Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 49 
were noted. The water over Teague and Elbow bars is shal- 
low, the greatest depth over the former being 12 feet, over 
the latter, 9 feet. 
On the date of the survey of these oyster grounds, Sep- 
tember 2nd, the water over, the lower part of Carpenters 
Yard showed a density of 1.0046 to 1.0056, and 1.0028 to 1.0036 
over the upper part of Teague bar. 
In the narrow part of the river between Benedict and 
Hallowing Point very swift currents are developed at certain 
stages of the tide, a velocity of 1.3 mile per hour having been 
measured over Carpenters Yard bar. 
The unusually rich oyster food supply found to exist in 
the water in this part of the river which gives to the bottoms 
a special value for fattening oysters, is probably to be 
attributed to the fertilizing materials brought down from the 
extensive mar! beds at the head of the river. The effect of 
such fertilizer in the water upon the growth of diatoms (the 
plants upon which oysters feed) is the same as that upon 
other plants. | 
Practically all of the bottoms outside the limits of the 
natural oyster bars are valuable for oyster culture. Those 
in the vicinity of Elbow bar are too soft to support oysters 
but they can be made sufficiently hard by first planting shells. 
The growth of oysters on the bottoms above Benedict is slow, 
due to the low density (freshness) of the water during parts 
of the year, but the food supply is such that oysters fatten 
rapidly. 
WICOMICO RIVER. 
(Shown on Chart of Natural Oyster Bars, No. 26.) 
The section of the Wicomico River which contains natural 
oyster ground is about nine miles in length, reaching from 
the mouth of the river to a short distance above Stoddards 
Point. 
For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of the 
Haman Oyster Culture Law the line marking the mouth of 
the Wicomico has been established by the Shell Fish Com- 
mission as shown on Chart of Natural Oyster Bars, No. 26, 
to begin at Cobb Point; thence along Cobb Point bar to its 
extreme end, as marked by Cobb Point Light; thence to the 
nearest point on St. Catherine Island. This interpretation 
