8l8 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



sometimes command better prices when intended for a 

 special market, or to supply some unusual demand. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



The following remarks are simply the conclusions 

 drawn from certain peculiar features and facts established 

 by the investigation and testimony, and an attempt to 

 account for them. 



. There are, then, two similar facts noticed 

 in both Sounds with regard to the presence and absence of 

 the young and " young growth ;" the former have been 

 found in deep water and on hard bottoms, the latter in 

 shoal water, on or near soft bottoms. The character of 

 the bottom can hardly be of much importance in this case, 

 . . . . and the only probable cause known to us is the 

 difference of depth of water. 



. . . The class termed " young growth " by us 

 were from three-fourths of an inch to one-and-a-half inches 

 long. 



. The difference in time of spawning, in 

 shoal and deep water, is probably due to difference in 

 temperature, the deeper water naturally being of the 

 lowest. The establishment or the refutation of this sup- 

 position, as also that of the difference of the times of 

 spawning (f) is very necessary, especially of the latter, as 

 it would afford a sure basis for such legislation for the pro- 

 tection of the beds as will soon be necessary. 



( /) In searching for spawn in the oysters during the latter part of 

 August and first part of September, Mr. Rice was unable to discover 

 any except in those from deep water, and that fact, together with the 

 inference drawn from the preceding paragraphs, leads me to believe the 

 oystermen correct in stating that there is a difference in the time of 

 spawning of the shoal and deep water oysters. 



