14 



RECOVERY FROM THE EFFECTS OF FRESHETS. 



When the reefs in Calcasieu Pass were examined for the 

 last time, in the summer of 1905, they were, with the exception 

 of the ones in the deep water near the lower part of the pass, 

 practically extinct ; and in the case of the reefs near the head 

 of the pass there were no adults to serve as breeding oysters 

 to restock the depleted reefs. When examined again in the 

 tarly part of ]\Iarch, 1906, the shells on all the reefs in the pass 

 and in St. John Bayou showed a good growth of young oysters, 

 varying in diameter from one twenty-fiftli to two and a half 

 inches. On the reefs in the upper part of the pass the set was 

 not at all heavy, although practically all the shells examined had 

 a few spat^ attached. 



TABLE 4. 



Average number of young oysters on each one hundred 

 shells from different reefs in Calcasieu Pass in ]\Iarch, 1906 : 



Number of 

 Location of reef. young oysters. 



Reef at upper end of pass 5.67 



East Twin Reef 6.75 



Reef at mouth of St. John Bayou 6.15 



Reef one-quarter mile below Leesburg . 13.00 



Reef one-half mile below Leesburg 18.47 



Lighthouse Reef 26.72 



Although the number of young per shell is in each in- 

 stance comparatively small, still, when we take into account the 

 fact that the examinations were made some four months after 

 the set was secured, and that most of the young were from one 

 to two inches long, and so past the most critical stage of their 

 existence, as was shown by the larger number of small dead 

 spats on each shell, the present condition of these beds assures 

 a continued productivity. The small number of yoiuig present 

 on each shell will prevent the crowding so common among the 

 oysters on these reefs, and thus assure a better quality of oysters 

 than could have been produced had the "set" been as heavy as 

 is usual in these waters. 



