Die bie, 
Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 89 
Establishment. 
When the limits of the natural bars have been ascertained 
and the corners have been established by the Commission and 
plotted on the projections, buoys, adapted to the depth of 
water at each corner, are selected, placed on the scow and 
taken, by the launch ‘‘CANVASBACK”’’ or the steamer 
“GOVERNOR ROBERT M. McLANE,”’ to the places for 
which they were designed. The exact location of each corner 
is ascertained by the chief engineer by the use of sextants, 
and the buoys are dropped under his direction. 
Effect of Water and Ice on State Buoys. 
‘¢ The wood from which the buoys marking the corners of 
the natural oyster bars in Anne Arundel and Somerset coun- 
ties were made, was of two varieties—Cypress and Bull Pine. 
Cypress has been used exclusively as a floater to mark the 
corners of the natural bars in bold waters, while bull-pine 
stake buoys have been placed to mark the inshore limits of 
the bars where the water was found to be less than eight feet 
in depth at mean low water. 
The first buoys to be established were those in the waters 
of Anne Arundel County during the winter and early spring 
of 1907. The total number of buoys placed was 362; of this 
number more than 60 per cent. were floaters. (For type and 
construction, see pages 88 and 90.) 
The cypress buoys established in Anne Arundel County 
waters were well seasoned and were given a coat of copper 
paint before placing in position; the section of buoy above 
water was painted white. Some of these buoys were ex- 
amined after they had been established six months as it was 
perceptible that they had settled from one to three feet. 
These buoys were found to have absorbed considerable water 
which was attributed to the wood having been very dry and 
porus. The engineer of the Commission decided, before 
establishing future buoys, to treat the wood by applying one 
or two coats of red lead before putting on the copper and 
white paint. 
