The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1915-08-05
the STORY or HOW
PEARLS ARE GROWN

Upon its surface" says Van Dyke,
'trembles a mellow lustre, a soft and
irtdescent light, full of shifting CLEANS
of azure and OF rose"
A wonderfully vivid description and
a true one, Is this, OF the queen OF
gems--the pearl. g
For ages 1t has been the favorfte of
royalty and wealth and the object of
universal admiration and desire.
Numerous have been the attempts to
reproduce IT and vG.ying the methods,
but meaRer the results.
II Is true that very fine limitations Of
the pearl have been made, b u these
could v appeal to the discriminating
mtn or the exacting taste, to whom
nothing short Of the real pearl, not only
In onward appearance, but in its very
makeup. would be acceptable.
So man set out to arnes the very
oyster. as II were, and make 1t yield the
pearl with greater certainty, so that the
privilege Of possessing 1t might be ex-
tended 10 every pearl lover.
Decades upon decades were : spent,
disappointments suffered and lives
sacrificed in the study and application
OF the laws governing the birth and
not before 1896 that the cultivation Of
pearl oyster on a commercial scale had
become a fact.
Now pearl culture is a thriving in
dustry. Its home Is located about a
dozen miles south OF the famous shrine
of Use, in the sheltered Bay of Ago. long
known for producing some of the finest
pearls In the world. It Is a remarkably
quiet body OF water, some six miles
long and three miles wide, with an av-
erage OF 10 fathoms.
The coast line is cut with many in
dentations, affording excellent shelter
and ground for the pearl oysters. The
U1I1f afraaVn oyvaana naar hv' and Ia ar
important factor in making this a
favorite haunt, of the precious mullusk.
This mollusk belongs to a species
closely resembling that found near
Ceylon. 1t lives, anchored to rocks,
stems of algae, etc.. at a depth not ex-
~ceedinfg seven fathoms.
Every year in July and August
pieces of rock are placed In spots where
larvae Of the pearl oysters rave been
found to be most abundant Soon small
oyster spats are found attached to
them. With the advent OF the winter,
these, together with the rocks, are re-
moved to deeper waters n carefully
laid out In beds prepared for them.
Here they lie until they reach their
third wear, when, with the aid of the
cultivator. whose chief problem con
sists In inserting the nuclei, the process
of pearl culture begins.
nothe four years, and we find that
the mollusk has invested the nucleus
with numerous layers of nacre, and has,
In fact. produced pearl. "
Pearl culture, as described, may seem
very simple. but In reality II Is far from
being an easy task. There are many
drawbacks besetting this industry,
such as the election of the. nuclei. ETC.,
and especially. the great mortality
among the oysters.
The octopus plays sad havoc among
them. The starfish, too. Is an unwel-
come intruder. The most dreaded OF all
evils, however, il the invasion of the
RED Current" which may in day
undo the work OF years.
For the first 1--WE or six years, the
production OF the oriental cultured
pearl was not very great and not much
was done to encourage its use either
here or abroad. Later, as the industry
developed, a steadier n larger pearl
crop was assured.
The cultured pearls are real, natural
and comparatively inexpensive. They
are beautiful and fascinating; they
have the color and lustre Of the finest
Indian pearl and are as nearly perfect
otherwise as pearls can be. ..y .o..-
The difference between he oriental
cultured pearl and the other is, that
the production of the former is brought
about by the pearl ~cultivator, while
that Of the latter Is accidental.
The costly pearl Is found in the soft
body Of the oyster, while the cultured
pearl is built by the oyster on the in
side of the shell. This accounts for the
mother of pearl portion in the cultured
pearl at the point of adhesion to the
shell. This feature Is improved by the
use of a setting especially adapted for
the mounting Of this pearl.