217 
than the above, I am of the opinion that the fishery still con- 
tinning this failure will occur soonest on the beds at the en- 
trances of the Sonnd on those in Sections 1 and 3, and of the 
two the failure of the lower beds is most likely to first occur? 
and of all the beds, the Woman’s Marsh will be the first to 
give out. 
As stated at the beginning of this report, the beds may be 
protected either directly or indirectly by either enlarging the 
areas for the dredgers, ensuring by artificial means the ma- 
turity of a larger proportion of the spat, or directly by lim- 
iting and restricting the fishery. 
I alluded in my previous report to the manner in which 
this protection was afforded abroad, and suggested a manner 
for affording it at home, and the necessity for the adoption of 
some such measures seems so urgent that I earnestly hope they 
will shortly be undertaken. 
The extension of the dredging ground can be easily attained 
by depositing the shells from the shell heaps about the pack- 
ing houses on the bottoms contiguous to the natural beds, but 
such deposit should always be made in the direction of the 
ebb and flow of the tide, in order that the drifting spat may 
be carried over the newly exposed cultch. The bottom is of 
minor importance so long as it is of sufficient consistency to 
prevent the oysters from sinking into the mud. A sticky 
clay bottom is preferable, though the beds may be extended 
over sand shoals. 
In searching for new beds they will probably be found 
about the mouths of estuaries and rivers and where there are 
sudden changes of bottom in the Chesapeake, depths of from 
two to four fathoms will be most likely to reward a search, 
and, where there are large beds in the creeks and rivers, it is 
likely that there has been a natural expansion through their 
mouths, and beds will probably be found off* of them. 
The search must be carefully conducted, or the beds which 
appear to be long, narrow ridges, will be missed, and the dredge 
should be dragged across the tide, as the beds usually extend 
in the direction of the current. A sudden change of depth 
of two or three feet, and from soft to hard bottom when on 
