OYSTER CULTUKK KXl'KUl IMENTS IIS' LOUISIANA. 21 



Falsemouth Bny, which thoy equakHl or slightly excelled in fatness, 

 but their superiority in appearance more than compensated for this. 

 A clean, attractive-looking exterior is of importance in high-grade 

 oysters used in the "" counter " or *' shell " trade, the most lucrative 

 market which the planter can supply. The authors have been in- 

 formed that the oysters left on the experimental beds have been taken 

 up by oystermen and sold for $2 per barrel in New Orleans at a 

 time when ordinary oysters could hardlj^ be disposed of. 



Unfortunately here, as at other of the experimental plants in the 

 state, the authors were not able to make ultimate determinations of 

 the productivity of the grounds, owing to the theft of most of the 

 nuirketable oysters prior to the final examination. The average 

 growth on the older sections of the planted beds in January, 1909, 

 was but 140 bushels per acre, though examinations made in the pre- 

 ceding May showed that in places the density of the oysters w^as at 

 the rate of between 1,500 and 2,000 United States standard bushels 

 per acre, and a conservative estimate would place the average for the 

 entire area at between 1,000. and 1,500 bushels or 300 and -450 barrels 

 per acre. 



BAY TAMBOUR. 



The work at Bay Tambour was coincident with that at Bayou St. 

 Denis and the same methods were followed, but the experiment was 

 abandoned so far as the planting of cultch was concerned at the end 

 of June, 1907. 



The plant was located oti' the western point of a small island lying 

 west of Bayou Andre, on the site of an extinct oyster bed, the only 

 evidence of whose former existence is in the shells deeply buried in 

 the mud. The currents are moderate, being perhaps of about half 

 the strength of those at Bayou St. Denis. The water in the three 

 3'^ears during which the observations were continued had an average 

 specific gravity of 1.014G and a range between 1.010 and 1.020. This 

 salinity is considerably higher than at Bayou St. Denis, but, con- 

 sidering the requirements of the oyster only, is well adapted to 

 oyster culture. Residents stated, prior to the beginning of the ex- 

 I)eriment. that the water at this place killed oysters, but, as is shown 

 by the investigations hereafter recounted, this is an error, the mor- 

 tality among the young oysters being due to another cause, although 

 indirectly attributable to the relative saltness of the w^ater as com- 

 pared with more northerly parts of the bay. At this locality there 

 is very little probability of loss from the effects of crevasses or from 

 sudden and drastic changes in the saltness of the water from any 

 cause. 



The bottom in the immediate vicinity of the plantation is hard, 

 but much of that adjoining is soft, though a considerable area could 

 be utilized for oyster culture. 



