38 OYSTER BOTTOMS IN MATAGORDA BAY. 



density ranged between 1.0018 and 1.0041. The bottom is generally 

 composed of soft mud, with a substratum of shells almost everywhere 

 at a depth of 6 or 8 inches, giving testimony to the former greater 

 abundance of oysters in these waters. 



BEDS ABOVE DRESSING POINT. 



It is stated by persons possessed of local knowledge of the bay that, 

 prior to the opening of Mitchells Cut, during the gale of 1875, the 

 entire region above Dressing Point was practically devoid of oyster 

 growth. This can well be believed from an inspection of the condi- 

 tions obtaining in the winter of 1904-5, the cut having finally closed 

 during the previous summer after a varied existence. It will be 

 seen by reference to the chapter on " Densities " (p. 57) that the 

 salinity was altogether too low to produce satisfactory oysters; and 

 as the tendency in isolated bodies of water so situated is to become 

 progressively fresher, it will not be long, if the time has not already 

 arrived, when the salinity will become so low as actually to imperil 

 the existence of the oysters already established there. The oysters 

 on all of the beds about here were poor and sickly in appearance, 

 and were evidently having a hard struggle for existence against 

 adverse conditions. Unless a new communication with the Gulf is 

 established, these beds will forever be worthless, even should they 

 not be exterminated. 



It is stated that until the season of 1904-5 the oysters in this part of 

 the bay were generally of excellent quality, and Port Lavaca dealers 

 paid $1 per barrel for them when those from Tiger Island were worth 

 but 75 cents. All of the beds, which are discussed in more detail 

 below, were highly productive and much frequented by the oystermen, 

 sometimes from 400 to 500 barrels per season being taken from a half- 

 acre patch. 



Although these beds are shown on the charts each as a continuous 

 growth of scattered oysters, in reality they consist of innumerable 

 small patches separated by areas of soft, muddy bottom. It is stated 

 that the original growth in this part of the bay was initiated at Browns 

 Lump, and extended gradually down the bay. It is evident that the 

 beds were at one time all more compact, but have become scattered 

 and widely extended by the operations of oystering and the distribu- 

 tion by the oystermen of shells and cullings over the soft mud sur- 

 rounding the beds, each shell or oyster thus distributed becoming a 

 potential basis for the attachment of future generations of young. 



The beds above Dressing Point, as shown on the accompanying 

 chart, include within their limits about 395 acres. On the best parts 

 of these beds there is an average per acre of about 70 barrels of 

 oysters over 3 inches in length ; and as it is estimated that but 15 per 



