.tuLY 1, 1905,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRlCULT^tfRlST. 
47 
looking tea, suiL'ocmded by a wide frame- 
work of forest with the everlastinp; hills in 
the background. Kirigalpota and Totapala. 
the second and third highest mountains m the 
island, are especially in evidence. The 
tea has never been forced by manure or 
otherwise on Diy;!gama. An average of 500 
lb. of made tea per acre has contented the 
Manager ; and considering the handsome 
continuous dividends, even during the past 
two years of depression, given by the 
Company-owners, who can doubt the wisdom 
of the policy observed? 'The proof of the 
pudding is in the eating thereof ' and if 15 
rising to 20 per cent per annum, do not 
content dividend-loving shareholders, espe- 
cially when they know that their tea buslies 
are healthy and vigorous, then indeed are 
they insatiable and undeserving. An out- 
turn of 1,120,000 lb. of m.ade tea is the largest 
from any Ceylon Factory and this required 
the equivtilent of 2,000 tons weight of leaf to 
be taken off this block of tea which stretches 
for about three miles up and two miles across 
this last cultivated valley of the Agra- 
oya. The property Is very compact, thanks 
to an exchange of outlying forest land 
effected with Government some time ago 
which has given both the Crown and 
the Diyagama owners, a much moie 
uniform and convenient boundary than 
would otherwise be the case. The highest 
point on Diyagama is about 6,000 feet. 
The estate is now marked off into seven 
divisions (over 300 acres each) and these 
ao-ain are split into 12-acre fields, for the 
convenience of working ; and apart from 
the " sinna durais " in charge of these, the 
chief Manager gives no less than a day to 
each division in succession, so as to ensure 
careful -iupervision. 'Ihe fields are all ad- 
mirably drained and roaded, the total 
extent on the property being not less than 
30 miles of roads. The rule is observed of 
giving any tea that looks below par, 
"a rest" from plucking; while any poor 
bit of tea is promptly 'tigged up" by 
being treated to suitable manure. In this 
way°a wonderful degree of regularity has 
been obtained. 
(To be concluded,) 
peael fishery and trout accli- 
matisation IN AUSTRALIA. 
Mr W J Sowden has reported the South Aus- 
tralian Government in pursuance of the honorary 
commission which was issued to him on February 
11, in order that he might collect information con- 
cerning the fisheries of Western Australia. [From 
this report we quote :— ] 
In determinit g the scope of the investigation it 
was necessary to keep in mind the conditions of 
the Northern Territory, as well as those of South 
Australia proper ; for Western AustraHa is at 
least equally rich with our northern dependency 
in pearl oyster beche de-mer ueiianK, and turtle 
throughout Australasia generally acconling to my 
observation, tlie neglect of the great ns^.tional 
asset represented iu the sea fisheries particularly 
is astonishing. 
Cultivation of peael and other oystkrs. 
BECHE-PE-MER. — Very little has been accoin. 
pushed or even tried with the object of cultivating 
the edible oyster, though the Ostraa edulis is 
indigenous to parts of the coast, and most of this 
supplies of tlie bivaiv coi'suined in the move 
closely settled parts cf Western Au^>tr:oia are im- 
ported thither from Queensland and New South 
Wales. Experiments in the cultivation of the 
larger variety of motlier of-pearl oyster [Melea- 
grina margaritifera) are being made in the north- 
western portion of the state, particularly in the 
neighbourhood of tlie Monte Bedo Islands; 1 ut, 
as these experiments were not startei until last 
year, even the experts feel that an exprts^ion of 
opinion regarding their success or oiheiwise 
would be premature for sometime to come. I 
suggest, liowevor, that thess trials should be 
sedulously watched in the interests of tlie Nor- 
tliern Territory. Other attempts to acclimatise 
in comparatively southern waters the 
large kind of pearl oyster named — 
the natural habitat of which is in the 
more northerly sea— have been made 
during recent years, but not in a thoroughly 
systematic manner. In tlie waters near to Bioonie 
are being secured pe;irl shells of this sort, the best 
nf which bring more than £300 a ton in the market 
at present. Recently two pearls sold at over 
£5,000 each have, besides many more, been ob- 
tained. It should here he explained tiiat the 
variety of pearl oyster indigenous to the zone of 
which Shark Bay may be tieated as a centre is the 
Meleagrina imbricata — much smaller and poorer 
(from £5 a ton upwards), though having more 
numerous but less, valuable pearls than the other. 
The collecfing of beche-de-mer is of a merely 
desultory character, and is mainly confined to the 
reefs in the neigbouriiood of Cossack and King 
Sound, It cannot be fairly described as in ;\ny 
sense an important industry, probably because 
the more profitable nature of pearl fishing ha? led 
to the prosecution of the latter to an extent 
en'irely overshadowing it. All the authorities, 
however, agree that the gathering and preparation 
of beehe-de-nier are capable of wide and profitable 
developments. 
ACCLIMATISATION OF FISH. 
The chief question upon wliich information was 
sought related to the possibility of intioducing 
and successfully acclimatising fish in South 
Australia, and the best means of securing tliat end; 
but of course, the almost entire absence from this 
state of constantly running rivers complicates the 
matter. The cost of a hatchery depends upon local 
conditions — the water, the number of fry needed 
annually, the value of timber, and the necessity 
or otherwise of breeding ponds and caretakers' 
accommodation. The cheapest method of introduc- 
ing a limited number of trout fry is to import 
the ova, and turn them out wlien they have 
attained a suitable size, after they have been 
hatched in the hatching boxes. The hatchery 
may then be closed when it is not in use, so that 
payment of wages to men fo'' attending to the 
fisii throughout the year will not be needed Ova 
may be obtained from Hobart (Tasniania) or from 
New Zealand. Tlie rainbow trout from New 
Zealand stand a high eniperature, and live well 
in large pools ; but a" underscand that tlie Gov- 
ernment of Sciutli Australia is already communi- 
cating with New S mth Wales and other states 
with reference to this matter I need not elaborate 
my comments upon it, — Adelaide Observer, May 9. 
