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that live in the waters along the coast, one of the young stages 

 being- the form found in the oyster. 



When an oyster is infested with this parasite the visceal 

 mass Avill have an appearance very similar to that of an oyster 

 laden with well-developed sexual products. On a more careful 

 examination it will be found that the "milky" appearance is 

 due to the presence of immense numbers of minute tubes that 

 ramify throughout the visceral mass. If the body of the oyster 

 is cut or pulled to pieces, the edges of the fragments separated 

 will have a "fuzzy" appearance as if the entire mass was com- 

 posed of small hairs. 



In all cases of infestation by this form that have come to 

 the notice of the writer, the proportion of the oysters infested 

 has been so small as to be negligable from a practical standpoint, 

 and in more northern localities where the presence of this para- 

 site has been known for years the damage has seldom been of any 

 account. 



DESTRUCTION BY FRESHETS AND RECOVERY. 



In the greater part of the oyster-producing area of this 

 State, the most damaging destnictive agent is the fresh water 

 \rhich from time to time breaks away from natural restraints 

 and for a greater or less period of time makes the water over the 

 oyster beds so fresh that the oysters are either killed outright, or 

 made so poor that they are useless for market for some time. 



The damaging amounts of fresh Avater may come from the 

 smaller rivers at the time of the annual spring freshet, or iu 

 the eastern parishes, from breaks in the levee of the IMississippi 

 River. In the former case the freshet is likely to be more pro- 

 longed and to be destructive over a greater area. In the latter 

 case the results are likely to be very severe near where the break 

 occurs, Avhile the area concerned is not usually so large. 



The destruction from the spring freshet is of pretty regular 

 occurrence, more or less damage being done in some part of the 

 State each year ; while breaks in the levee have been of compara- 

 tively rare occurrence, and when they do come can usually be 

 controlled more than the freshets that depend on the heavy rain- 

 fall. The result is the same from either cause, large areas of 

 oyster-producing bottom being practically denuded of their 

 growth. 



