NATURAL OYSTER BEDS OF DELAWARE. 



13 



The following table shows the results of examinations: 

 Details of Examinations op Bed between Silver Bed and Simons Creek. 



Station 

 number. 



166 



165 



Ill 



Character of growth. 



Scattering 



Very scattering 

 Depleted 



Oysters caught per 

 square yard. 



Spat. Culls. Counts. 



No. 

 2.9 

 0.0 

 0.0 



No, 

 3.4 

 4.3 



0.0 



No. 

 5.4 

 3.7 

 0.0 



Estimated quantity 

 oysters per acre. 



Seed. Market. Total. 



Bu. 

 22 

 15 

 C 



Bu. 



SILVER BED. 



This bed, which is said to derive its name from the silvery color of 

 the shells found on the hard rock, is, excepting the Ridge, the largest 

 and most important natural bed in Delaware. It lies about 1 mile 

 east of the mouth of Dona River, locally known as Simons Creek. 

 The bed has a maximum extent of about a mile east and west and 

 slightly over a half mile north and south, and it lies in a depth of 

 water varying from 8 to 12 feet. 



The following table shows its general extent and condition in 



July, 1910: 



Oyster Growth on Silver Bed. 



The most productive parts of the bed lie in its northeast half and 

 include a belt of dense and scattering growth about one-half mile 

 long and varying from one-eighth to one-third mile in width. 



A considerable part of the bottom covered by the bed is macadam- 

 ized with a dense accumulation of shells, or probably two such areas 

 separated by a belt of muddy bottom. In places the bottom was so 

 hard with compacted shells and so smooth that a boat anchor would 

 not take hold. Although this bed is not now raised above the sur- 

 rounding barren bottom, it is probable that it originally formed a 

 knoll, the crest of which has been cut away by dredging and tonging. 



The area of dense growth lies in a compact body occupying the 

 middle of the eastern half of the bed, gradually merging with two 



