OYSTER-BEDS OF LOUISIANA. 83 



a rule, occurs in patches near the shores, the channel generally having 

 a soft bottom, and in places being too deep for the tongs used in catch- 

 ing the oysters. 



Although it is claimed that all of the suitable bottom in the bayou 

 has been taken up and is now in use for planting, no attempt has been 

 made to improve the soft bottom by covering it with a stratum capable 

 of furnishing a support for the oysters. A few shells are planted along 

 the shores in the manner practiced at Port Eads, but seed oysters 

 from the natural beds are much more extensively used. The seed is 

 brought principally from Timbalier and Terrebonne bays, which entails 

 a voyage of about 50 miles at least, the payment of tolls in the canal, 

 and the payment of a license fee in the parish in which the oysters 

 are taken from the reefs. During the autumn of 1897 much seed was 

 brought from Quarantine Bay, but as soon as the breaks in the levee 

 were closed this source of supply was cut off. The taking of seed 

 oysters from the natural beds is a source of much complaint among the 

 oystermen fishing for the markets, who claim that the boats engaged 

 in the business pay but little attention to the requirements of the cull- 

 ing law and that large and small oysters alike are removed from the 

 beds. 



From 300 to 400 bank barrels (900 to 1,200 bushels) are planted on 

 each acre of bottom, the oysters being spread as closely as possible 

 without being in actual contact. They are planted in the usual man- 

 ner, by being thrown broadcast from the boat with shovels or scoops. 

 It is stated that oysters here reach a marketable size in about two years 

 from the time at which they fix themselves to the shells, and that seed 

 3 inches long is ready for the market in one year from, the time of 

 planting. 



The principal enemy of the oyster in Bayou Cook is the drumfish, 

 which causes some damage during the summer, but is especially 

 destructive during the months of September and October. Oysters 

 which have been long bedded are not much damaged by the drumfish, 

 but those which have been cleaned and laid down in preparation for 

 market are especially liable to attack during the first few days. After 

 that, probably either because they settle down slightly in the mud, or 

 because they become coated with sediment and are therefore less con- 

 spicuous, they are not much molested. The oystermen all erect barriers 

 around the bedding- grounds where the cleaned oysters are deposited. 



The conch or snail is not very destructive in Bayou Cook, excepting 

 near the entrance to Bastian Bay. Stone-crabs sometimes kill the 

 oysters, especially those less than 3 inches long. 



In Bay Adam the conditions are practically as in Bayou Cook, except 

 that there is less current flowing over the beds and they are more 

 exposed to storms. The planting- grounds are around the shores of 

 the lake, especially in its southern half, and, as nearly everywhere on 

 the coast of Louisiana, the area of ^naturally suitable bottom is compar- 

 atively small and much scattered. In Bayou Chute, which establishes 



