OYSTER BOTTOMS IN VICINITY OF APALACHICOLA, FLA. aD 
counts, and 1 shell per square yard. On this part of the bar the 
oysters were mostly good-shaped singles; they were fat and milky. 
The bar contains about 48 acres. 
REVIEW OF THE NATURAL OYSTER BEDS. 
The entire water area surveyed, from signals Marsh and Spartan 
to Indian Pass, contains about 130 square miles. In this district 
there were found and definitely located about 40 productive oyster 
bars, haying an extent of about 7,135 acres, or 11.1 square miles, 
or nearly one-twelfth of the area surveyed. 
In St. George Sound the ratio of beds to the part surveyed is, 
approximately, 1 to 6; in Apalachicola Bay the ratio is about 1 to 
19, and in St. Vincent Sound it is about 1 to 10. Of the three bodies 
of water it is therefore evident that St. George Sound is the most 
advantageously situated as far as acreage of oyster beds is con- 
cerned and Apalachicola Bay the least so. 
In St. George Sound the beds are rather indiscriminately tied 
but the larger ones are found along the western margin. The best 
beds are Porter, East Hole, and parts of Platform Bars. 
In Apalachicola Bay the major portion of the beds are crowded 
in the western limits, where excellent stock is found, and in St. 
Vincent Sound the beds are for the most part situated along the 
southeastern shore and central portions. 
About two-thirds of the total area of oyster bottom is classed as 
dense growth, the remaining part is about equally divided among 
scattering, very scattering growths, and depleted bottoms. Dense 
growth occupies somewhat more than 80 per cent of the oyster 
area in St. George Sound and about 50 per cent each in Apalachicola 
Bay and St. Vincent Sound. Scattering growth covers approxi- 
mately 5 per cent, 11 per cent, and 21 per cent in the three bodies 
of water, respectively, while the per cent of surface for very scattering 
is about 6, 23, and 13, and for depleted bottoms it is about 5, 14, 
and 17, respectively. 
The chart which accompanies this report shows the location and 
character of the beds, and the following table classifies the growth for 
each of the larger beds and for groups of the smaller patches. 
