FISHERY RESOURCES OP THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 296 



recognized. Two of the principal merchants of Zamboanga give the value of 

 the first grade (which is not often found), as 50 pesos per kilogram while 2 

 principal dealers in Balabac quote the value of the first grade at 167 pesos per 

 kilogram. These prices were quoted to customs officials. The value of the 

 second grade is from 16 to 20 pesos per kilogram. A considerable portion of the 

 Philippine shell falls in this grade (Plate V, figs. 1 and 2). The third grade 

 is thinner and is valued at from 11 to 13 pesos per kilogram, while the fourth, 

 consisting of small shell is valued at 4.16 to 8 pesos per kilogram. It usually is 

 sold by the catty, which is equal to 1.39 poimds. 



The value of tortoise-shell depends not only on tlie size and thickness 

 of the plates, but also largely upon the coloring and marking, there being 

 a great variation in the beautiful clouded and mottled patterns in the 

 shell. The color most in demand at present seems to be the rather dark 

 shell with but few light spots. Golden-colored combs, at one time greatly 

 prized and to-day much used by ladies with blond hair, are made from 

 the plates of the plastron or belly. The price of the shell also depends 

 largely upon the prevailing style in ladies' hair dressing as well as upon 

 the fashion in toilet articles. However, the demand for good tortoise- 

 shell seems steadily to be increasing. Japan is the center of the work for 

 oriental countries. 



POSSIBH-ITIES OP TOETOISE-SHELL WOBK IN THE PHILrPPINES. 



Personally I have seen nothing in the Philippines which seems to oflEer 

 so sure a return to a man with a small amount of capital, say 6,000 to 

 10,000 pesos, as the buying and working of tortoise-shell. The machinery 

 required is but little. The manufactured articles would enter the United 

 States duty free, thereby finding a ready market. The supply of shell 

 is, on the average, about 2,000 kilograms per year, which would be suffi- 

 cient to keep a small factory in operation and I have no doubt that the 

 returns would be remunerative. The main difficulty would be to induce 

 the Chinese middlemen to deal directly with the factory rather than with 

 Shanghai or Singapore (the two places that take practically our total 

 yield). A man who could buy directly from the fishermen would have 

 a still larger profit. 



CULTIVATION OF THE TOETOISE. 



The cultivation of the hawksbill turtle has never been undertaken in 

 the Philippines, but it is not improbable that it could be cultivated to 

 advantage in much the same way as is the edible turtle (Try onyx japonicus 

 Schlegel) in Japan. It is a subject worthy of consideration not only by 

 private individuals but by the Government. A careful study of the habits, 

 nesting places, rate of growth, and food of the hawksbill and green turtles 

 should be undertaken with artificial cultivation in view, and if thought 

 practical, steps should be taken to establish turtle farming, for practical 

 and experimental purposes. 



