Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 27 



four seasons occupied by the oyster survey, shows to what extent 



this plan has been carried out : 



Examinations made during 1906 (half season) 440 



Examinations made during 1907 988 



Examinations made during 1908 2,252 



Examinations made during 1909 3464 



The names of the practical oystermen engaged by the Commission 

 to make the examinations of the bottoms surveyed during the period 

 covered by this report, are given in the list which follows : 



Harry Neavitt, Baltimore county 64 Examinations. 



George R. Scoone, Kent county 990 Examinations. 



H. S. Scoone, Kent county 59 Examinations. 



H. L. French, Kent county 102 Examinations. 



L. E. Jones, Queen Anne's county 579 Examinations. 



A. W. Marshall, Queen Anne's county 1,351 Examinations. 



H. L. French, Queen Anne's county 19 Examinations. 



Total 3,164 Examinations. 



Observations on the rate of flow of currents oyer the grounds at 

 the examination stations have been largely discontinued because the 

 time required for making them has been needed for multiplying the 

 number of examinations of the oyster grounds and also because of 

 the availability of the extensive series of current observations made 

 in the bay by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. The results of these 

 observations can be supplemented in any particular locality when 

 needed. 



Observations on the density of the water in each locality at the 

 time of the survey, and on the character of the bottom upon which 

 the oyster bars are found, have been continued and samples of water 

 have been regularly taken from the oyster bars for a study of the 

 quantity and quality of the available oyster food, as this work in 

 no way retards the progress of the survey. 



No attempt is made either in the text of this report or on the 

 published charts to give information with regard' to the limits or 

 extent of the various kinds of bottom on which the oyster bars 

 were found to extend, but such information may be secured for any 

 of the grounds covered by the survey by reference to the records of 

 the surveys and examinations which are filed in the office of the 

 Commission at Baltimore. 



In making the estimates of the quantity of marketable oysters 

 each natural bar may be expected to yield during the season follow- 

 ing that of the survey, it is estimated that one-third of the market- 



