40 OYSTER BOTTOMS IN MATAGORDA BAY. 



or lumps of which the beds consisted observed much secrecy in their 

 operations and upon the approach of another boat withdrew to 

 the barren areas and utilized the opportunity in culling their catch. 

 The dead shells, together with the young oysters, when not ingulfed 

 in the soft mud, became the nuclei to which the spat of succeeding 

 years attached. That many of the oysters and shells gradually sank 

 beneath the surface mud is shown by the almost universal presence 

 of a substratum of shells easily detectable with the sounding pole. 

 There is no doubt that under favorable conditions of density this 

 diffusion of material suitable for cultch would eventually result in 

 the establishment of more extensive productive beds. In former 

 years the Root Lumps were systematically worked and produced a 

 fair yield of good oysters. As in the case of the other beds of this 

 region, they were unproductive during the season of 1904-5. 



Ranch Patches. — This name is given to a chain of six beds lying 

 between Ranch signal and the cut into Live Oak Bay east of Dressing 

 Island. The area of the individual beds varies from less than 1 acre 

 to over 50 acres, and the total acreage of the group is about 108. The 

 general character of the beds is about the same as those constituting 

 the Root Lumps, though there are small areas where the growth is 

 more dense and with a greater accumulation of shells. Nearer the 

 shore there is a substratum of hard mud upon which is superimposed 

 a stratum of soft mud and shells, but toward the middle of the bay 

 the bottom, to a depth of 4 to 5 feet at least, is composed entirely of 

 soft mud and engulfed shells. The living oysters are all small, badly 

 clustered, and of very poor quality and shape. There is a great pre- 

 ponderance of dead shells, many of the old ones being large, while 

 the recently dead are of smaller size. The shells of the living oysters 

 are thin and fragile, and the Avhole aspect of the beds indicates that 

 they are far on the highway to extinction. 



Off-the-Cut Lumps. — The beds so designated by the oystermen are 

 four in number, ranging from about 4 to 115 acres in area, with a 

 total acreage of about 160. The conditions here are practically the 

 same as those found on the Root Lumps and the other beds in the 

 vicinity. The beds lie on the southeast side of the bay opposite to 

 the cut east of Dressing Island. 



East Side Lump. — This is a bed with an area of about 40 acres, 

 extending for about 350 yards along the shore of Dressing Island and 

 projecting out into the bay for a distance of about 800 yards. It con- 

 sists of a scattering growth of about the same general character as in 

 the preceding beds. About 350 yards to the eastward there is a small 

 lump with a dense growth forming a shoal projecting out from the 

 island. This bed is now continuous with the scattering growth along 

 shore, but was formerly a detached circular body of a good quality 

 and productiveness. 



