IMITATIONS AND DOCTORED
The
beds where the culture of these artificial pearls is carried on, are
situated in the Bay of Ago, a few miles south of the Temple of Ise, in
central Japan on the Pacific side. It is a quiet piece of water, in a
coast broken by numerous inlets and coves. A little north of the centre
of the bay is a small island called Tadoko where the necessary
buildings and the men connected with the industry are. Around the
island and near it, about 1,000 acres of sea bottom are leased and used
for the pearl oyster cultivation. The water is about five to seven
fathoms deep.
The
oyster used is the one common to the waters of Japan, the Avicula
martensii Dunker. In May and June, stones weighing six to eight pounds
are scattered over the bottom of the sheltered shallows which run up
into the land, where the spat is collected. The breeding season is in
July to August and in the latter month very tiny shells attached to the
stones by the byssus may be seen already.
The
number increases as the season advances until in November, in order to
protect the young fish from the approaching winter cold,
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