Evening star., 1933-09-09
pEARL|NG INDUSTRY
! PUSHED IN JAPAN
Knives Used to Produce
! Larger Number and More
! Symmetrical Gems.

The pearl oyster planting in Japan
this season is the largest In years. More
than 10000 900 pearl l-pfoducing mussels
have been scattered over 10000 acres
of the calm waters largely in the deep
iy-indented bays along the Pacific shores
of Central Japan, but also extending as
far as Palau Island in the South Seas.
For many centuries men have indus
triously combed the oyster beds OF the
Persian Gulf of Ceylon, and many other
parts Of the globe in quest of natural
pearls. Long before Cleopatra is said
to have dissolved a lovely pearl In
Aptony's cup of wine, pearls had woven
their spell of charm about mankind"
says bulletin from the National Geo.
graphic Society. mo doubt one of the
reasons that pearls have held their pop
ularity and have been such highly
treasured objects of the worlds mer-
chandise is because they have been
purely natural product, and man has
had no hand in shaping them.
Man and Oyster Form Partnership.
LAS paradoxical as it may seem, how
ever. several patents, granted in Japan,
now attest the fact that numerous hum
BILE bivalves are being scientifically gov
erned in forming the baubles that beau
tiful women so highly prize. The in
dustrious japanese have stepped in with
tweezers, knives, and other parapher-
MALTA and have caused oysters to pro-
duce a greater number and more per-
fectly shaped pearls than those hitherto
formed entirely by the accidental work
ing of nature.
I'm 40 years of intensive expert
mentation the Japanese have developed
methods of culturing perfect pearls,
which cannot be distinguished from
other natural pearls without cutting
the gem in half, They are genuine
pearls as truly as any pearl can be
genuine; the only difference is that
they are artif1cially stimulated. The
idea is not entirely new, however. be
cause the Chinese for ages have placed
small lead images in the shells of fresh
water mussels to have them coated
with thin deposit of pearl substance.
Oysters on Operating Table.
EVERY one of the 100000 oysters
planted this year has gone to the
operating table in order that the
chances of their producing more and
better pearls will be improved. The
biyalves that have been selected are
years old and are Of fair size. The
operation that they undergo is in
teresting. They are put in bath OF
water to cause them to open their
shells, after which clamp is inserted
to keep them open until a tiny seed
pearl or bead of mother of pearl, COW
cred with live oyster membrane. is in
serted into the body OF the mussel.
Many of these small beads of mother
of pearl come from the shells of Mis-
siSSippi River bivalves.
1.-THE oysters thus treated are placed
Sv~ yriro ci1cranIad hv
OF RATS in the water of the bays,
where they feed, grow and begin de-
posting layers of pearl nacre over the
tiny nucleus. They are taken up twice
year to be cleaned of barnacles and
other accumulationS. The cages also
serve to keep octopuses and other
aqueous marauders from killing the
oysters Parasitic growths in the
water. however, often take considera-
BILE toll of the crop.
Services Conducted for Departed Oysters.
Seven years hence these 100000
mussels will be opened and the pearls
removed. Approximately 20 per cent
have no pearls; 20 to 25 per cent will
have practically perfect pearls of vary
ing sizes; the rest will produce imper-
fectly colored or irregularly shaped
pearls of little or no commercial value.
mot infrequently more than one pearl
Is found in an oyster; one, Of course, is
Undoubtedly cultivated pearl, but the
other or others are natural ones. No
one can surely tell one from the other.
but the cultivated one is frequently the
more perfect of the two.
Last year, in order not to flood the
market, thousands of the pearls were
burned Perhaps one of the most un-
usual things connected with the indus
try is that priests annually conduct
services for the souls of the departed
oysters On one of the hills overlook
ing the bay where the early experiments
were conducted, is being built monu-
rr,ent to the lowly oyster; 100000
rlearls are to be ir1bedded in its base"