in sumrner. In this waria water the disease organism would procaoly find 

 optiKrum conditions for growth and the growing season woi\ld spread over 

 a long period of tte sunmer months. In spite of this, however, eel grass 

 has certainly withstood the attacks in good- shape and from present indi- 

 cations should continue to show progress. 



Svidences of eelgrass ^vere observed in Sel Pond and Waq.uoit Bay 

 nearby, and a few small straggling clumps were found in Bass Siver last 

 fall. In faquoit Bay and possibly in some of the adjacent areas there 

 has been a slight growth of Zostera during each of the past six years 

 although much of that seen has been badly diseased. On Marthas Vineyard, 

 Oyster Pond has had a fair growth of eelgrass for at lea.st three years, 

 and slight signs of growths were observed in Menemslia and Great Tisbury 

 Ponds in November, fishermen at Sdgartown reported finding a few spears 

 of eelgrass in their dredges in the spring of 193C. It was reported from 

 ITantucket that the eelgrass was "beginning to catch in and show signs of 

 coming back". ITeil E. Stevens noted a few small patches of healthy- 

 appearing plants in upper Buzzards Bay, in September (Plant Disease 

 Reporter, October 1, 1935). 



Ehode Island South Shore 



Along the south shore of Bhode Island are many lagoons, which were 

 formerly brackish, but are now kept open to salt water. The eelgrass 

 plants there are of the typical shallow-bay form, tending to be qaite 

 small on the shoal flats and slightly larger in the chajanels . This may 

 indicate that those on the shoals are ycfwig plants. Usually the eelgrass 

 appears in a more or less straggling band in the sandy shallows that 

 parallel the south beaches. During the annual waterfowl inventory of the 

 Biological Survey in this section in January, observers in airplanes noted 

 eelgra.ss beds that covered several acres. 



Tlie best growths occur in Charlestown Pond, where the eelgrass is 

 found not only on the south beach flats but also on the north shore. The 

 plants are about 20 inches long. The beds in this pond are generally more 

 extensive and heaider than those in any of the other ponds along the south 

 shore of Bhode Island. Qy.onochontaug has less extensive beds of small 

 plants, which average less than 10 inches and are chiefly associated with 

 Buppia. Brightmans Pond has at least one bed of SO-inch eelgrass, and 

 sporadic growths occur in Point Judith Pond near Matunuck. The age of 

 these various stands is not definitely loiown. 



In 1936, fruiting was finished in this region by the end of June, 

 well in advance of the period of maximum disease damage. This was 

 fortunate, as perpetuation of the growth is assured by the maturation of 

 seed, even should the parent plants themselves be destroyed by disease. 

 Seedling plants were found in Quonochontaug the past spring. General con- 

 ditions in this section have been quite encouraging. The present growths 

 have made definite progress during the season, despite the fact that one 

 would expect severe disease activity in the superheated shallow water. 

 The January aerial check revealed every bed that had previously been under 

 observation. 



