OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



33 



mately as rich as on the Falsemouth Bay plantation or at Bayou St. 

 Denis, in Jetferson Parish. 



The following tahle exhibits the observed data in respect to the 

 oyster food supply, the specific gravities, and the temperatures of 

 the water at the plantation: 



Food Content, Specific Gravity, and Temperature of Water in Three-mile 



AND Nine-mile Bays. 



Date. 



1900. 



May 8 



9 



June 9 , 



July 17 



1907. 



January 5 



April 12 , 



May 15 , 



16 



June 9 



July7 



December 13 



1908. 



June 5 



July 12 



1909. 

 January 23 



Average 



Specific 

 gravity. 



1. 0054 

 1.0065 

 1.0082 

 1.0080 



1.0088 

 1. 0077 

 1.0057 

 1. 0038 

 1.0028 

 1.0090 

 1.0071 



1.0040 

 1.0042 



1.0057 



Tempera- 

 ture. 



'F. 

 73.4 

 72.5 

 86.0 

 83.0 



65.0 

 75.0 

 75.2 

 68.0 

 84.2 

 84.2 

 55.0 



87.0 

 84.0 



Food organisms per 

 liter of water. 



Number. Volume 



11,000 

 3,500 

 6,000 



2,500 

 7,800 

 8,250 

 7,000 

 4,500 

 2,500 

 4,500 



750 

 4,500 



5,271 



Cu. mm. 



0.290 

 .078 

 .060 



.053 

 .203 

 .307 

 .282 

 .210 

 .037 

 .238 



.040 

 .137 



.304 



During the investigations of 1898 a few borers were found in 

 Three-mile and Nine-mile bays, but none were observed during the 

 experiments here dealt with, and it is probable that they are never 

 destructive owing to the prevailing low salinity of the water. There 

 were, however, many mussels attached to the oyster clusters, and in 

 .some cases they undoubtedly interfered materially with the gi'owth 

 of the oysters and seriously curtailed their food supply. 



The site for the experiment was selected partly for the sake of 

 comparison with the work in Falsemouth Bay, and partly because it 

 was located on leased bottom and under the care of a watchman. 

 The plantings were made practically synchronously with those in 

 Falsemouth Bay, and in essentially the same manner excepting that 

 no clam shells were used. The first plant was made on May 8, 1906, 

 and others followed on June 9 and July 16, 1906; April 12, May 15, 

 June 9, and July 7, 1907, and on April 23 and June 6, 1908. In all, 

 16 plantings were made, of which in 11 cases the shells were spread 

 broadcast, and in 5 cases in heaps of from one-half to 1 bushel each. 

 As in Falsemouth Bay, the quantity of shells varied from 200 to 

 1,000 bushels per acre. 



