OYSTER INVESTIGATIONS IN GEORGIA 67 



of Soutli Atlantic Stales. It has been demonstrated by Coker 

 (1907) that "coon" oysters broken apart and planted on firm bot- 

 tom change their form and develop into good-shaped single oysters. 

 In the zone where setting is very heavy and in the localities where 

 the setting season extends over a period of several months, the 

 accumidation of young oysters attached to a single solid object is 

 so great that it results in the formation of large clusters (fig. 8), 

 sometimes comprising several hundred specimens. It is obvious that 

 small oysters in the middle of the cluster develop under very adverse 

 conditions preventing their normal growth ; they never reach market- 

 able size. In 1927, the senior author had a chance to examine oysters 

 taken from the beds in the vicinity of Sapelo Sound and delivered 

 to one of the canneries. The stock was so poor that on the average 



FiGiRE 7. — Oysters growing on very soft mud. Near Brunswick, Ga. Low tide 



there were to every shucked oyster at least 10 oysters which were 

 thrown away unopened because of their small size. There were 

 many clusters comprising from 50 to 75 oysters out of which only 1 

 was taken by the shucker. One can easily see how this wasteful 

 method leads to the destruction of the natural resource and imposes 

 unnecessary additional expenses in the gathering, transporting, and 

 shucking of oysters. 



Besides natural oyster beds located along the shore line and rarely 

 extending below low-water mark, there occur in the open sounds of 

 Georgia large accumulations of oysters forming bars or reefs. The 

 largest reef was found in Altamaha Sound, east of Little Egg Island. 

 (Fig. 9.) The reef, irregular in shape, is about 380 yards long and 

 75 yards wide. It is l)uilt on hard sand, is from G to 7 feet liigli, 

 and is entirely exposed at low tide. An examination of the sides of 

 the reef shows that it is buih. of a large number of units or " pillars," 

 comprising from 12 to 18 oysters set one on top of another. (Fig. 10.) 



103218—30 2 



