19 



li-oni spat tluui to j)laiit laro-e seed oysters. Tlie latter do not 

 i-eeover from the shock they have undergone in the rough 

 iiandling and in sudden change in their habitat unMl spat caught 

 a< the time of phmting seed oysters have attained an (Mjual si;^e." 

 'i'he results of these experiments are applicable to the Louisiana 

 fields, and speak strontily in favor of the latter method of 

 l)lauting. 



RATE OF GROWTH. 



During the past two seasons considerable attention was 

 given to observations and experiments having for their result a 

 definite determination of the rate of growth of oysters m Louisi- 

 ana waters. A definite answer to this point would serve as a 

 certain basis for the comparison of Louisiana and Atlantic 

 fields, and also serve to clear up some of the conflicting state- 

 ments made concerning the possibilities of growth in local wa- 

 ters. AMiile records of phenomenal growth are of interest, what 

 is of real value to the perspective oyster culturist is a knowl- 

 edge of the average growth that may reasonably be expected 

 from the oysters over a whole bed, rather than to know the maxi- 

 ]num growth that M'ill at best be attained by a few indi- 

 viduals only. 



In his report for 1904, Dr. Kellogg gives the measurements 

 of ten oysters, approximately one year. old, that average 3.07 

 inches in length, from the umbo to the opposite shell margin. In 

 May, 1906, measurements were made of oysters grown in the 

 same place — the piles luider the laboratory wharf — as those meas- 

 ured by Dr. Kellogg in 1904. The lengths were as follows : 2.50, 

 3 00, 2.75, 3.25, 3.50, 2.25, 3.00, 3.25, 2.75, 3.50 inches. The aver- 

 age length is 2.97 inches. These oysters were Avell rounded, 

 and the length from hinge to shell margin in a good shaped 

 oyster represents a much greater volume than the same length 

 of shell in an oyster that has been crowded during its growth. 

 These oysters were approximately eleven months old, assuming 

 that the spat settled on the piles within a few days aftei- these 

 were put in place. 



It is probable that these oysters had grown very slowly, if 



