reach six miles or more. Even in the shallow bays, where there 

 are practically no inequalities on the bottom, the current sel- 

 dom falls below one mile an hour and is usually considerably 

 greater. 



DETAILED DISCUSSION OF THE CONDITIONS IN THE 

 SEVERAL BODIES OF WATER. 



In the consideration of the different localities it has seemed 

 best to take them up as nearly as possible in the order of their 

 occurrence, starting with Four League Bay on the western 

 side of the parish. 



FOUR LEAGUE BAY AND OYSTER BAYOU. 



In Four League Bay the oyster reefs are all situated in 

 the lower southern end of the bay. All of the oysters on these 

 reefs are small and of very poor quality. The bottom surround- 

 ing the reefs is composed of very soft mud, incapable of sup- 

 porting oysters without artificial hardening. The water in this 

 bay is. almost always, nearly fresh, owing to the discharge of 

 the water from the Atchafalaya River. The food supply is at 

 best very unstable, and there can be no assurance of success 

 from any plant in this bay. In Oyster Bayou — the connection 

 between Four League Bay and the Gulf of Mexico — which is 

 «( me two miles long and from 100 to 150 yards wide, the salin- 

 ity of the Avater is also very variable. The depth of the water 

 in this bayou varies from eighteen feet to not more than six 

 feet at the mouth, while in the middle portion of the bayou 

 there are oyster reefs in the channel that are exposed at low 

 tide. The oysters from the reefs in this bayou, both the deep- 

 water reefs as well as those along the banks, are elongated 

 and of very poor quality. During the past winter a great 

 many seed oysters were taken fro mthe deeper reefs in this 

 bayou: but all of them were old "coony" oysters that would 

 never show any marked improvement in size or shape. The food 

 <,upply is very variable, depending on the condition of the 

 water in the bay above; and while at time? it is as abundant 

 as on any of the reefs near by, there is no certainty that (-here 

 will be an abundance of food at the time wben the oysters 

 should be in condition for the market. 



