Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-04-12
UNCLE Sam BEGINS
FARMING PEARLS
Gems May B e come So
Cheap Everybody Will
Wear Them.
START IN MUsKRATs
NinuA Worm Later Becomes Nu-
cleat Of Pearl In Flesh Of Mus.
Sc, Which Hatch in Fish ellis.

isgoine fn pearl farming on large
scale. AS a result pearls may be-
come % cheap that everyone will
wear them. Also, fresh water streanH
,of the country, now of little value.
will be seats of a profitable indus
TRY.
In this Cumberland valley, where
eighty-fi,e of the 600 species of fresh
water mlssels of the United States
are fount the government fisheries
bureau is now breeding pearl BIZ
valves by artificial means.
f,arl Only Worm.
In adding to the supply Of pearls
the government is imposing on the
muskrats d the country, for the bo-
dies of mus rats> are the host of the
minute worn which later in the flesh
Of the musel becomes pearls nu-
cleus.
The eggs If a mussel are Matched
in pouches n the outer gills of lit
tie fishes, fom which they are fl
nally discharged to the bottom of a
stream to become larvae. Each larvae
possesses Iair of hooks like tongs
with which thsy grasp a passing fish.
Those that fai to catch hold die.
The bureau takes broad packets of
eggs from rile mussels and places
them in tubs With little sunfish and
perch. The fhhes become SO heav-
lily loaded witt larvae that they
sometimes scarcely can swim.
The fishes ae then placed in
streams. At the end of seventy days
the tiny parasits drop off and then
grow to adult orm. Only by this
method can ney generation of mus
sells come into bling.
OF the many SPECIES of pearls mus
sells most are worthless, because
their shells are 90 thin to furnish
gADd mother-of-p buttons.
among the mos valuable CONNER
chilly are the piaoe, butterfly and
nikgerhead, as tie Kentucky and
Tennessee fishers all them.
Pearls Now Accidents.
Pearls at present are accidents in
mussels. The peal-making worm
bores into the files, of the mollusk
and sets up an Irritation which
causes the bivalve tcprotect itself by
layer after layer of the same mate
rial as its lining. Amuskrat comes
along, dives and eats the flesh of the
mussels. The musknt thus swal-
lows the worm. The form lays eggs
inside the muskrat aid these even
tually find their way hto the water,
where they are hatches and let forth
host of little worms Of new gen.
Grafton to attack any mussels they
come across and in ter flesh be-
come centers Of new perls.
Only a few mussel BID are infect
ed with the parasites. To obtain a
yield OF fine pearls one must find a
bed of good colored musels and in
feet it. The pearl is tn, same color
as the mother-of-pearl o the infect
ed mussel.
Muskrats will be carefully protect
ed along pearl streams. heir coasts
are valuable, but this will be MI
nor matter compared with the worth
of the pearls.
Even under present haphzard me-
thods many persons live by the pearl
industry. Recently at GooSall island
$3O,O00 worth Of pearls wer obtained
| in week from a single bel.
A sky blue pearl from ca ey Fork,
Tenn, sold for $4,000 and merchant
at Carthage who buys $500 annu-
ally in pearls has paid ashigh as
$4,000 for a single specimen
The Indians of the Scioto hnd Mi
ami valleys had big collectpns OF
I pearls. Pearls are found in hounds
with skeletons of dead chietains.