PRODUCTION AND COLLECTION OP SEED OYSTERS 
217 
EXPERIMENTS WITH SPAT COLLECTORS 
70 
60 
50 
Crates filled with scallop and oyster shells were planted in three different locali- 
ties in the river. On July 9, 24 crates containing oyster shells were placed at the 
north edge of the shell bed east of buoy S-20 (Station III) (fig. 4). On July 19, 13 
crates filled with scallop shells were planted along the south side of Hamilton Beach, 
and 13 crates also containing scallop shells were planted at Swifts Beach. Scallop 
shells were used because no oyster shells were available at Wareham. The crates at 
Station III were planted 3 
feet apart on the slope of 
the bar in four rows (figs. 
11, 13) in such manner that 
the first row was always 
below low-water mark, the 
fourth row was entirely ex- 
posed at every low water, 
and the second and third 
rows occupied intermedi- 
ate positions. One crate, 
placed on the top of the 
bar, was covered with water 
only at high tide. The dif- 
ference between the levels 
corresponding to the top of 
the crate on the bar and the 
bottom of the crates in the 
first row was approximately 
4 feet. Over the bar near 
which the crates were 
planted, scallop shells were 
scattered by the oystermen. 
The approximate dimension 
and shape of the area 
covered with scallop shells 
o 
LU 
\ 
to 
S 
40 
30 - 
20 
10 
is shown in Figure 13. 
0 
HiGHW. | 
EBB CURRENT SEPT. 

22,1926. 
L 1 
— i * 
i 
LOW W. 
- 
/ 
/ 
B 
B 
B 
/ 
B 
/ 
B 
i 
i 
i 
i 
\ 
\ 
\ 
\ 
\ 
» 
- 
LOW W . \ V 
FLOOD CURRE 
SEPT. 28, 192 
\ * / / 
\ I*/ 
nt y 
6. f HIGH W. 
5 6 7 1 
HOURS A.M 
3 9 10 11 12 1 
P.M. 
2 3 4 
Figure 10. — Velocity of tidal currents in Wareham River, Station II, September, 
1926 
Because of the objection 
raised by the owner, who 
was afraid that planting of 
crates might affect setting on his bar, out of 24 crates only 1 was planted directly 
on the shelled area, the other 23 were set on the bottom where no planting was done. 
The crates were left undisturbed until the end of August, when they were examined 
and the number of spat in them counted. In order to make a comparison with the 
number of spat contained in the crates and on the bar, the latter was divided into 7 
areas comprising 50 squares, from each of which a representative sample of shells was 
taken and the number of spat counted. 
On the western side of the river, along Hamilton and Swifts Beaches (fig. 4), 
the crates were set between the tidal marks. During the period of 6 weeks that the 
