Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1874-09-15
Aicxa. Gazette ~ Virginia Advertiser.
ARTIFICIAL BREEDING OF TERRAPlN
GAZETTE BUILDING, No. 10 PRINCE S

lcrraplu Il UuC vi lllC VI lltC t"UiS
IL this city; yet few person are aware OF the d.
liruly CT getting full supply III order to salts
jy the demand of the market. Those who
each lerrapin have to hunt for thcm as lar
,oal as Galveston, Texas, al Though Savannah
lia., and Charleston, S. G., furnish supplies.
S,uc very fine tcrrapln are caught III the
Chesapeake Bay; but very few OF them come
to this market, as they are eagerly purchased
at Baltimore, where they have been sold as
high a. S45 per dozen. 10 order to get any
thing like IA supply for the New York market
4 Icatlug wholesale fish dealer found it ncccs-
Saly, several years ago, to lay IN stock dur
ing the Sumner, at which time, III consequence
Of ,kcir voracity, the terraplu are more easily
caught, than to waite for Winter when they ne
do,lnaut in the mud aud sand at the bottom OF
the water, and consequently are not SO easily
found. AS it was necessary TO preserve the
;cyrapip alive, he caused a large pen TO be con
-truc;cd on the shore OF Pleasure Bay, hear
Long Branch. This pen Is about 100 'ctt
square, constructed with Il tcucc Vi p'ahkl:1S
inches vide, - luchcs thick, aud OF Ordinary
length These plauks were driven down INTO
the sand aud mud SO as to leave two.thrds OF
the iucusurc under water, with about tcet oi
water at the d. cpcst part The bottom and
shore was ar;itclaIiy constructed 50 us to gave
ia gradual ,lopc aud the shore was maie Of
white sea sands, while the bed OF the pen WIS
composed nrdnary sea sand and mud. Here fer
three or four years past the fish dealer stored his
tcrrapln, sometimes having as macy ., l0,UlW
tcrrapn iii the pen at one tlluc. The nar-
row spaces between t! c pla:!ks ruwcd the wa
ter always 10 be III Il proper condition Tor ne
reservation OF the life of shell fish. About
Two years ago the proprietor of The pen DO
tccd that the tClrcrus were In the habit OF
laying their eggs in the white SAND Oh the shore
Of the pen; but such was the nature ct the
place that the eggs were continually beng DC
struycd through one tcrfapln digging up tho
rgg- laid by another and from other causes.
Ii, while digging hole to lay It's own eggs
one tcrraplu c;itnC upon chose OF another, 1t
would DC almost certain 10 break the shell, and
then the coutcuts would be eaten, SO rapac!ous
are they. Again, at the very high tides the
water of the bay would cover the whole bed
and shore Of the incosurc, and the eggs would
also be destroyed in that manner, as they will
not hatch after having been soaked with WA
ter The few that were hatchcd out from
among the several thousand eggs that had
been laid 10y the tcIrapln were almost lnstautly
destroyed by the older and larger animals, ilu-
mcdiatcy upun the young tcrrapln attempt
Ing to reach the water; consequently nothing
resulted from the laying of the eggs, and the
raised expectations of the proprietor OF the
pen were bghtcd. tic had observed, however,
Tact which afterwards became useful, name
Iy, that after dcpnslting the cggs the parent
lcrrapin cared nothing more Tor them, leaving
the process OF hatchlug to be done by the
warmth of the earth and the sun; and the idea
was suggested that, with proper attention and
observation, an artificial breeding place for ter
rapin might be constructed, ard be attended
81 ata tprr nh W
were laying eggs, he asccrtalncd that 1t the
.gS were laid too near the surface Of the
sand, the heat of the sun would dry them
up, and render them entirely iclcss. The ter
rapln with lis hind feet, generally digs hole
nearly as deep as its body Is long, aud having
deposited the egg, fills up the hole again.
When the egg is hatcied the young terrapln
scratches its way out to the surface, and then
seeks the water In order, therefore, to make
the artificial breeding successful. these eggs
had first to be preserved from injury. The en-
tcrpr'SIug., Aorrctor therefore constructed,
about yraF ago, Il second pen on the same
plan a> the one described, but further inland
aud ON uarshy ground Ibis pcu is about 4O
feet square, and hasa sluicc or ditch which al
lows the water Of the bay to run iu aud out,
aud Yet always leaves Il depth of SIX feet OF wa
term the Enclosure at the deepest part. THIS
pen was also constructed with II shelving bed
aud shore, and onct third of the lnclosurc was
~ arranged that 1t consisted OF dry sea sand.
he sandy shore of the larger pen was then
Faxed daily, and the eggs were taken from the
hiding places With as little delay as possible
these eggs were transferred to the second pen,
and !hcu planted IN regular rows to about the
Hcpjh OF the length OF full sized tcrrapln's
body When the Tribune reporter visited this
tp. .,tr, H. ,,I
hrn spot IN which gardner had been planting
bulbs or seeds, and had marked the spots with
IHtIr sticks. At this time there were about
5000 eggs which had been planted and
The proprietor was very anxious to see the
results OF his experiment. At about the be-
clnnlng of September his enterprise gave to
A'nS OF success for late one evening he Was
"rvl>cd by au attendant, who informed HIM
that the eggs had begun to hatch out. With
lantern he visited the place. and there saw
That The young terrapin had taken to the water
where they could remain undisturbGd, as no
other shell fish had been placed therein. The
Young terrapin appeared to be healthy and as
other eggs were subsequently hatchcd out,
each day added to their number. The pro-
lrittor has cndcavorcd to make proper pro-
Vision for the protection of the young tcrrapln
during the winter, and If they safely pass
,''"uSR lt, Il new source Oh prouucllou VIII
have been discovered that may make Ill time
'll!> harbor point of tcrraplu supply Instead OF
'crrapn consumption.
It has been estimated BY several persons that
aierraplu requires about ten years IN which to
mature; but the proprietor OF the artificial
breeding pens believes that ne will be COM
lr'I>atcd for his labors much sooner As he
"ic"ds next year to- adopt the same course as
Nur'nS the past summer, in order to prevent
hex; summers Matching from being destroyed
'y that of this summer, another inland pen Is
10 be constructed, on the shore of which will be
ran'rd as many eggs as can be obtained. The
>,ze OF this third pen will greatly depend on
'l'e success attending the work of the past Sum
n'r. The prospect q an immediate return tor
.''e outlay lsvcry remote indeed; but if the en-
1rrprlse is as successful as the first attempt
gives PROMISE OF, there is very little doubt but
'''al III lew yearS.a continual supply OF terra
lhu cau be oktaiu,,1 wit hont Eshar,unp benp