21 



DEl'Tll OF WAT Eli. 



The vortical raiitre of oyster beds is troin the shore line to 

 some lifteeii fathoms of water, althou^'h the number of beds iu 

 such deep water is comparatively small, and they exist only 

 when they have been made artificially. The conditions for 

 growth are usually more fj^vorable in the shallower waters and 

 the «j;reater deptLs are resorted to only when the bottoms nnder 

 shalh)w water have been taken \ip. In the deeper water there 

 is less likelihood of obtaining: an ahiuulant set of spat, and f )r 

 this reason they are less adapted for planting; with clutch. 



In some of the deep channels of the baj^ous on the coast 

 of this State natural reefs oi oysters are found in from twenty 

 to forty feet of water, and under the same conditions of salinity 

 and food supply, there is no apparent reason why planted beds 

 should not do as well at the same or greater depths. 



The shallower portions of the gulf out to a depth of five 

 to ten fathoms are practically unexplored from the standpoint 

 of oyster culture, and no definite statement can be made con- 

 cerning the practicability of plants in the gulf further than to 

 say that in the places already studied the conditions seem to 

 le favorable wherever a sfahlr hotfom can he found. 



WK.ITHIJU <'<).\nir/<).\S^ST()li'MS. h'A/Xs. ] 



(iales rarely have any inHuenee on llie beds in deep water; 

 but in shallow water, and particularly where the bottom is 

 made up of somewhat sandy material, the amount of dwmage is 

 sometimes very great. The waves stirred up by the heavy 

 winds may tear the beds of oystei-s to pieces, casting the living 

 oysters on the beach or b;irying them so that they are stifled and 

 the bed practically destroyed. In exposed regions where the 

 bottom surrounding the oyster beds is verj- muddy, the waves 

 stir up the surface layers of soft mud so that the whole bed 

 may be covered with a deposit of sediment sufficient to kill all 

 of the aysters. If the currents are very strong the greater part 

 of this deposit may l)e washed away l)efore the oysters have 

 perished; but in the jibscnce of such furrenls the deposit is 

 sure to be fatal. In storms of less severity, when the ])ottom 

 i.-; not disturbed enough to do anv dajiiage. immense masses of 



