fisheries in the districts of Rehau and Kulmbach began with the year
1733· From these fragmentary returns—making no estimate for the years
for
which there were no figures available—Von Hessling found that from 1600
to 1857 there were taken 15,326 pearls of the first class, which were
clear white in color and of good luster; 27,662 pearls of the second
class, which were somewhat deficient in luster, and 251,778 pearls of
the third or poorest class, or "Sandperlen," which, though of
poor quality, had sufficient whiteness and luster to be used as
ornaments. Had the records been complete, these figures would probably
have been at least fifty per cent, greater, or a total of about 445,000
pearls in the 257 years. In the last forty-three years of this period,
for which the records are fairly complete, the annual average was 208
pearls of the first, 395 of the second, and 3091 of the third class, a
total each year of 3694 pearls of all grades. This was divided among
the districts as follows :
Probably
the most interesting of the pearl fisheries in Germany are those
prosecuted in the extreme southwestern part of the kingdom of Saxony,
in the picturesque region known as Vogtland. This is not on account of
their extent, for the output rarely exceeds $2000 in value in any
season ; but because for nearly three hundred years they have been
conducted with the utmost care and regard for the preservation of the
resources. Indeed, a record exists of practically every pearl obtained
for nearly two centuries.
The
waters in which the Saxon Vogtland fisheries are prosecuted are the
Elster River, from the health resort of that name to a short distance
below Elsterberg; its tributaries, the Mülhaüser, Freiber-ger, and
Marieneyer brooks; the Hartmannsgrüner and the Triebel brooks, the
Trieb, the Meschelsgrüner, the Teil, and Loch brooks, and twenty-five
or more small ponds.
For
most of the data relative to these fisheries, we are indebted to J. G.
Jahn's "Die Perlenfischerei im Voigtlande," Oelsnitz, 1854; to Hinrich
Nitsche's "Süsswasserperlen, Internationale Fischerei-Ausstellung zu
Berlin," 1880, and to O. Wohlberedt's "Nachtrag zur Molluskenfauna des
Königreiches Sachsen," "Nachrichtsblatt der
