388 REPUliT OJ' COMMLSSlONEli OV I'l.SII AND FISHEKIES. 



S^])[)(>it Avhiitcvcr to I lie oysters, and i)erinits them to sink aiul be 

 covered; hence none Jireionnd on bottoms of this natnre. The muddy 

 j»ioiiiid is mucli better lor their growth, and Avherever oysters can 

 jiain "ii looting" on sucli bottoms they will live and thrive, provided 

 the density of the Avater be favorable. An excellent example of this is 

 found in the extreme eastern arm of MatajiordaBay and in some parts 

 of Mesijuit Buy. However, these j»i(mnds aje subject to an occa- 

 sional deposit of mud, which may <'o\'er up and destroy the oysters. 

 But where they are able to li\'e, it will be ibund all along the coast 

 that oysters ^ni nniddy bottoms attain a much larger and more rapid 

 growth than those resting on other grounds, and the ilavor is generally 

 considered ('(jually tine. But lew oysters Avill be found on sea bottoms 

 abundantly covered Avith vegetable life, because the grass, etc., covers 

 up and smothers them even more effectually than the mud. Hard 

 grouiuls form the natural resting-places for oysters, and wherever the 

 water is suitable and the sea bottom is of this luiture a generous supply 

 of these mollusks Avill almost certainly be foujul. 



After inspecting a large juirt of the oyster reefs and making careful 

 in(piiry of the best-informed tishermen, 1 estimate the area of the sea 

 bottom in this State that has produced oysters during the last ten years 

 as follows : 



Localities. 



Sabitio Lako 



(!;ilvi's1(>ti Tiiiv 



Ma(:i.!;(>i<bir;;i.v 



10s|iiiilu Siiiito liay 

 Sini Aiiliiiiio Bay . . 



Mosqiiit I'.ay 



Araiinas Hay 



(Corpus Cliristi P.ay 

 Laifuua Mailru 



Total area. 



)S(j. tnili'ti. 



•M 

 .'•G5 

 440 



111 

 1-J'J 



2:i 



i(i;i 



18.'. 

 811 



2,471 



Area of 

 oyster- 

 grouufls. 



. inilcn. 



1 

 50 

 4.-> 



G 



1 



3 

 15 



i;i 



3 



It is believed that this area of 87,080 acres represents as nearly the 

 extent of grouiul in Texas on which oysters have ])een tbund as can be 

 obtained without an actual survey of all the reefs in the State. 



It is interesting to note in this connection that an oflficial rej^ort of 

 thu State of Maryland, the greatest oyster-i)roducing region in the 

 world, estimat*\s the area of the natural oyster-grounds of that State, 

 excepting those of the Potomac Kiver, to be about 123,520 acres. The 

 area of the natural oyster beds of Connecticut has by actual survey 

 been determined to be ]t),!)]l acres. The TJ. S. Fish Commission sur- 

 veys made in 1801 show 773 acres uoav producing oysters in South 

 Carolina. In 1888 the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey determined 

 the area of natural oyster beds in North Carolina to be 8,237.0 acres, 

 and in Georgia in 1800 to be 1,750.8 acres. 



