December i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
in some insUuoes be increased if greater care were ox 
eroiaed in buying. There are a large number of grocers 
in country Tillages who are content to rely upon the 
judgment of the wholesale dealers in the important towns 
for tho selection of the toaa they supply their customers, 
and of course tho intermediate profit reduces tho 
net return to the small grocer. A.t the same time 
it must not bo forgotten that during recent years 
many retailers havo shown a partiality for the sale 
of paokot toss, which, while it relieves them of all 
trouble of weighing up and packing, also the risk of 
storing tea in proximity to other articles which might 
injure loose ton, it encourages the sale of packet teas 
direct from Londoo at lo^or prices. Teas which 
may be of ({ood value are ia many ius^aaoes entirely 
unsuitable for the water in tho district in which they 
are made into liquor. Iti.^, therefore, dosira^de that 
country groc^ ra aUouM study tbeao mutt rs more than 
they do, and prevent tho trade RtippiD^.; away Ironi 
them ; they can still obtain a good price lor their teas, 
and if they study quality and tho effect of the water 
in their particnlar districts they ahould increaao tholr 
trade, Tho cousumptlou of tea last year waa no low 
than 12 8 per cent moro than in (be proviona one, and 
this increase ia going ou ytar by year, if not in the 
same proportion, still in a marked degree. Thus the 
trade liaa gone into a very important one, and if re« 
tailera would direct their attention to buying realty 
desirable teas of good quality, and ascertain the wanta 
of their cuatomera better, they would have uo occa- 
sion to regret the time nod attention given. The 
re 2 ult, both ia towns and vill igcs, would inevitably he 
a aatisfaotor) increase in their bales, with u roa?onablo 
profit, coiiBu vriiig this ago of keen coinpetiliou. — 
II. and C*. Out. Oih. 
THK CEYLON TEA BOOM 
8weet, in the eyes of tho Ceylo i pBnter, are tho 
ufe« ot advertiaoraeut. The energetic Aafiociatim to 
which he has confided hi« iuteroala has eUwa during 
the past few moaths a most remarkable fer- 
tility of rotource in compelling public attou iou ia 
Europe and (.laewhere to tho virLuee of Oeylou tfa. 
Not onlyhavt- the advertisement columns of tho Loudon 
Press rung tho praises of tbii or that Kardeu, but 
at the sale of prodnee in Mincing Lane, the prloea of 
certain aelectel aamplea have been forced up to abnor- 
mal amonuta. The To i Kiosk scheme of which much 
was expected baa indeed proved n partial, if not a 
complete failure,* but it iiluhtratos the roatleas activity 
with which those who are oonceruoJ in Ibo development 
of Ceylon as a tea plantiug district are punbing tho 
interest of the Colony, Anolh- r ingeuiou.'* ’‘notion’* — to 
use an Amerioaniam for which there ia co liriti-h 
equivalent— ascribed to a Mr. Elwooi May. Presi- 
deut of an A-aociation known as the “Ceylou Plautera’ 
American Company.” Mr. May has arranged wiili a 
TranS'Atlautio advertiaiug Agent, ” to Hocure 50,000 
doliara worth of advertising in the Ameriodo Press m 
return for 100,000 dole, of the Company's sfosk.” 
By this arrangement, it ia suggrated that the editors 
and proprietors of some of the most influential 
American newspapers will be personaily interested in 
the aucceaa of the Company, and may be induued to 
support it with tho puff oblique, the puff direct, 
and the other iogeniona improvtmontj oj Mr. Sheri- 
dan’s list which are known to Amorican jourua’isin. 
Since, however, the proposed expen- iture in this 
direotfoo amounts, it ia said, to about oue-third of 
tho Company's stock, it ia difficult to understand 
bow the A‘'*BOoiatioa iu quf*8tion can be expected 
to beoefll thereby. Thia question doei not, of course, 
affect the typical planter, who haa all to gain by the 
advertUeuent of his warea. The Ceylon Planters’ 
American Company, may or may not ‘‘wither ;''OeyIon 
tea will undoubtedly be “ more and more.’' 1C is not to 
bo expooted moreover that such an excellent oppor- 
tunity aa (hit afforded by the Chicago Exlnbiiiou 
should be overlooked by the Association. Some K30 OJO 
havo already been vote d from the Tea Fund lor the 
* Which is news to ua iu Ceylon.— E d 'I\A? 
381 
purpose of pusbiDR the interests of Cojlon produoe in 
the great show of 1893, and now it is ar.nounoed that 
Sir Arthnr Havelrck’s CloTerument lias added a further 
grant of RoO.OOO. Ey the aid of Ibis vote and judicous 
adyertifingou the p>rt of the “American Ootnpsny,” 
it is expected that Oeylou tea will obtsin a firm footing 
in the United States. This ia one of the few markets 
in which neither Indian nor Ceylon produoo has 
as j-ot made encouraging progress. In any esse, the 
Ceylon Tea Planters’ Associstioa deserves to succed. 
— Calcutta Jiiiylishman, 
THE CULTIVATION OF PEARL .SHELL 
AND PEARLS. 
The Commissioner of Fisheries, Mr. W. Saville-Kcnt 
P.L s., etc., who has bean occupied during tho past few 
weeks in investigating tho flsli and fisheries m.itters of 
the Northern district, returns south stopping at variou 
coastal ports, by this inorniou's (Saturday's! boats 
From tho Wellesley Islands ( g mp, iu the extreme, 
sou h west of thn Gulf of Oarpcuiaria, the Commis- 
sioner reports the iadioalions of mothar-of-peorl shell 
in such qumtitiua as to justify nuticipstion of an ex- 
tensive and profitable U»hing boiug establNhpd there 
111 the near future. Speoimena gathered on the west 
elnre of Swoer’a Island more ca]iooially, wore so fresh 
ns to have portions of the living fish still adherent to 
them, showing that they must havo grown in the near 
yioiuity and indicatieg tho probability of an extensive 
bod m theohaunel between Eentiuok and Sweers Islands 
Truces ot good sbcll wore also obtniiitd in the neigh' 
boniUooJ of the Norman River bar, and Mr. SaviRe- 
lyont is of the opinion that the greater part ol the 
groimd ' P‘'OVO » very profitable fishing 
Ainoog the more interesting items that wo have 
to chtomole in aisooiut’on with Mr. Kent's present 
Bojoaru in Thursday Island is lii.s report oonoern- 
ing the highly satisfactory coudiiioii of those pearl 
shells Isid down in the cxporimoutsl nursery some 
two years since which liavo survived the onslaughts 
of thouor’-wost gales and marauding natives These 
hsyo not only luoroasod iu size to sn unexpected 
extent, but are also propagating, many young shells 
I’hl'*"!, Stimulated by 
he succB'-s that has attended tho experiments at 
Vivien loint, attempts have been made at several of 
the shel iug stalnus to bring in aid cultivate the 
shell lu like rauuuer. At Wai- vVecr, where the most 
gratifying rcMilts havo been acuomplislied, Mr 
Haville-Keut reports that the shell laid down baa 
grown much more rapidly than in tho Government 
nursery, iiisomuoli so that many of the shells wliioh 
measured only four inohes in diamutor when first 
imported a liitio over a year ago, now mea-ure aa 
much as tea. Under such favorable conditions there 
can be but little doubt, ss maintained by Mr. F 
Kommerfl, the experienced maunder of the \Ya‘-Woor 
btat'on, that peral ahell iieuda but Ai^btueu mouths 
or two years to grow to maketablo value. 
In association with bia porlodionl visits to Thursday 
Bland witbiu tho past three yours aud eatablisbojeut of 
a peail-ahell nursery, Mr. Saville-Keuthas devoted Same 
atteutiou to tho phouomena of pearl pioduoliou Hia 
exporiitioiits connected with this object have u timatolv 
resulted lu Ins obtaiuing such eoairol over tho natural 
constructive capacities ot the shell-fi.h as to cause it by 
methods of artificial treatment to produce ivbat are 
to all intents and purposes pearls of iutrinsic com- 
meroial vulae. Ou anoh spocimiu that has been aub- 
niiUed to our in»peotiou, while coutiiiaons with its 
shelly matrix after the m.auner of a pearl “ blister," 
possesses a spheroidal symmetry and lustre that could 
bo scarcely exoulled and is, we are informed, of solid 
poail mutter throughout. The prospects and poten- 
talities that ace rendered possible by these nielul ox. 
perimeiits can scarcely bo ovorostimatod, and may 
lead to now ami profitable dovclopmoi ts of the pearl 
and pearl shell industry in aasooiatiou more ospociallv 
with the leasing of suitable areas for thu cuRi 
