Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 43 



The bottoms included within the limits of Mitchell's Bluff Buoy 

 bar are all muddy and soft and oyster lumps cover about one-tenth 

 of the reserved area. 



Deep Shoal, Coal Lump and Phoenix bars are all found on and 

 around elevated sandy shoals and about one-half the area of each 

 as charted is oyster-bearing. At the highest points on the shoals 

 the recorded depths of water are 9 feet, 10 feet and 9 feet respec- 

 tively, and their outer limits extend upon soft bottoms over which 

 the greatest recorded depths are 29 feet, 32 feet and 24 feet re- 

 spectively. 



The survey of the grounds in this section covers two periods, part 

 being done in July and August and part during October. During 

 the first period the water over the grounds in the upper part of 

 the section had a density of 1. 0036-1. 004 at low tide and 1.004- 

 1.0056 at high tide. The density in the lower part varied from 

 1. 0048-1. 006. During October the density of the water over the 

 whole section had increased to 1.008 and 1.0108. The density of 

 the water at the anchorage of the houseboat "Oyster" in Worton 

 creek, from August 6 to 12, inclusive, varied from 1. 002-1. 0036. 



A few observations were made on the rate of flow of the cur- 

 rents over the grounds situated in and near the mid-bay channel 

 which indicate a maximum rate of 1.8 miles per hour. 



The maximum range of the tide, as indicated by the records kept 

 at Tolchester wharf from August 6 to 11, 1909, is 1.8 feet, the 

 mean range 1.01 feet. 



The bottoms pointed out for survey as having been productive 

 within recent years which failed to measure up to the adopted stand- 

 ard of a natural bar, aggregate an area of about 1,000 acres. These 

 bottoms, if strewn with cultch, possess a very great value for the 

 production of seed oysters. 



