34 



channel, are the Buoy Bed, comprising three "rocks" and 907,000 square yards; Potter's Bed, of 

 seven "rocks" and 000,000 square yards; Dog Fish Bed, of 720,000 square yards; Flat Bed, of 

 742,000 square yards, and Trevise's Bed, of 697,000 square yards. 



On the southern side of the channel, and extending from it to the sands, are the Old Planta- 

 tion Bed, of 180,000 square yards; the Slatestone Bed, of 967,000 square yards; the Drum Bay 

 Point Bed, of 337,000 square yards, and the Shell Bed, comprising five "rocks" and an area of 

 1.102,000 square yards. 



The depth of water over the beds can be seen and studied by referring to the chart. The 

 average depth is from 8 to 12 feet at low and from 11 to 15 feet at high water, the deeper water 

 being found near the channel and over the mud sloughs. Of the different beds the "Old Rocks," 

 New Plantation, and Buoy are in the shoalest water, and the Shell Bed in the deepest. The channel 

 has 27 feet off the Shell Bed, and shoals gradually to 10 and 11 feet off the Buoy Bed. None of 

 the beds are solid or unbroken; those approximating to that condition are the "Old Rocks," New 

 Plantation, Buoy, and Slatestone Beds. The majority of the beds have been cut up by the dredges 

 or mud sloughs into small groups and ridges, with oysters scattered between them. The divisions, 

 however, are too small to be shown on the clrtirt. 



The bottom generally consists of mud, and the stratum is both softer and thicker in the 

 vicinity of the channel than elsewhere. On the beds remote from the channel hard bottom was 

 occasionally found, and near the one-fathom curve sand and gravel; the last character of bottom 

 was sometimes found in deep water, but not frequently, except about Trevise's Bed and near the 

 sand shoal, to the southward and westward of Ape's Hole Creek. Between that creek and Merem- 

 scot Creek, to the eastward, the bottom is a mixture of sand and clay, and the locality is therefore 

 a favorite planting ground, as is Ape's Hole Creek and the light above the "Old Rocks." On the 

 Old Rocks we found the surface stratum of shells, oysters, and mud to be about one foot thick 

 and the substratum of soft sand or mud. In the vicinity of the bed the bottom is similar, except 

 that the substratum is of shell. On the New Plantation Bed the surface stratum was of sand 

 and shell, 3 feet in thickness, and the substratum hard sand. The Buoy Bed has a light covering 

 of mud and fine sand on the shells and oysters, and a substratum of hard sand and shell. In the 

 vicinity of the bed the bottom is soft mud. On Potter's Bed the surface stratum was of sand and 

 shell, 1 foot thick, over a stratum of soft mud. In one case on the "rock" most remote from the 

 channel the substratum was hard sand. Within the area north of Potter's Bed, occupied by scat- 

 tered oysters, the bottom, with one exception, was of mud over a stratum of hard sand. On the 

 Slatestone Bed the surface stratum is of mud and shells, from 1 to 5 feet in thickness, over a stratum 

 of sand, or sand and clay. On the Dog Fish and Flat Beds we found a surface stratum of sand, 

 mud, shells, and oysters 2 or 3 feet thick, and underneath that a hard stratum. About these two 

 beds there are several places where the substratum was a mixture of sand and clay, similar to the 

 bottom of the planting grounds. About and inshore of the Drum Bay Point Bed the bottom was 

 of sand and gravel on the surface, with clay or sand and gravel underneath. The probe was not 

 used ou this bed nor on Trevise's Bed, but about the latter the bottom is of soft sand for a few feet 

 and then hard sand. South of Trevise's Bed, near the channel, the bottom is of mud. The Shell 

 Bed derives its name from the character of its bottom, which consists of a stratum of shells about 

 li feet thick, over a stratum of mud of from 1 to 4 feet in thickness, after which the bottom appears 

 to be hard. In the vicinity of the bed the bottom is of sand, which becomes harder as the distance 

 from the bed increases and the water shoals. In the channel the bottom is soft mud, and no oysters 

 were found in it. 



Within the lines defining the limits of the scattered oysters the animals are distributed, but 

 very unevenly so. Even on the beds the distribution is by no means regular, or likely to become 

 so, the production and growth of the oysters varying with the locality, and the size, contour, and 

 character of each bed continually changing from the action of natural causes and the constant 

 fishing. Throughout the area assigned to scattered oysters, many small lumps and patches may 

 be found; but generally the oysters are scattered in small clusters or singly, and those on the beds 

 are of the same geueral character, being small, single, or in clusters of two or three, and without 

 parasites or parasitic attachments. There was a remarkable absence of young oysters of less than 

 six months' growth, even, as in the case of the ShellBed, where the bottom was clean and shelly, 



