Oct. 1, 1901.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
265 
experience of mine proves the exact contraiy. 
Staying some years ago with a friend in Venice, 
conversation after dinner turned upon this subject. 
Hfiving nciticed the large quantities of niosqui>oes, 
and ray friend suggesting the possibility of being 
bitten, recommended ine to rub niy face wit li tlie 
oil upon going to bed and also to sprinkle a few 
drops UDon my pillow. The next day on rising 
my face was bitten in many places, and very ])ain- 
ful, tbeiebj' proving, to uie at least, in tlie most 
satisfactory or unsatisfactory manner that the oil 
of eucalyptus has no virtue whatever in keeping 
the dreaded insects away, — Yours, &c., 
C. Tattershall Dodd. 
Tunbridge Wells. 
— Morning Leader, Aug. 12. 
CENTRAL AFRICAN NEWS. 
(Central African Times, July 13th.) 
Mr Brown, formerly at Mount Zion Plantation, 
Mlanje, has become connected with th.e Ciiurch of 
Scotland Mission, and has gone to Domasi. 
The rubber-collecting in most of the Luapula dis- 
trict is said to be getting pretty precarious at 
present, on account of the plants being used up. 
There is every likelihood that in the course of a 
year or two when other plants coiue away there 
will be plenty to be had. 
We learn from the Secretary to i.he Chamber of 
Agiicultura & Commerce that at a special meet- 
ing of the Committee of that body, held on the 
Thursday, the business was of an interesting 
nature. The subject of cotton ^'rowing was dis- 
cussed at great length, and various opinions from 
gentlemen and hrnis interested in the question 
were put before the meeting. It was felt that the 
great drawback to an industry in cotton i-, tl-e 
high rates of freight. The Secretary has had some 
correspondence with the Administration on tiie 
suVjject of the new coffee seed, but we regret to 
heai the seed may not be available for this year's 
nurseries. This is a great misfortune, but we hope 
that some of it may yet be in time for this season. 
July 27th. — Mr Blenkiron and Mr Casson, of 
the H.C A. Administration, left for home on 
Sunday morning on furlough. 
Mr 'iheo. Cox has been very successful in raising 
a most excellent crop of tobacco grown from 
American and other seeds at Nyamitete Estate, 
Cholo. The crop is now being liarvcisted, and 
should give a very fair return. 
CHRISTMAS ISLAND PHOSPHATES. 
In the course of his report on his recent visit to 
Christmas Island, Mr. L H Clayton states :— 
"That two kinds of phospliates are found on the 
island— Inmp and granulated. The hitter has tl:e 
appearance of coarse white sand. A larir" num- 
ber of narrow pits have been dug, and the quan- 
tity of phosphate discovered has been enormous. 
Mr" Clayton says the latest estimates of the amount 
of phosphates on Phosphate Hill is 12,000,000 
tons. He expects that 75.000 tons will be shipped 
this year, against 37,000 tons in 1900."— CAeniisi 
and Druggist, Aug. 10. 
VENEZUELAN PEARLS. 
One of the principal sources of the wealth of the 
Vei.ezn'ian Island of Mtuva.ita lies in its pearl 
fchi.ries. The pearls of Marga. it^o liiive been k'.inwii 
sinca the discovery of the island by O'jlnrabus andbi< 
fi^Uowers. It was on this ieland anS on the mainland 
adjoining that the Spariiards found the natives decked 
with pearls. History claims that these pearls were 
one of the prime causes of trouble among the adven- 
turers who rirst visited and settled on those shores. 
Pearls having lately risen in value, there has been 
extraordinary activity on the island. Buyers from 
different parts of the v/orid reside there, and purchase 
from the native fishermen the [jroducts of their indus- 
try. About four hundred sailing boats are used by the 
natives in the fisheries of Margarita and its neigh- 
bouring islands of Moche and INlubagua. The princi- 
pal btds are at El Tirauo, north-east, and Macanao. 
Nurth-Wbst of ilargaritrt. About two thousand men 
find constant employmenc in this trade- The fisher- 
men use metal scoops which are dragged over the 
oyster beds, and when filled brought to the surface 
where the shells are opened and carefully examined. 
The boats in use are from 3 to 15 tons, and pay to the 
Venezuelan authorities about; 1 2s each for permits 
tofisli. According to Consul Goldsohmidt, the pearls 
are very tine in quality, beautiful in lustre, and run 
from white to yellow in colour ; occasionally a black 
one, priceless in value, is brought to the surface. 
One white pearl of large size and good quality was 
sold in Margarita and not long since for ±"3J'J. The 
shell of the oyster is not of much coni'Tjercial value 
being too thin for the manufacture of buttons and 
other fancy articles such as are made from the 
Oriental pearl shell ; this, it is stated, is due to the 
short life of the Margaritan pearl oyster, eight years 
being about the average age. Pearls from dead oysters 
have very little value, as they lose 'their lustre. A 
French company has recently started fishing for 
pearls by means of divers and diving apparatus, and 
expect great results from their enterprise. The divers 
claim that they can select the larger oysters and leave 
the smaller undisturbed giving them time to grow and 
increase in value. This company, at the head of 
which is a prominent jewel merchant, purchased the 
concession from a Venezuelan, and must pay the Ve- 
nezuelan (joveroment 10 per cent royalty on the profits 
of the eiUerprise. The value of pearls found near 
Margarita is estimated at about £120,000 a year. Most 
of these pearls go to the Paris market, which, sellers 
claim, gives the best results. If the new method 
adopted by the French company is successful, the out- 
put of pearls will, it is stated, be considerably in- 
creased in quality and value in the future. — Journal 
of the Societij of Arts, August 9. 
A GIGANTIC SUiS^FLOWER. 
An enormous Russian sunflower has been grown at 
Manly by Mr. J A Beal, the Lauds Department. 
The plant only bore one flower, which was 14 inches 
in diameter vihen out. It is not often that such 
large flowers are seen, although we believe that in 
England specimens of Sutton's gi.nnt sunflower have 
attained a diameter of 16 inches, the plants being 10 
feet in height. — Queensland Agricultural Journal, 
August 1. 
♦ 
PEARLS IN THE PHILIPPINES. 
Colonel Clarence R Edwards, chief of insular divi- 
sion, War Department, is preparing a gazetteer of the 
Philippine Islands which will contain much valuable 
information from official and other sources. He has 
just completed a comprehensive oco.ount of the pearl 
and shell fisheries of the Sulu archipelago. During 
the year 1899 the value of shells, not sawed, cut, 
polished or otherwise manufactured, imported into 
the United States for home consumption was 1969,3)0, 
and in 1900 11,016,723. The manufactures of fd: i-, 
mother-of-pear l, etc., are now almost entirely coiifined 
to the United States. In the years above mentioned 
but S82.61II-4I) and §3S,38,3-32 respectively of shell and 
mother-or-pearl manuftictur s of all kinds were entered 
for consumption. In regard to pearls, the be^t En- 
glish expert says that the Bulu archipelago produces 
