16 OYSTER BEDS OE JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA. 
and any considerable tonging of the beds would soon materially reduce 
the average catch per day. 
In the dense and scattering parts of this portion of the bed, espe- 
cially near the crest of the ridge, there is a growth of small oysters so 
dense that an average of upward of 12 bushels could be tonged per 
day, and these areas can undoubtedly be regarded as both presently 
and prospectively productive. There is also a dense growth of young 
oysters on the inner parts of the depleted area opposite Nansemond 
River Light. On the areas of very scattering growth the small oysters 
are in even smaller quantity than the market oysters, but in places 
there are clean shells in sufficient quantity to indicate that under 
proper conditions a good set might occur and the bottom become 
fairly productive. 
Above a line drawn between Pig Point and Barrel Point the bed 
may be divided into two parts, one a tail-like continuation of the 
main bed running along the eastern edge of the channel and the other 
a detached portion lying on a shoal west of the channel, north of Lar- 
kins Rock. The former has 126 acres of depleted bottom and two 
small patches, one of scattering growth covering about 22 acres and 
the other of about 41 acres on which the oysters are very scattering. 
The detached area covers about 260 acres, of which 15 are dense, 39 
scattering, 51 very scattering, and 155 depleted. On the areas of 
dense and scattering growths of market oysters there is a heavy 
growth of culls, but the scattering and depleted areas are generally 
impoverished of young. 
On the two areas just described as lying above a line between Pig 
and Barrel points it is estimated that there are 15 acres of dense 
growth on which a man could tong an average of about 8 barrels of 
market oysters per day, 61 acres on which he could average about 5 
bushels, 92 acres of very scattering growth where he could take 
about 4 bushels per day, and 281 acres of depleted bottom which will 
not yield 1 bushel per day. On the depleted area there are few young 
oysters and practically no shells. The barren bottom lying within 
this part of the Baylor survey, on which oysters do not now grow and 
apparently never have grown in marketable quantities, nearly equals 
all of the foregoing combined, covering about 430 acres. The barren 
and depleted bottom together aggregate about 711 acres, while all 
of the bottom which is capable of yielding even as little as 3 bushels 
per day, exclusive of the time consumed in culling, covers about 168 
acres. In other words, at least 80 per cent of the area is at present 
commercially worthless. 
The observations, in addition to the sounding and chain investi- 
gations, on which the foregoing is based, are as follows: 
