OYSTEB BOTTOMS iX MATAGORDA BAY. 39 



cent of the area is thus productive, the total present accumulation is 

 probably not far from 5,000 ban-els of oysters above the size pre- 

 scribed by law as the minimum which it is permissible to take. The 

 average size on these beds as a whole is not much over 3i inches. The 

 average number of oysters per square yard on the best parts of the 

 beds art 1 as follows: Over 3 inches in length, 14; between 1 and 3 

 inches, 8; under 1 inch, — ; dead, 30. 



The recently dead oysters rarely measure 3J inches in length, but 

 those showing evidence of death at a more remote period are larger. 

 About three-fourths of the shells are old and rotten. 



The oysters are poor, the shells are thin, and there are practically 

 no living things save oysters. On the whole, the beds are in bad con- 

 dition. 



Browns Lump. — This is a small bed lying off Browns Cedars, at a 

 distance of about 400 yards from shore. It has a length of about 400 

 yards, a width of 250 yards, and an estimated area of 18 acres. It 

 is stated that this was formerly a dense and much smaller body of 

 oysters, but owing to extensive fishing in recent years and the custom 

 of throwing culls and shells on the mud surrounding the original 

 area this has now become transformed into a diffuse bed in which 

 the oysters lie in scattered patches. Within recent years a thin 

 deposit of mud has been laid down, and many of the oysters and 

 shells have been covered, though their presence is readily detected 

 with the sounding pole. The oysters are now few in number and 

 inferior in shape and quality. This bed has apparently suffered 

 severety from the closure of Mitchells Cut, but should the cut at 

 Browns Bayou be soon opened there is good reason to expect that 

 Browns Lump will again become productive. 



Marsh Patch. — This name is given in this report to a small bed of 

 about 9 acres of scattering oysters lying near the north shore oppo- 

 site Browns Lump. The oysters are few in quanthVy and inferior in 

 quality, but the new cut should improve them in both respects. 



Root Lumps. — These beds lying in the middle of the bay between 

 Brown and Smith signals have a total area of about 170 acres. They 

 are composed of patches, which can be grouped in five general beds, 

 varying in size from 1 to 100 acres, as shown on the chart. They 

 are discontinuous in character, the oysters being found in small 

 patches, each composed of a few clusters separated by soft mud. 

 They cover a much greater area than formerly, and, like the other 

 beds of this part of the bay, have apparently become much extended 

 beyond their original dimensions by the custom of culling and 

 throwing overboard the shells and small oysters on the bottom sur- 

 rounding the reef. In former years, when excellent oysters were 

 produced here, oystermen discovering the small productive patches 



