OYSTER-CULTURE IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 
321 
surface aud bottom; 1 mile below the railroad bridge, one-half flood, 1.0137 surface 
and bottom; and at the railroad bridge, 1.0089 surface and 1.0116 bottom. The total 
area of the part examined was about 2,600 acres; area of natural oyster beds, about 
10.4 acres. 
Cooper River was examined and sketched in to a point about 16 miles above its 
mouth at Charleston. It will average about one-half mile in width with a range 
of depth from 3 to 30 feet. The bottom is generally favorable in the lower part, 
being usually hard and sticky. But few raccoon oyster beds were found along the 
shores, but from local information it was learned that oysters are taken from deep 
| water in Slack Beach and farther up the stream in Groves Creek. A series of density 
observations was also made across this river at the custom-house clock, buoy Ho. 3, 
mid stream, and a point on the opposite shore being in range. The specific gravity 
' at the mouth at ebb tide was 1.0224, surface and bottom ; at the mouth of the Wanclo 
Biver, last of the ebb, 1.0213, surface and bottom ; 5 miles above the mouth, early flood, 
1.0192 surface and 1.0203 bottom; 12 miles above the mouth, last of ebb, 1.0168 sur- 
face and bottom; and at the highest point reached, 2 miles above Slack Beach, 1.0156 
surface and bottom, on the early flood. The area of the part examined was about 
■ 6,052 acres; area of natural oyster beds, about 10.9 acres. 
Wando River , unlike the Ashley and the Cooper, does not drain an extensive ter- 
ritory, and hence has a much higher and more uniform density. It was examined and 
sketched in to a point about 16 miles above the mouth. It has a general southerly 
direction, and empties into the Cooper Biver opposite Drum Island. For the first 8 
miles it has an average width of one-half mile, and then begins to narrow, contract- 
ing at the highest jioint reached to a width of 150 yards. Baccoon oysters were found 
growing continuously on both shores as far as the uppermost place examined, but no 
; oysters were discovered in deep water except the droppings from the ledges, and 
among these some fine specimens were obtained. The bottom is generally hard and 
favorable, underlaid in planes by phosphate rocks, while the depth ranges from 2 to 30 
feet. The specific gravity at the mouth of the river on the last of the ebb was 1.0213, 
surface and bottom; 4 miles above the mouth, on the last of the ebb, 1.0208, surface 
. and bottom; near village wharf, early flood, 1.0206, surface and bottom; and at the 
highest point examined, one-third flood, 1.0201, surface and bottom. Little or no 
variation was found rathe surface and bottom densities, and I have seen no locality 
of the same specific gravity where the conditions seem to be more favorable. How 
far the mining for phosphate rock in the future would interfere, can not be predicted, 
but parties are now taking some rock from the bottom of this river. The approximate 
area of the part examined is about 4,992 acres ; approximate area of natural oyster 
beds, 34.8 acres. 
Charleston Harbor is about 1J miles wide at its mouth, from Cummings Point to 
Fort Moultrie, and about 3 miles long from its mouth to the mouth of Cooper Biver. 
It is exposed to southerly and easterly gales. The specific gravity ranges high, and 
. is tempered in its upper part on the ebb tide by the water from the Ashley and Cooper 
rivers. A few raccoon oyster beds are found on both the eastern and western shores, 
but extensive dredging with the launches and with the steamer Fish Hawk failed to 
discover any oysters in deep water, and its value as a possible oyster ground is deemed 
_ inconsiderable. The specific gravity at the mouth of Cooper Biver was 1.0224, surface 
and bottom; at the mouth of the Ashley Biver, on the last of the ebb, 1.0217 surface 
F. C. B. 1890—21 
