26 NATURAL OYSTER BEDS OF DELAWARE. 



recently closed, the disparity is still greater. Those which were 

 examined by tonging had an area of 46 acres and an estimated 

 content of 18,000 bushels of oysters, an average of nearly 390 bushels 

 per acre, over five times the density of growth on the large beds in 

 the vicinity. 



The number of bushels taken from the beds of Delaware during the 

 past season is not known but it was probably several hundred thou- 

 sand bushels, and from the conditions found in the survey and the 

 data just deduced it probably can be safely assumed that oysters 

 were from three to five times as abundant at the beginning of the sea- 

 son as the} 7 " were "in its closing days when the survey was made. 



This heavy draft on the beds would be less serious were it not 

 accompanied by an abuse for which there is no excuse. In a region 

 devoted mainly to planting and where a comparatively small quantity 

 of oysters is marketed directly from the natural beds it is economically 

 advisable to permit the taking of small oysters as well as large. So 

 long as there is an abundance of shells on the bottom and a reasonable 

 quantity of oysters is left to furnish spawn there will be, under favor- 

 able conditions of water and temperature, a more or less regular set 

 of spat and the oyster population of the beds will be fairly maintained, 

 although, of course, the proportion of oysters of marketable size will 

 diminish. When, however, the beds are stripped of shells, as appears 

 to be the case in Delaware, they will surely become depleted. 



During the survey, although a number of vessels were actively 

 dredging, no member of the party observed a boat engaged in culling. 

 Inquiry among the oysfermen elicited the information that while the 

 boats catching seed oysters for sale generally cull their catch because 

 the planters will not pay oyster prices for shells, the vessels owned 

 or operated by planters when dredging on the public beds rarely do 

 so. They are charged with carrying away everything which the 

 dredge picks up, the shells being valuable for hardening the bottoms 

 on their planting grounds and as cultch for catching a set of spat. 



That some vessels are guilty of such behavior is within the knowl- 

 edge of the writer, and moreover the charge is supported by the con- 

 dition of the beds. One of the most noteworthy of the facts disclosed 

 by the tong examinations was the small quantity of shells found as 

 compared with similar examinations of beds in other States. On 

 the five important beds in the vicinity of the Ridge there are less 

 than 2 per cent as many shells per square yard as are found on the 

 seed beds of James River, Va., where culling is strictly enforced. In 

 places the deep pavement of shells which must have existed formerly 

 has been completely removed and the underlying mud now shows 

 itself in patches in the midst of the beds. A hard-worked bed to be 

 in a healthy condition should contain an abundance of shells. The 

 ultimate result of the continuance of this state of affairs is not difficult 



