OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 25 



considerable area of bottom was taken up by planters in this region 

 and most of the oysters shipped during the oyster season 1908-9 

 were grown on these leaseholds. It is understood that the business 

 was very profitable and that the supply of Barataria oysters, despite 

 their lack of previous reputation, was unequal to the demand. They 

 were all contracted for at a price equivalent to $1.00 per barrel on 

 the beds and could have commanded a higher price in the open 

 market. It is the opinion of the authors that they are among the 

 best produc;ed on our entire coast. 



ST. BERNARD PARISH. 



St. Bernard Parish embraces the most productive natural oyster 

 region in Louisiana and at the present time produces about 40 per 

 cent of the total yield of the state. Its oyster beds lie principally 

 in what is known as the " Louisiana marshes," a low uninhabited 

 expanse of sea marsh and prairie covering an area of between 400 

 and 500 square miles between Mississippi, Chandeleur, and Isle au 

 Breton sounds. This region is cut up into innumerable islands by 

 an intricate system of bays and bayous, most of which contain natural 

 oyster beds, described and platted in some detail in the report of the 

 investigations in 1898, previously alluded to. 



In the season of 1906-7 St. Bernard Parish produced upward of 

 1,000,000 bushels of oysters, but in the following season the produc- 

 tion was somewhat smaller. Although there have been some attempts 

 at oyster culture and there are extensive leaseholds, most of these 

 oysters came from the natural beds. 



In 1898 there were no leases of bottom in this region and few were 

 granted prior to 1904, when what was practically the present oyster 

 law went into operation. In the next five years 66 leases were issued, 

 and in 1908 there were in force 48 leases, aggregating 5,395 acres, of 

 which 44 leases and 4,456 acres were in the Louisiana marsh and 4 

 leases and 939 acres in Lake Borgne. 



Many of the leases are for plots less than 20 acres in extent, but 9 

 individuals, firms, and corporations have holdings of between 100 

 and 1,000 acres each, covered by 25 leases aggregating 4,858 acres. 

 These have been planted in part with seed oysters and shells, but the 

 business has not yet proved verj^ profitable owing mainly to the fact 

 that the set of spat has been so heavy as to cause overcrowding of 

 the beds with the consequent failure of the oysters to fatten and grow 

 to good shape. 



The salinity of the water varies considerably in the several parts 

 of the region under discussion, being as a rule lower in Lake Borgne 

 and the waters closer to Mississippi Sound and higher toward Chan- 

 deleur Sound and the southern part of the parish. This is shown in 



