A PEARL FARM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XL, Issue 9147, 1 November 1919, Page 5

A PEARL FARM.

•.WEALTH WON FROM OYSTERS

The Island of the Holy Ghost, Lowex California, has the only farm in the world which sows and reaps a crop of jewels. .Lower California has always been a vaguely-knowri country —ait one time it was thought to be the domain of the Amazons—and those who have skirted its coasts on the voyage, from Panama* to San Francisco remember, it for bleak mountainous outlines 'and barren hills. It seems a des-ert-shor'eY No trace of vegetation relieves the gray slopes. Those who are familiar,, with .the ; eastern coast of the; pofi'irisula, abutting on the; Gulf of California, may know of the wonderful "tidal bore" of the mouth of the Colorado.; River, .and Of some of the tragqdies. that iiave befallen unsuspect-' ing travellers there.' There is a remote arid forbidden region, full of.^legends of hidden,treasure lost ships and magical mines, 'jand kept remote by stories of the cannibalistic habits of the, Seri Indians. The corporation which owns the copper mines at Santa Rasalia has taken good care that the bonanza shall be known chiefly by hearsay. The pearl fisheries of the Gulf yielded wealth to the Conqiiistadores and are yielding it to-day. But there is another source of wealth, practical aud modern, which is of so much commercial interest that, since it is unique, it would supposedly be widely known. Yet few have heard Of the great pearl oyster cultivating on the Isla del Bspiritu Santo, lying on the ,south-east, in the centre of the natural pearl- oyster beds, which are fburid 1 for. hundreds of miles up and •down' that coast.. Through artificial propagation and ■ care gems are actually raised '"■ there in the Sau Gabriel Cove. In their natural condition the pearl beds are scattered and the oysters are prey to many submarine foes, but on this farm tbey are protected by a substantial masonry dyke, which walls off a portion of the bays, reaching above high-water mark. Openings admit the free passage of sea water, but are guarded by heavy screens. The bottom of this segregated area was cleared of all growth and paved with rock brought from the mainland and laid by divers. Here the pearl oysters are cultivated jnst as edible oysters are. Bandits have destroyed a part of the plant located on shore, but enough had been accomplished to show that pearl farming can bb a profitable purI suit: ■ ■