OCR Text |
Show OYSTERS FORCED TO WORK Japanese Scientist Conceives Idea of "Teaching" Bivalves to Produce Pro-duce Pearls. The Japanese conduct great oyster farms where the bivalves are "taught" to make pearls. It was Doctor Mikl-noto, Mikl-noto, a well-known scientist, who conceived the Idea that oysters might be educated and made to work for man. After many years of costly exporl-npntntion exporl-npntntion he discovered the method in use today. The farm has an area of about 00 square miles and the water varies lu depth from 5 to 15 fathoms. The farmer farm-er selects the spots where the larvae of oysters are most numerous and then he plants small rocks and stones. These are soon covered with oyster-spat. oyster-spat. They are then removed and placed in special beds, where they lie undisturbed until the third year. ' It is said that an oyster will not produce pro-duce a pearl unless it be irritated by some foreign substance. As soon as it feels this it proceeds to cover it with nacre, layer on layer, until after a few 'ears it has made a pearl. When large enough the oysters ar token from their beds and carefully opsd ; n tiny jspeck of some foreign substance is introduced in-troduced into their bodies, and they are replaced in the sea. By the end of from three to five years the oyster has coated the foreign substance with jiacre and this has become a pearl. |