164 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN [VOL. XVI, 



investigation. I recommend that batches of small sealed bottles 

 each containing a post card inscribed in English and Tamil, be 

 thrown into the sea, at intervals and places yet to be determined, 

 on both the Indian and the Ceylon side of the Gulf of Mannar, and 

 that small rewards be given to those finders who place the cards 

 in the hands of the nearest revenue officer or native headman, who 

 would despatch them to the authority appointed, with particulars 

 of the date and place of recovery. 



After investigation on these lines has been carried out systema- 

 tically for several years, it will become possible to determine 

 the place of origin of much of the oyster spat, and we shall be 

 enabled to trace the course of its wanderings while in the larval 

 swimming condition, and in consequence know where to conserve 

 breeding reserves of oysters for the further replenishment of the 



banks. 



(IV) 



Culture of the Banks. 



(a) and (b) Transplantation and Cultching. — The principal 

 means whereby the banks can be permanently improved and the 

 quantity of fishable oysters increased lies in the adoption of the 

 correlated operations of cultching and transplantation of young oys- 

 ters. The latter is admittedly the most important cultural means 

 at our disposal for increasing the harvest of the pearl banks and 

 I am of opinion that it might be adopted with very favourable 

 financial results on certain of the Tuticorin banks, notably upon 

 the Tolayiram Par, provided there be proper organization of the 

 diver labour-force, so that when the oysters become of fishable age 

 we may be assured that the means will be adequate to bring the 

 greater part of them ashore during the limited available season of 

 favourable weather. 



If this long-standing labour difficulty be removed I advise the 

 fitting up of the inspection steamer as an oyster dredger in order 

 that, when young oysters are found in profusion upon unsuitable 

 ground, a substantial proportion may be transferred to a bank- 

 where the conditions are favourable to the maturing of oysters. 

 My experience with the Ceylon dredging steamer Violet shows that 

 from 500,000 to 700,000 oysters of the size attained in six months, 

 may be transplanted during each day's employment, equivalent to 

 a transplantation of from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 per month — 

 extremely satisfactory figures. 



