SPONGE INDUSTRY
A NURSERY ESTABLISHED At Turneffe, a group of coral islands about thirty miles olf the coast of British Honduras, a genuine sponge nursery lias been established. Strains of wild sponges, most suited to modern tastes, were first selected, and now in a shallow, blue lagoon, forming a natural nursery, thousands of pedigree sponge fragments are steadily growing. Each one is weighed down with a cement disc. As these animal cuttings attain maturity, a matter of four years' growth, they will again be drastically dismembered and planted in adjacent lagoons Sponges die quickly upon exposure to light. They are black skinned and thickly gelatinous when brought up by sbark-def.ving divers. Formerly, their skeletons were simply dried and bleached in tho sun.
To-day a dip in secret chemicals, before trimming operations, adds both to their lustre and purity.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22628, 16 January 1937, Page 15 (Supplement)
Word Count
138SPONGE INDUSTRY New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22628, 16 January 1937, Page 15 (Supplement)
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