26 



OYSTER BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI EAST OP BILOXI. 



On the beds of Biloxi Bay, taken as a whole, the dense areas con- 

 tain 184 bushels of small oysters per acre, the scattering 115 bushels, 

 the very scattering 115 bushels, and the depleted 48 bushels. Com- 

 paring the quantity of small and large oysters, the areas of dense 

 growth have 0.7 bushel of the former to each bushel of the latter, the 

 scattermg growth 1 bushel, the very scattering growth 2.5 bushels, 

 and the depleted bottom 5.6 bushels. 



As ft requires more small oysters than large ones to make a bushel, 

 and as the value of the small ones depends upon their potentiality to 

 grow into large ones, the proportion between the numbers of small 

 and large is of more importance than the comparison of their quanti- 

 ties. This proportion for each class of growth on each bed is shown 

 in the following table: 



Number of Oysters Under 3 Inches Long for Each One Over that Length 



ON THE Several Beds. 



Name of bed. 



Scranton Reef 



Patches near Scranton Reef 



West Pascagoula Reef 



Deer Island, East Point 



Small patches, Biloxi Bay 



Biloxi Bay, below railway bridge . 



Back Bay, east bed 



Back Bay, west bed , 



Character of oyster growth. 



Dense. 



6.07 



16.89 

 1.67 

 .99 

 1.38 

 1.03 

 2.98 



Scatter- 

 ing. 



8.70 

 6.16 



.^0 

 1.86 

 2.62 

 1.62 



.59 



Very 

 scatter- 

 ing. 



10.12 



17.13 



10.70 



1.62 



2.20 



1.63 



9.28 



15.76 



Depleted. 



7.28 



3.00 



227. 71 



.46 



9.30 



22.00 



9.66 



40.00 



Analyzing this table by regions, it is found that on the beds in the 

 vicinity of Pascagoula River for every oyster 3 inches or more in 

 length there are on the dense growth about 11 small ones, on the 

 scattering 8, on the very scattering 11, and on the depleted bottom 

 28. Most of these are between 2 and 3 inches long. On the beds in 

 Biloxi Bay there are respectively 1.6. small oysters to each large one 

 on the dense growth, 2 on the scattering growth, 5.3 on the very 

 scattering growth, and 12 on the depleted bottom. 



In Biloxi Bay the proportion of small to large oysters is in no way 

 unusual. On the areas of dense and scattering growth the propor- 

 tions are such as indicate a normal condition of the beds, although 

 there is a deficiency of small oysters on the scattered growth of Deer 

 Island and Back Bay west beds. The high proportion of young on 

 the depleted areas of certain beds is due not to their unusual abund- 

 ance but to the scarcity of the larger ones with which they are 

 compared, as may be seen by the detailed tables contained in the 

 descriptions of the individual beds. 



On the beds at the mouth of Pascagoula River the condition is 

 different. There the small oysters are superabundant ahnost every- 



