44 



OYSTER BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI SOUND, ALA. 



tained for a period of years. The estimated total content of oysters' 

 on the several parts of the different beds is shown in the following 

 table : 



Summarized Content op Market Oysters on Public Beds. 



Name of bed. 



Kings Bayou Reef. 



Buoy Reef 



Cedar Point Reef 



Pass des Huitres 



Pass des Huitres Flats 



Dutch Gully 



Dutch Island 



Big Gully 



Peter Billys Gully 



Grants Pass 



Pass aux Herons 



Redfish Gully 



Black Lumps , 



West side Little Dauphin Island . 



Mussel Gully 



Sand Reef 



Dauphin Island Bay 



Sprinkels Bay 



Collier Bay 



East Base 



Half-moon Patches 



Heron Bay, east side 



Heron Bay, west side 



Northwest arm Heron Bay 



Middle Ground 



Grassy Island 



Goose Bayou 



Southwest Van signal 



East of Marsh Island 



Planted oysters, PortersvUle Bay. 



North end PortersvUle Bay 



West side Coffee Island 



Total. 



Character of oyster growth. 



Dense. 



Bushels. 



9,126 

 65,448 

 34,000 

 16,059 

 37,088 



9,867 

 11,718 

 13,640 



9,555 



22,976 



109,720 



65,417 



69,960 



308 

 6,-^60 

 7,595 



2,448 



1,430 

 560 



3,776 



497, 151 



Scatter- Very seat- 

 ing, tering. 



Bushels. 



3,672 

 2,730 

 2,760 

 5,699 

 1,919 

 2,079 

 800 



2,352 



1,316 



880 



1,807 



18, 130 

 5,408 



1,056 



284 



1,904 



52,796 



Bushels. 



3,640 



1,178 



984 



1,794 



532 

 "2,'279' 



2,401 

 315 

 297 

 840 



6,930 



440 

 360 



2,320 

 "357 



114 



24,781 



De- 

 pleted. 



Bushels. 



18 



48 







312 







168 



924 



96 



231 



624 







916 



1,650 



60 



26 















210 



714 



52 



6,061 



Total. 



Bushels. 



12,784 



70,346 



37,714 



18,819 



44,581 



11,786 



14, 109 



14,440 



10,255- 



26,252 



113,411, 



66,297 



4,43» 



939 



297 



89,846 



13,988 



60 



26 



O 



748 



7,876- 



8,089 



2,618 



4,76a 



52 



1,787 



560 



12 



3,776 



114 







580,789 



Of the total it is estimated that the beds lying in the contiguous 

 parts of Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound bear over 98 per cent, or 

 569,720 bushels, of which 488,937 bushels occur as dense growth, 52,795 

 bushels as scattering, 21,990 bushels as very scattering, and but 5,997 

 bushels on the so-called depleted bottom. It will be seen from this 

 that the depleted bottom and even the areas of very scattering 

 growth bore a wholly insignificant crop of oysters at the time of 

 examination. The present negligible character of these two classes, 

 and especially the lowest, regarded as naturally productive beds, is 

 still more plainly seen by a comparison of their content per acre with 

 that of the areas of dense and scattering growth. 



Considering as a whole all of the beds examined in the State, aggre- 

 gating 4,008 acres, the areas classed as dense bore an average of 336 

 bushels of oysters of market size per acre, the scattering 105 bushels, 

 very scattering 51 bushels, and the depleted but 4 bushels. It should 

 be stated that for the more prolific growths the averages probably 

 understate the truth, while for the very scattering and depleted 

 growths they are approximately accurate. On very rank growth the 



