El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-26

VI manufacture which utilize mother
o1-pearL Why should ii not be worth
an intelligent persons while to prOpa-
gate the bivalves, if he has at hand a
convenient pond or stream?
The answer is that no important diff
hcuFtles are involved. Now that the
/ problem of the mussels life history
mas been worked out the rest Is easy.
/ IL Is not necessary to wait until. the
! government has inOculated fishes ready
10 distribute to applicants. All that
| the ambitious water farmer needs to
do Is to hunt up a bed of firstclass
| pearIy mussels, transfer the finest of
them to his own place and stock the
latter with perch or sunfish. If a
| stream is concerned. barriers placed
above and below the place where the
! mussels are planted will. if suitably
built. prevent the fishes from getting
away. while allowing the water free
passage.
MusseIs Must be Good Ones.
1t is very important. however. that
! the mussels chosen shall be of good
| quality, Many of the streams over
/ large areas in the United States. and
! particularly in the Mississippi valley
! and along the tributaries of that great
! river, contain beds of muSsels; but in
nine cases out OF ten they are ip-
! ferior-that is 10 say, of poor color,
| and with shells too thin to furnish
! good mOther-Of-pearI for industrial
, uses There are, it should be realized.
! not less than 500 species of pearly
musSels in North America. Some are
quite huge in size, and they vary in
hue from copper to salmon, pink,
strawberry. glowing red, and silvery
white
The Fairport station was not es-
tablished until a very thorough in
vestigation of the whole subject had
been made Not only was the problem
studied out on its biological side. but
a special expedition was sent out to
explore for pearly mussels the entire
area watered by the Mississippi and
its tributaries. With the help of the
Information thus obtained, the fisher
les bureau will be able TO draw its
supplies OF seed mussels from the finest
existing beds, planting in its ponds
only the most desirable varieties.
Such being the case, the mussel
seed distributed from Fairport. when
the station is in active operation. will
produce only the finest kinds Of pearly
bivalves There is literally no limit
to the number that can be bred-one
method contemplated being TO put fish
es into the mussel ponds at spawning
mussel fry" to transfer them to other
ponds until the young msusels drop
off. Then the latter can be selected
from the bottom and used for planting
like seed oysters.
The prospect is. then, that before
very long the pearly musseis which |
today are threatened with extermina- !
ton. will be restored in plentiful num- !
bers to those streams in which form !
erly they f1Ourished Also they will !
be proDagated in extensive beds in /
many river and lake where hither- |
to they have been unknown. It will be |
necessary, Of course, to protect the !
planted beds by law. else they would /
be raided and soon wiped out by pearl |
hunters. These mussels produce the !
finest and most beautiful Of pearls, |
surprising those of the orient in both
color and luster, and the destruction /
of the natural beds has been attribu-
table largely to attacks upon them
during pearl hunting excitements
started by the accidental finding OF a
few fine specimens.
VIII be Done Scientifically.
While the prime object of the work
at Fairport will be TO preserve and !
Improve the pearly mussel crop for the
sake of the button industry. consider
able attention will be devoted to the
production of pearls on a scientific
basis The mussel pearls necessarily
correspond in color to the mussels
themselves. Sometimes they are sill
very white. and sometimes salmon
;olored, light green. or purplish A
ky blue specimen, found at Caney
cork, Tenn, few years ago. sold for
$4,000
Inasmuch as only selected individ-
lals OF the choicest species of mussels
viii be planted in the ponds at Fair
'ort. it follows that the pearls thew
'roduce will be Of extraordinary beau
v Furthermore. they will all be
arge ones. For. when it has been
scerta1ned that a mussel contains a
'earl, the latter will not be removed.
nut VIII be allowed TO grow One
night well ask how it can be discov-
red which of the bivalves have pearls
n them The answer is that this may
e done very easily by means of the
A-ray-that is to say by brief exami-
alton with the Horoscope
Worm Causes Pearl.
Unfortunately. under ordinary cir
it is the exceptional mus
Ell that contains a pearl. 1t is be-
eyed. however. that the percentage
pearl bearers can he greatly aug
rented by artificial means The cause
pearl Is a minute worm, which
lvading the flesh of the mollusk,
cts up an irritation causing the mus 1
Fl to enclose it in an envelope of .
earl stuff. The pearl grows by the =
eposition of series of layers of this I
early material, which is the same as
lat used in the making of the shell.
1t appears, however. that this worm
a parasite of the muskrat The
tier eats the mussel, and thus be-
'mes in Tested with the parasite The
tier natures in the body of the
uskrat. and lays a large number of
sgs. which find their way into the
alter. and hatch out the worms that
tack the mussels. Thus it is that
lie cycle of the worms life history
made complete. And the conclu-
on drawn is that the way to multi
y pearls In mussel bed is to encour-
&c muskrats. and to plant in the bed
ussels that are already infested With
e worm-a condition indicated Gf
e muSSel contains no pearn bv the !