OYSTER BEDS OF JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA. 
39 
each end of the western rock there is a small patch of very scattering 
growth capable of yielding an average of 3J bushels of marketable 
oysters per day. 
The area charted as depleted bears very few marketable oysters. 
The young growth on the dense areas is very prolific, being in 
sufficient quantity to afford a daily return to the tonger of about 35 
bushels. On the scattering bottom about 10 bushels per day could 
be taken, while on the depleted bottom as a whole the average would 
hardly exceed 4 bushels, although two or three times that many 
could be taken in places. 
Details of Examination of White Shoal Rocks. 
Station 
num- 
Date of ex- 
amination. 
Mean 
depth 
of wa- 
ter. 
Character of growth 
of market oysters. 
Oysters caught per 
square yard. 
Estimated quantity oys- 
ters per acre. 
ber. 
Spat. 
Culls. 
Counts. 
Seed. 
Market. 
Total. 
169 
Aug. 18,1909 
Feet. 
5.5 
Dense 
7.7 
92.3 
6.5 
Bush. 
650 
Bush. 
90 
Bush. 
740 
170 
do 
8.5 
do 
3.8 
10.4 
9.2 
92 
127 
219 
443 
Sept. 1,1909 
10.0 
do.. 
11.7 
63.3 
7.1 
487 
98 
585 
444 
do 
10.0 
do 
11.7 
29.6 
17.9 
268 
247 
515 
445 
.....do 
13.0 
do.... 
15.2 
26.9 
8.3 
274 
115 
389 
447 
do 
9.5 
do 
10.0 
28.4 
7.1 
250 
98 
348 
556 
Sept. 14,1909 
9.5 
do 
6.1 
26.2 
11.6 
210 
160 
370 
557 
do 
4.0 
do 
11.5 
29.3 
5.7 
265 
79 
344 
558 
do , 
7.5 
Very scattering. . . 
2.0 
8.7 
3.0 
70 
41 
111 
562 
do 
10.5 
do 
2.6 
19.7 
2.3 
145 
32 
177 
552 
do 
9.0 
Depleted 
.3 
1.3 
.3 
10 
4 
14 
553 
do 
8.5 
do 
1.0 
6.3 
1.0 
47 
14 
61 
554 
do 
6.5 
do 
.3 
.0 
.0 
2 
0 
2 
555 
do 
12.5 
do 
1.9 
11.0 
1.9 
84 
26 
110 
559 
do 
10.5 
do 
4.6 
21.0 
1.8 
166 
25 
191 
561 
do 
11.5 
do 
.3 
.3 
.3 
4 
4 
8 
SEED OYSTER AREA. 
JAIL ISLAND ROCK. 
For this and all of the following rocks the standard of density of 
growth is different from that adopted in the preceding descriptions. 
The cull law, so far as it relates to the size of oysters, does not apply, 
and oysters of whatever size may be taken. The entire content of 
the bed, both young and old, is therefore taken into consideration, 
and as the average price of seed oysters is about two-thirds of that 
of the market oysters from the James River, a larger quantity has 
to be taken to furnish a living wage. In all of the following descrip- 
tions a bed is regarded as dense when 12 or more bushels may be 
taken by a tonger in a day’s work, as scattering when it will yield 
between 8 and 12 bushels, very scattering when it yields between 4 
and 8, and depleted if less than 4 bushels can be tonged per day. 
As the market oysters sell for 45 cents and the seed oysters for but 
30 cents per bushel, the financial return is essentially equal. 
Jail Island Rock, which extends alongshore west of the mouth of 
Warwick River, is continuous at its offshore edge with Wreck Shoal 
