T62 
THE TROPICAL A&^IICULTURIST. 
"May 1. 1899. 
banks in a very short space of time, the value 
Oi which woiilii always he increasing." 
It has been decided tliat the .souUj coast of 
Cxlabria is the fittest locality for the laying down 
of the beds, and the Italian Government has 
CDnceded the necessary waters, and done much 
to encourage this new industry. It is proposed 
ti aciiuircd 10,000 pearl oysters {Melffir/rmu mur- 
(jnrilifrra), of which .500 will be set aside for 
breeding purposes. It has lieen computed that 
the spawn produced by one of tliese molluscs in 
t!ie open sea contains about 1^,000,000 eggs, ihe 
majority of these are lost, either because they 
serve as food to other animals, or because they 
get covered up by the sand, or are carried away 
by the currents into places unsuited to their 
development. By breeding in tanks these dangers 
can, for the most part, be avoided, and certainly 
a twentieth part can be saved, which would give 
an average of ()(K),000 eggs for every shell, and 
a sum total of :i,000,000,000 eggs for the 500 oysters 
set apart for breeding. But, allowing that of 
tliese only a twentieth part develop, in the second 
year the total would l)e 1.5,000,000. Again, if 
only half of these survive all tlie natural and 
cliance risks to which they may be exiiosed still 
7,500.000 would be laid down on the banks in 
the open sea. At the end of the seventh year, 
say 50 per cent, are fished uj) ; this would give 
3,750,000 shflls. and, at an average of 3 lb. per 
shell, would realise 5,020 tons of mother-of-pearl, 
which, even of third-rate quality, and worth but 
1 500 f r. (£00) a ton, would yet bring in a sum 
of 7.5;!(),000 fr. (£305,200). 
It is possible that this enormous quantity of 
mother-of-pearl brought suddenly into the market 
would considerably lower the price, and in the 
estimates only half this amount, 3,7(>o,000 fr. 
(Bl52,(i90) has been calculated for each bank hshed 
every seventh year, that is one annually, seven 
baiug laid down. To this may be added the worth 
of the pearls which might be found naturally, or 
produced artificially. 
It would not, however, be necessary to wait 
33ve:i years before any return could be ob- 
t lined formonev invested, the reproduction being 
so great that at the end of the third year it 
would be possible, without damaging the banks, 
to take up shells of 8 to 10 centimetres in diameter, 
v.^hich are well suited for the manufacture of 
buttons, and could be sold at 1,500 fr. (£<)0) per 
ton. It would also be easy to prepare a sufficient 
QDantity of the 9,500 ovsters not used for breeding, 
S3 that' they would produce pearls by the end 
of the thirtl year. 
As the productiveness of the banks would in- 
crease yearly, there is no doubt that by the 
srrenth year, when it would reach its height, 
t'le receipts from the sale would have sufficed 
to leave a very fair margin of profit, in addition 
to redeeming the capital and paying off the 
interest. , . , , , 
The Vice-Gonsul concludes his report by observ- 
iao- that, as at present the chief market for 
mother-of-pearl is London, and as the larger part of 
t'lis trade is in British hands, this scheme for 
biiuging the sources of a valuable commodity 
nearer to the home market is not without in- 
tarest. "It seems, too, that this might, upon 
iaquiry, turn out possibly to be a very favourable 
o oeniiig of the British capital.— /wiiseriaZ Institute. 
Moths.— An Indiannewspapcr.snys tiiat clothing 
S3en ed with a mixture of oils of clove, einnamon 
and cedar will not he attacked by laivie of any 
kind.— -5. and C. Drvgiist. 
The Coffee Estates in Selvncior that have 
SuffMcd most from caterpillais are tliorie in which 
the plants are raised from Pengerang seed. Mr. 
Ea'iley is reported to have a theory that there 
is something peculiarly swest or attractive lu 
trees raised from that seed.— V, Press. 
PRODUCE AND PL.\NTIVG. 
Tellino Us all About Ix.— Juet as planters ».nd 
iinportera were congratuhiting themselvfc«i that thing* 
were looking up in the tea markc-t llic-ir hopes are 
Buddeuly dashed by the revelation of one who, with a 
fiae ffift for seeing round the corner, telle lis all about 
the vrorkiiiKS of th« market, and revealu the future in 
a tlaHb of iaepiratioD. Describing binrself with eweet 
bimplicity as " Merchant," a corieepondeut of (he 
Oiocer lets Limgelf go fo'lows. lie say* : •' Iq 
regard to the advance iu lodinn tea. I believe that 
the market is getting excited iu regard to the t>liort- 
nesB of supply in Indian tea, under a Bomewbat 
mistaken uolion. I notice in your lual S^urday'a 
issue TOU gire the quantity of teas sent direct to 
America, Australia, &c. for the last two luoiiths, and 
for the same two months in pievions years, and 
whereas last year there was practically no increase 
over the previous year, this year there is a treinendoaa 
increase, amouDting to inillioos of ponuds of tea, 
which I am informed is eutin ly due to a direct line 
of ships having coinuieuced tLis year, tor the firat 
time to tboBe countries, where.is in previoa<< years 
those countries were supplied diitrfly from Ihe London 
market. The result is, tncrefore.tbai there will not be 
so much tea required from our London stock as was re- 
quired iu former years. My opinion, therefore, is that if 
the blenders and other buyers will buy from hand 
to mouth, the prices will not go up — indeed, I believe 
they will come down. I near, nho, on diDclusive 
information, that a number of brokers bought largely 
on thoir own account, and Ibitt they are trying tbeir 
bebt to drum into the bluudera tije alleged tact o( 
shortness of stock, wbar*ai>, as 1 have sliown aboTe, 
it ia chietly caused by tea being sent direct to countries, 
instead of their being euppl ed, as in former years, 
through London." How the wicked brokers lieie re- 
ferred to must squirm as they read " MercbaDl's" 
terrible indictment. 
In Advance. — We notice that certain Loudon tea> 
brokers have been asked t'j give tbeir opinion as 
to the probable effect of a reduction in or the total 
abolition of the tea duty, as tbougb the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer were eagerly awaiting this ex. 
pression of opinion before taking action. It is, of 
course, very interesting to lesru the view ot ' ex- 
perienced broker.^ on this subject, but it stems just 
now rather a waste of force. While Sir Michael 
Hicks Beach is engaged with plans for raising the 
wind rather than removing or reducing duties he is 
less likely to give attention to the views of members 
of the tea trade about the duly question than he 
would if the matter were under serious considera- 
tion. All the same, it i» useful to know that Messrs. 
Tliompson think tliat if " the tax were removed 
probably the number of distributors might be increased' 
with the result that for the time at least demand 
would be brisk and clearances large, which would 
deplete stocks to the benefit of importers ; bat it is 
by no means certain that a large permanent increase 
in consumption would follow, and that looking at the 
question broadly, they incline to the opinion (not 
generally held) that abolition of duty would tarn 
the scale in favour of the best as against the cheapest 
tea — thus directly eucourif^ing the production of the 
finer kinds in Ceylon— but importers would not expect 
to obtain mt ra than a pait of the t )tal remission, and 
that only for a time." jMtaars. Wilson Sraithttt &Co. 
express the view that '■ trie home consumption of 
Ceylon tea would, ir all prob:rbility, receive some 
stimulus, ill common with thit of oiher growths 
from a reduction or total abolition of t le duty ; any 
alteraticn would, we think, affect every growth alike 
with this excojtion, that inasmuch as the present 
fixed duty imposes a relativel .' heavier tax on low- 
priced tea, any reduction or tot;d abDlitiou of duty 
would give considerable impetus to the exportation 
of common tea from China, which would, in that case, 
become once more au important factor in the trade 
and interfere considerably with Ceylon and Indian 
tea in the market for low-grade tea for " price." Th^ 
