CONDITION AND EXTENT OF THE OYSTER BEDS OF JAMES 
RIVER, VIRGINIA. 
By H. F. Moore, 
Assistant, TJ. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 
PREVIOUS SURVEYS. 
Prior to the investigations made by the Bureau of Fisheries in 
July, August, and September, 1909, two surveys of the James River 
oyster beds had been made, neither of which professed to delineate 
the rocks accurately or to furnish detailed information concerning 
their productiveness and condition. The first of these surveys was 
a reconnoissance made in 1878 by Lieut, (then Master) Francis 
Winslow, U. S. Navy, in command of the Coast and Geodetic Survey 
schooner Palinurus. The second was the survey of the public 
grounds by Mr. J. B. Baylor, assistant, Coast and Geodetic Survey, 
under the authority of the State, in 1892 and preceding years. 
As Winslow himself states, his “ examination of these beds was a 
very hurried one, and the delineation must be regarded as merely 
approximate, being the result of a hasty reconnoissance .” The 
chart published with the report delineates merely the general out- 
lines of the oyster-bearing areas, without attempting to show the 
smaller individual rocks or the density of growth, and the text is of 
very general character. Comparing the chart with the results of 
the recent survey, however, it is evident that Lieutenant Winslow’s 
brief investigation must have shown with considerable accuracy the 
general distribution of oysters in the James and Nansemond rivers 
at that time. The differences between the general results of the two 
surveys are such as could be readily produced by the lapse of time 
and the vicissitudes through which the beds have passed under the 
operation of natural and human agencies. Some areas have become 
depleted through the intensive fishing they have sustained, or from 
the effects of freshets and other physical factors, while on the other 
hand some appear to have had their boundaries extended .or have 
become merged with adjacent beds through the operations of the 
tongers. 
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