OYSTER-BEDS OP LOUISIANA. 55 



small bed of oysters is found in the southeastern branch of Nine- 

 mile Bayou, about the middle of the second reach from Nine-mile Bay, 

 on the west side of the channel. It is from 30 to 50 yards long, and 

 extends to about the middle of the bayou. It contains some single 

 oysters of good shape and quality and many dead shells. 



Three-mile Bay. — Three-mile Bay is the most important oyster region 

 ill St. Bernard Parish, not because its beds are more extensive than 

 those of other parts of the Louisiana Marsh, but because of its accessi- 

 bility from New Orleans and the cities on Mississippi Sound. Nearly 

 all of the boats enter the marsh at Three mile Bayou, whatever may 

 be their ultimate destination, and it is to this place also that oyster- 

 freighters resort to secure their fares from the luggers and other craft 

 engaged in the active work of oystering. 



Three-mile Bay lies between Three-mile Bayou (by which it commu- 

 nicates with Mississippi Sound) on the north and Raccoon Island on the 

 south, its eastern and western limits being Nigger Point and Shell Point, 

 respectively. It covers an area of about 7.3 square miles. In Three- 

 mile Bayou the depth of water reaches a maximum of about 40 feet, 

 the channel gradually shoaling as it enters the bay, over the greater 

 part of which the depth ranges from 4 to 6 feet. In some places a 

 depth of 3 feet or less is to be found, but in general such shoal spots 

 are less common than in West Karako Bay. The average density of 

 water during February was about 1.00G5, and the temperature was about 

 17° C. (62.0° P.). 



The bottom is composed of mud of varying degrees of softness. 

 There are a few small areas of hard bottom, but these are principally 

 upon old oyster-reefs, and are now used by the oystermen as beds on 

 which to deposit their catch pending the completion of their cargoes. 

 The softest bottom is found in the southern part of the bay near Rac- 

 coon Island, where the mud is entirely too soft to utilize for planting, 

 but places in the center of the bay might be used, although on account 

 of the danger of suffocation in the mud the oysters could not be planted 

 very thickly. The amount of oyster food contained in the water is 

 large, and, especially in the northern part of the bay near the inlet, the 

 currents are comparatively strong. Originally, we were informed, the 

 natural oyster-beds in this bay were dense and extensive, but as a 

 result of the persistent "working" to which they have been subjected 

 during the past few years the dense, well-defined reefs have entirely 

 disappeared, and have been replaced by a scattering growth of more 

 general distribution. The clusters are kept broken up by the process 

 of culling, with the result that the separated oysters show considerable 

 improvement in shape, condition, and flavor over their original state. 

 They are usually either single or in clusters of from two to four; they 

 are rather elongate, moderately fat, of fair flavor, and comparatively 

 free from extraneous growths, such as mussels and algre. On the very 

 soft mud near Raccoon Island, in the southern part of the bay, the 

 oysters are extremely long and in clusters overgrown with mussels. 



