THE ONLY PEARL FARM.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue V, 24 July 1897, Page 133

THE ONLY PEARL FARM.

There is said to be only one pearl farm in the world, but that pays its proprietor handsomely. This farm is in the Torres strait, at ‘the northern extremity of Australia, and belongs to James Clark of Queensland. Mr Clark, who is known as ‘the king of the pearl fishers,’ originally stocked it with 150,000 pearl oysters. Now 1,500 men, 200 of whom are divers, and 250 vessels are employed in harvesting the crop. ‘ I have been fifteen years engaged in pearl fishing,’ Mr Clark told a correspondent of the Melbourne Age. ‘My experience has led me to the belief that, with proper intelligence in the selection of a place, one can raise pearl oysters. I started my farm three years ago, and have stocked it with shells which I obtained in many instances far ont at sea. My pearl shell farm covers 500 square miles. Over most of it the water is shallow. In shallow water shells attain the largest size. I ship my pearls to London in my own vessels. The catch each year runs, roughly speaking, from /*40,000 worth up to almost five times that amount.*