43 



food abiuidaiit. The poor couditioii of the oysters is to be 

 attributed to their e-rowded eonditiou and not to any deficiency 

 in the food supply. 



In the lower expanded portion of Baijou Has llU u, known as 

 Bay Bas Bleu, there are oysters scattered over practically all 

 of the bottom in from four to twelve feet of water. The bottom 

 is here composed of a fine gravelly material, but is rather soft. 

 Above Bay Bas Bleu the oyster reefs are nearly continuous across 

 the bayou for a distance of from one mile to one and one-half 

 miles. The depth of the water varies from four to twenty-four 

 ftet over these reefs. In the broad upper end of the bayou 

 there are oysters in scattered bunches over a large area. In this 

 section of the bayou there is no well-defined reef ; but practically 

 the whole of the bottom is covered with the large bunches of 

 densely crowded oysters, the clusters being separated by small 

 patches of very soft barren bottom. 



The salinity and food conditions are practically the same 

 as in the last-mentioned bayou. There are leases near the lower 

 ends of both these bayous; but the oysters taken from these 

 planted beds were in poor condition. The greatest drawback to 

 bedding in these waters seems to be the especially heavy set of 

 spat that occurs each season. Seed oysters put down in early 

 spring become covered with a dense growth of young lalei- m 

 the season, so that their feeding is interfered with and the whole 

 cluster becomes so densely crowded that no good-shaped oysters 

 will be produced. Under present conditions this locality pro- 

 vides a valuable place for catching spat to serve as seed, but 

 the probability of the adult oysters being covered up by the 

 young at each breeding season makes its value as a planting 

 ground very slight. 



Lake Tavibour, at the heads of the bayous last mentioned, is 

 seme four miles long and from one mile to two and one-half miles 

 wide. The depth of the watcn- in this lake is fl'om three to seven 

 feet. The bottom is almost universally soft. There is a large 

 reef in the eastern end of the lake al)ove the entrance of Bayou 

 Bas Bleu. The oysters on this reef as well as on some planted 

 beds in the northwestern part of the lake are liadly overgrown 

 with mussels. 





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