

 examinations of the water above natural oyster bars in the 

 following localities, three of which are on the Western and 

 three on the Eastern Shore : 



Hackett Point. 



Holland Point. 



Patuxent River. 



Tangier Sound. 



Poplar Island. 



Love Point. 



A standard of sufficient accuracy for practical use will not 

 have been established for at least two years, and it has been 

 thought best, therefore, to withhold all results of the examina- 

 tions of the food contents of the water thus" far made from 

 this- report. 



The value of the bottoms at Hackett and Holland points and 

 in Tangier Sound, in terms of the quantity of oysters they now 

 produce, is known from the results of the examination made 



