[3] LAYING OUT OYSTER PONDS AT SAINT JEROME STATION. 1155 



one dredge at a time, is obliged to land it on a covered deck, cannot 

 work well among a crowded fleet of dredgers, to whom she, as a steamer, 

 is obliged to give the right of way, and has to transship her catch to a 

 scow and tow them ashore, which can only be done in smooth water 

 and with a fair tide up the cut. Under the most favorable circum- 

 stances, on a good bed and with plenty of room, she can take about 50 

 bushels per day, but probably cannot average more than 30. 



The oysters run about 250 to the bushel, and 40 bushels is the least 

 that will properly cover a square, and it will take five times that num- 

 ber to cover it thickly. 



A small oyster dredger of 40 tons will take from 75 to 125 bushels a 

 day. Some of these vessels are of light draft, and a few even flat-bot- 

 tomed. One of them could be towed right up the cut and the oysters 

 carried from its deck across the dike to the scow and then distributed. 

 Therefore, as I understand that plant oysters can be put down at from 

 25 to 30 cents per bushel, I would suggest this as the quickest, best, 

 and decidedly cheapest method of doing it. 



On Saturday night we were boarded by boats from the schooners 

 I^. B. Anderson, Capt. J. W. Carew, Crisfield, and Ella Trigs, Capt. 

 Thomas Mills, Baltimore. The former were without lights, their lanterns 

 having both exploded, and the latter in need of provisions, which they 

 had been unable to get. I loaned the Anderson a lantern, with direc- 

 tions to return it to Saint Jerome's station, and gave the Ella Trigs 

 25 pounds of flour and six cans of preserved meat. 



Mr. Eerguson asked me to see what could be done with the artesian 

 well they have attempted to sink at the station. I found that nothing 

 had been done further to it by the Lookout's crew, as Walter Sauerhoff 

 was afraid to get steam on the old boiler, which he was to have used 

 for that purpose. I had Mr. Bailie examine the boiler, and he reports 

 it as decidedly unsafe in its present condition, and it is so far gone that 

 it is doubtful if it will be worth repairing. 



I think the trouble with the well arises from the fact that it was sunk 

 to its present depth and then left for some time, during which the earth 

 packed tightly around the pipe, especially at the joints, where there 

 are abrupt shoulders, and that corrosion took place over its whole sur- 

 face. Now it will be difficult to move it either way. 



While dredging off Governor's Eun I sent a boat in and collected a 

 number of fossil molluscse and crustacese, which are abundant in the 

 clay bluffs bordering the bay at that point, and if they are of sufficient 

 interest will send them to the Smithsonian Institution. 



Accompanying please find results of work in tabular form. 



We arrived at the Washington navy-yard on Monday, the 26th 

 instant, at 12.30 p. m. 



