OYSTER BEDS OF JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA. 

 Details of Examination of Hollands Rock. 



15 



Station 

 num- 



Date of ex- 

 amination. 



Mean 

 depth 

 of wa- 

 ter. 



Character of growth 

 of market oysters. 



Oysters caught per 

 square yard. 



Estimated quantity of 

 oysters per acre. 



ber. 



Spat. 



Culls. 



Counts. 



Seed. 



Market. 



Total. 



4 



Aug. 9, 1909 

 Aug. 11,1909 



Feet. 

 11.0 

 9.5 



Depleted. 





 



0.4 

 



1.8 

 



Bush. 

 3 

 



Bush. 

 29 

 



Bush. 

 32 



30 



...do 



















NANSEMOND 



RIDGE ROCK. 









This is the principal and only productive bed in Nansemond 

 River. It lies mainly on and about a shoal extending through the 

 middle of the river from Cedar Point almost to the middle of James 

 River, opposite Newport News. At its northern end it is connected, 

 by an unproductive, practically barren area, with three smaller rocks 

 hereafter described. Its area, density of oyster growth, and con- 

 tents are as follows: 



Oyster Growth on Nansemond Ridge Rock. 



Character of growth of market oysters. 



Area. 



Oysters per acre. 



Estimated 

 content 



Seed. 



Market. 



of market 

 oysters. 





Acres. 



85 



446 



294 



782 



Bushels. 

 148 

 133 

 34 

 35 



Bushels. 

 93 

 60 

 37 

 11 



Bushels. 

 7,905 





26, 760 





10,878 

 8,602 



Depleted 







Total 



1,607 







54,145 









The market oysters on this bed are large, averaging at the time 

 of the survey a few over 300 per bushel. They are said to attain 

 a good condition, particularly late in the season, and are used mainly 

 by shucking houses. The small oysters ran about 750 per bushel. 



The broadest, largest, and most productive part of the bed stretches 

 northward from opposite Pig Point on the west side of the channel. 

 It is estimated that this portion has an area of about 1,156 acres, of 

 which 69 acres bear a dense growth of market oysters, 386 acres a 

 scattering growth, 201 acres a very scattering growth, and 500 acres 

 are depleted. The latter does not include the barren bottom embraced 

 between the edges of the bed and the lines of the Baylor surve}^. It 

 is further estimated that on the dense bottom a man tonging exclu- 

 sively could take in a day about 10 bushels of market oysters, on the 

 scattering area about 6 bushels, on the very scattering part about 3J 

 bushels, while on the depleted area he could not take an average of 

 over 1 bushel. These estimates are for the beginning of the season, 

 20201—10 2 



