152 THE OYSTER. 



to obtain, and it certainly justifies the widespread be- 

 lief that the oyster property of the State is in immi- 

 nent danger of complete destruction unless radical 

 changes in the methods of managing the beds are 

 made at once. * 



Great importance should not, however, be given to 

 the exact quantitative result which we obtained, as it 

 is based on only one examination. If the beds could 

 have been examined every year or two in the same 

 way; as we recommended at the time, the results of 

 successive examinations could have b( en ccmpared 

 with considerable accuracy, and definite data could 

 thus have been obtained, but it is difficult to estimate 

 the exact value of a single examination. 



EXPLANATION OF TABLE NO. I. 



The first column gives the name of the bed ; the 

 second the number of dredgings which were made 

 upon it by us ; the third the number of square yards 

 dredged ; the fourth the number of oysters taken ; the 

 fifth the number found by us in 1882; the sixth the 

 number found by us in 1883; the seventh the amount 

 of deviation from Winslow's average for 1879, of .419 

 oysters to the square yard, and the eighth the per- 

 centage of gain or loss since the last examination. 

 Thus the first line shows that eight dredgings were 

 made upon the Bodkin ; that 1732 square yards were 

 examined ; that 894 oysters were obtained ; that the 

 bed had lost -f-^-^ oysters to each square yard since 

 1882, and that it has lost 62 per cent of its value in 

 that time. 



