October i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AQR!OULTUR!3T. 
24 1 
TIIK AllTII'TCAL rKOI’AtlATlON OF FKAHF 
BKAUIXO SIIKLLS AXD TIIK PROD I’ 
TtOX OF PKAKI.S BY ARTIFICIAL 
JIEAXS. 
All the tflorls aa yet raado in Ccylou and 
Southern India to prjpagato nr ifioially the pearl 
oysters have been failutes, chiefly, we believe, 
because the txnerinienta were carried on in waters 
t ;o shallow lor the healthy life of the bivalves. We 
feel much contilenco that aucoeea wifl yet be atlaiurd, 
and wo certainly ehall not despair until a fair trial is 
(■ivon to coir cables, or stroeg, coarse, wide mcshid 
coir nets anchored over the pearl bank region, eo 
as to float a couple of fathoms or so below the 
surface of the s ui. We ate not aware that any 
fcxperimcata have been tried in the d.reolion of 
inluoing our “ oysters” to produoa arlifloiii 
pearls by irritation of the animal, or by the 
introduction of foreign bodies to become the 
nuclei of layers oi nacre. In Australia ft 
large insasure of success seems to have attended 
experiments for the propagation of shells 
(mainly wa suppose the great mothcr o’ prarl 
yielders) and the artifioiil production of pearls. 
Our latest nows on the pubjaot is contained in 
the following telegram in the Argus : — 
“Thursday leliud, Aug. 2 1. — I'lxpciimoiits initinrd 
by tho comiuisdouer of fldierios, Mr. Sivdlc 
Kent, t'vo 3 ears ago iu the dircotiuu of causing mother 
of pe-rl ehe bs to produce pearls by iirtifloial treut- 
meut pruvo.l subttautiaUy succoatful and oiicouragcs 
the expeotaliuu of importiut d-valcpmcnts in coanto- 
tioii with tho cultivation of piurl shell, which aro now 
proved polled ly fcoaibb. The sholla in tho txperi- 
mtii'al nursery at Vuren Poiutare progicsaiug well end 
propagaiing ’’ 
Oapt. Donuan will, of course, “ take a note on.” 
In tho youth Sea Islands, corals have been Buooeas- 
fully propagated by cuttings ! 
SOIL AXALYSKS AXD TIIK VALUK AXD 
VALUATIOXS OF AIANURES, 
Although tho elaborate letter by Mr. Pringle 
which wa publish below was written primarily with 
reference to ooffee in South Coorg, the general 
priuoiplcs propounded apply as much to tea soil 
and lea as to otllea soils ond collse. In tho olden 
days when oofloo was King of Coj Ion prodnots, and 
before leaf disea o appeared to pro luoo “iusidioua 
defunction,” many of us, in cur attention to crop, 
were apt to forgot tho value of leaves to both buaii 
and crop and also tho demands they made on tree 
and soil, llemileia vastatrix taught us a steiking 
lesson in vegetable physio. ogy, by the proocss of 
weakening and finally kill.ng tho ccil-o 1 uehoa 
from exhaustion, in Ih.ir deepornte elTmts to 
produce crops of leaves, which ecatoely uppaared 
when their life juices were absorbed by tlio 
paracite. It is tbe prevalent theory, and it is true, 
that our climate specially fav.urs the pro- 
duction of loaf: the rapidly inorciiBing tea crops 
conclusively prove that this is tlio case. But it 
does not follow that exhaustion and even death 
may not uUiraately ho tho result of the processes 
of constant leaf-plucking and brunch and twig 
pruning, unless tho olcmems thus abstracted are 
rodtoivd to tbe soil and that iu tho best possible 
foira. If moderate manuring could bo afforded, 
it would bo useful in the early yeais of an estate ; 
but as the plantation advances in ago, the recu- 
perative anu yielding powers of tho bushes must 
on every principle Of agriouUutal ohemietry, 
diminish, unless the dcfioieuoioa of fertiliain,/ 
£.3 ° 
eubstanoes in tho soil aro supplied. Analyses 
of tho soils will then be u eful as revealing the 
clement or elements obufly needed ; but, happily, 
even if this information cannot ba obtained, a 
planter cannot go wrong in applying cattle ehed 
maiiuro and all " dirt in the wrong place ” to his 
flt-lcis. If none, or only a limited quvntity of 
natural manure is available, then an artificial ap- 
plioatiou in the sliopa of good bones ond o 
castor cako is as valuable for tea as it ever was 
(or ooffee. Fish mi l other specially ammaniaoal 
substances are also valuable, but our chief de- 
pendence must bo oa bones and ‘'poonac," 
what Mr. Fringlo calls '■ hhidy.” The quality of 
each, however, varies couaidertibly, and although 
tho good faiih of the leading dealers in the two 
articles named can bs, as a lulo depended oa, 
yet it is well that amlyscs should bo resorted 
to, eepscially where Urge quantities may bo ordered. 
It will bo seen that Mr. Pringle deems an applica- 
tion of iron sulphate advaiuagoous to some 
soils. In moat cf our t’eylon soils, there is, 
naturally, a proportion of iron which (and wo may 
say the eamo of clay) render them far bettor 
calculated for tho growth of tea than for coflia. 
Our olimalo is, ou tho whole, ono of the best 
tea climates in the world. Rather too much 
wot is, doubtless in some districts, an obstacle to 
the withering process in tho ease of gathered 
flush, but acionoc founded ou expetieuco is rapidly 
providing remedies. 
Tho facts and figures adduced and the prinoiplas 
enforced by Mr. Pringle cannot f.iil, wa submit, to bo 
of value to the tea planters of Ceylon, when deciding 
on the manures to apply and the mode of applying 
them. Wo (tar that on but few of our estates 
could the •‘broadcast” proo.ss bo carried out 
a'though it is doubtless the best in tliorry. Bat 
that is a matter of detai'. The groat lesson to 
bo learned au.i ptactioally applied is, that the 
luxurianoo of the growth o! tho tea plant iu 
Ucylon and tho unexpectedly large and increasing 
yield of leaf per aero are the strongest possible 
arguments against evading the duty of rostoring, 
aa far as wo can, to the soil wheuoo our crops 
come, tho elements of which we aro constaully 
depriving it. 
— 
THE VALUE AND VALUATION OF 
MANURES: PART I. 
By William Phinolb, m. b. c. i., 
LATfi AGBICULTUItAL CHKAIIST TO MKSSUB. UAXHBSON & 00, 
IN OOOBO, 
( Under special arrangement for puhlication in tli» 
“Ceylon Ubsercer" and “ 'J'ropical Agriculturist.’’) 
Every planter and agricullurist accepts the diotum 
lli.vt m'uuires are valuable aids to ilio oultivation of 
ciops; .s iiicliraui their vslue ix questioned, Irut tUi» 
generally happens when the manure used has proved 
uu.'tiUable to tbe land or to the crop, or there may not 
have been luougb applied, cr there may hare been too 
much. 
OolfoB supplies will ctvud I owl. per aoio of Ammonia 
Sulphate utidt-r favourable eonditions of wsAlUor, but 
8 owt. is loo muen, it kills llioui olf. Under like condi- 
tions 5 tons of catil'i maunrj (first q laiity) answered 
well, but It) tou-s was almost us bad as 8 cwt. of Ammonia 
bulpliate. Thii shows that even cattle msnara 
ruuht be used with disor. tiu.i. It is detervedly a 
favourite ; it ‘s like a charge of snipe shot, it covers a 
wide area, and has Itea chance of missing tht mark 
lhau .SUCH a mamiros huidy, i. e, oil o.ke; in which 
tho ammouia prepon erales so gieitly ever ihs other 
miiiurisl elements; this sjmetlmee like a bnllot misaoj 
j its billet. 
