46 Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 
of the limits of Wicomico River is in accord with the rule — 
generally observed in such cases which may be stated as 
follows: the mouth of a river is limited by a line connect- — 
ing headland on one side with headland on the other; islands — 
being considered to be part of the adjacent mainland. 
The part of the river belonging to Charles County is al- | 
most filled with natural oyster bars, three barren and de- 
pleted areas only having been found; one between Stoddard 
and Wicomico Lumps bars, near the upper part of the river; — 
one between Wicomico Middleground and Charleston Creek 
bars, just below the mouth of Charleston Creek; the other 
between Shipping Point and Cobb Point bars, near the mouth 
of the river. ; 
The oyster bars begin near shore and extend to the middle 
of the main channel of the river, passing without a break into — 
the bars on the opposite (St. Marys County) side and also | 
without a break, except at the points mentioned above, into — 
the adjacent bars above and below.t The depths of water 
over the bars vary from 4 to 9 feet at their inshore bound- — 
aries, and from 6 to 40 feet at their mid-channel boundaries. ‘ 
’ The bottoms on which oysters grow in the part of the river 
above Rock Point are composed almost exclusively of mud, 
the oysters being found in lumps or hills which vary in area — 
from a few square feet to several acres. The lumps increase — 
in thickness, through the gradual accumulation of shells, and — 
in area, by the spread or overflow of shells and oysters into ~ 
the deep soft mud at their edges. By this process neighbor- 
ing lumps have in many places grown together to form con- | 
tinuous bars. This process of nature of stocking the waste — 
muddy bottoms with oysters is a very slow one but if large — 
quantities of shells should be deposited in imitation of the — 
natural process the formation of bottoms having the hardness — 
required to support oysters would be rapidly effected. 
Hard sandy bottoms are found in the part of the river q 
opposite Mills Point; off Windmill Point and along the shore — 
below Rock Point. 
1 The total area covered by the 12 natural oyster bars, which have been charted, 
is 2,254 acres. (See table, page 48.) " 
