59 



Late in the last spring the dredgers began working on the beds immediately off Kedge's Strait 

 and the one off Hog Neck, and during the present season the returns show that the beds in the 

 Sounds have been, to some extent, abandoned for those outside in the bay. As so little dredging 

 was done before my examination, I think the results of the dredging operations of the party may 

 be considered as obtained from unworked beds. These results will be alluded to subsequently. 



Probably small beds will be found along the shores of the islands from Kedge's Strait to the 

 entrance of Tangier Sound, but as the water was shoal we could not dredge very close in. As far 

 as can be seen at present there is no reason why the existing beds should not be extended very 

 considerably, and such extension will probably take place now that the dredgers are beginning to 

 work upon them. If suitable " cultch" is exposed, probably very large areas will soon be covered 



with oysters. 



Table shotting number of oysters to square yard. 



Locality. 



Number. 



Section 1, west of Kedge's Strait. 



Section 2, west of Red House 



Section 3, west of White House .. 

 Section 4, west of Hog Neck ... . 



Mean of observations 



The above table of the number of oysters to the square yard has been compiled from all 

 observations made in the bay where there was any evidence of a bed existing, such evidence being 

 given by the probe, soundings, and character of the matter brought up by the dredge. 



The numbers to the square yard have been calculated in a manner similar to that described in 

 my previous report, and are, as was pointed out in that report, only of value as forming a standard 

 for comparison. It must be borne in mind, however, in making such comparison, that the hard- 

 ness of the unworked beds and the closeness of the growth of the oysters would prevent as many 

 being taken by the dredge as on the softer and more open beds in the Sounds. 



By referring to the table, it will be seen that the number calculated for each locality is very 

 nearly the same as that arrived at by combining all the observations, and that this number is about 

 0.4 to the square yard. Accepting that as the standard, the number to the square yard upon a 

 bed which has been dredged for some time should certainly not fall below 0.4, and considering the 

 different characters of the bottom, the number, as shown by the dredge, upon an old bed, should 

 be much larger, unless the bed has been overworked. 



The following table shows the number of oysters of each class examined, and also the number 

 of bushels brought up and the percentage of shells and debris to the whole amount. As will be 

 seen by the table, the number of the fourth class of this year's growth is very large, showing that 

 however bad the season may have been inside the Sounds it has not influenced the reproduction 

 in the bay. 



Table I. — Dredging results — Chesapeake Hay. 







<H 































CO 







CO 



First class. 





Second class. 





Third class. 







Number of bushels 

 dredged. 



>1 



o 



1« 



a 





5^ 































CSJ3 































2 M 

























CO 







? 3 



o 





■a 

























u 



CO 





t^ 



CD 



m 



Locality. 























CO 

 CO 



a 



3 



CO 



.3 



CO 



u CD 



crtJ 































C 



T3 



.3 





— 

 = 



• 



J- 



CO 



CD 



co 

 "a! 

 A 



CO 



o 



CD 



.3 



CO 



o 



CO 



u 



CD 



J3 - 



CO 



o 



.3 



a 



CS 



CD 



'a 



-a 



CO 



CO 



o 



CD a, 



,3 £ 



as 



3 





co 



co 



+3 







+3 



CO 



CO 









CO 











>> 







C3 



>. 



3 



cS 



>) 



3 



cS 





o 





3 



CS 







fc 



o 



n 



« 



o 



pq 



M 



o 



w 



« 



f* 



H 



n 



w 



# 



K 



1 



West of Kedge's Strait . . 



52 



1,018 



8.8 



1.49 



1,622 



4.7 



0.17 



1,150 



2.6 



2.32 



2,674 



23.7 



16.1 



7.6 



0.32 



115 



2 



West of Ked House 



12 



359 



3.0 



1.00 



360 



1.0 



0.88 



318 



0.7 



1.41 



447 



7.2 



4.7 



2.5 



0.34 



115 



3 



West of White House . . . 



15 



135 



1.1 



1.07 



145 



0.4 



0.16 



23 





2.15 



50 



3.0 



1.5 



1.5 



0.50 



115 



4 



Hog Neck Rock 



106 



1,997 



17.3 



1.29 



2,579 



7.5 



1.08 



2,779 



6.4 



1.87 



5,200 



42.2 



31.2 



11.0 



0.26 



115 



5 



West of Tangier Island . . 

 Mean of ratios 



15 



37 



0.3 



1.30 



48 



0.1 



1.06 



51 



0.1 



3.74 



191 



2.2 



0.5 



1.7 



0.77 



115 





200 



3,546 



30.5 



6.15 



4,754 



13.7 



3.87 

 0.78 



4, 321 



9.8 



11.49 



8,562 



78.3 



54.0 



24.3 



0.31 







1.23 



2.29 





* 75 per cent of this year's growth. 



