20 



OYSTER BEDS OF JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA. 



At the eastern edge of the rock, as denned on the chart, there is a 

 dense growth, not shown, which lies just outside of the Baylor line, 

 and running south from this is a growth of young oysters on the 

 so-called depleted bottom sufficient to yield about 4 bushels per day. 

 The depleted bottom on the whole will yield about 2 bushels of 

 market oysters per day and about the same quantity of young. 



The following are the results of examinations on this rock: 



Details of Examination of Newport News Rock. 



Station 

 num- 



Date of ex- 

 amination. 



Mean 

 depth 

 of wa- 

 ter. 



Character of growth 

 of market oysters. 



Oysters caught per 

 square yard. 



Estimated quantity oys- 

 ters per acre. 



ber. 



Spat. 



Culls. 



Counts. 



Seed. 



Market. 



Total. 



52 



Aug. 13,1909 



do 



do 



do 



Aug. 11,1909 

 Aug. 12,1909 

 Aug. 13,1909 



Feet. 



12.0 

 9.0 



11.0 



10.0 

 9.5 

 9.5 



10.0 



Dense 



0.7 

 1.1 

 1.8 

 1.1 

 3.1 

 .7 

 1.1 



13.6 

 9.8 

 10.2 

 11.6 

 5.1 

 4.9 

 1.1 



6.7 

 4.7 

 3.1 

 2.2 

 1.6 

 1.8 

 1.6 



Bush. 

 93 

 71 

 78 

 83 

 53 

 36 

 14 



Bush. 

 108 

 76 

 50 

 35 

 26 

 30 

 26 



Bush. 

 201 



53 





147 



55 



56 

 23 

 46 

 54 



do 



Very scattering 



Depleted 



do 



do 



128 



118 



79 



66 



40 



CRUISER SHOAL ROCK. 



This rock lies on and about the shoal that gives it its name, mainly 

 in Public Ground No. 6, Warwick County, but partly in the area 

 common to that ground and No. 2, Nansemond County. Its area 

 and condition are shown in the following table: 



Oyster Growth on Cruiser Shoal Rock. 



Character of growth of market oysters. 



Area. 



Oysters per acre. 



Estimated 

 content of 



Seed. 



Market. 



market 

 oysters. 



Dense 



Acres. 

 27 

 19 

 26 

 32 



Bushels. 



140 



47 



51 



66 



Bushels. 



156 



53 



28 



9 



Bushels. 

 4,212 



Scattering 



1.007 



Very scattering 



728 



Depleted 



288 







Total 



104 







6.235 











The dense and scattered areas follow the line of a very shallow 

 ridge which forms the backbone of the shoal, the former being capa- 

 ble of yielding from 10 to 20 bushels of oysters per day and the 

 latter about 5. The area of very scattering growth lies on each side 

 of the more prolific areas and is capable of yielding about 3 bushels 

 of market oysters per day's tonging. The depleted area will yield 

 an average of not over 1 bushel of market oysters per day, and the 

 parts more distant from the ridge are practically bare. Close to the 

 ridge, even on some of the bottom depleted of market oysters, the 



