Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1885-07-23
FROG FARMING EXPERIMENTS.
The Profits and Losses Attending the
Peculiar Industry,

The Profits and Losses Attending the
Peculiar Industry.
New York Mail and Express.l
~What do | think of the establishment
of frog farms in the unted states 10 sup
ply the demand in EuropeG 1t is hue
idea in theory only, remarked state
fish commissioner
why do you say in theory only?"
Because II has already been tried Elk.
periments in frog farming have proved
futile and tie man who attempts It gets
some experience and no TecOmpense for
his trouble. Several frog farms have
been started, always with the same result
The reason they do not succeed is simply
this: 1t is very difficult TO provide proper
and sufficient food for them during their
infantile period. The birds eat the tad
poles aud the adult frogs live upon insects,
leaving their watery. swampy ha0ltation
and skirmishing around on the land Tor
them. In farm they cannot well forage
for insects, there are so many confined
TO a limited area II is utterly lmpos-
sible to catch enough insects 10 satisfy
and gormandize the farm They prey upon
each other. The baby frog IS greedily
devoured by the large bullfrog, who
floats along In stagnant pool with his
mouth open, swapping them up with
ayidity. Ii is survival OF the fittest
The tittest in this case are not enough to
pay for those that persisted. The embryo
Jelly that floats along covered over with
green ooze from weeds. from whose pores
1000 frogs may terminate in the war of
the hungry and strong over the weak oes
4 - a FtaA pavnra1
ago near Caledonia, in Livingston county,
this state. proved an egregious failure
and dead expense for the reasons have
mentioned. II it could be done success
fully there would he millions in it, II is
q Utopian dream. the fultillment of which
| think. will be many years from the
present
Are many frogs consumed daily in
New York;"
Yes During the summer months
from 1000 10 =, 900 pounds are eaten daily.
They are shipped fresh to this market
from Canada, principally in large half
barrels. The love for frog meat is on the
increase kpicures and men of extreme
wealth give eNorbitant prices for them.
The large green bullfrogs is the chief kind
sold in this market In Chicago they are
called water chickens. because their flesh
is white as that Of u chicken when dressed
properly.
The import and export partner of a
large wholesale grocery establishment said
that no canned frogs were exported to
Europe THE fact is, there are no canned
frogs for sale worth mentioning. In the
eastern part Of the British provinces and
Canada few were put upin cans. 1t did
not pay and they stopped Then little
while ago the industry was started on
Prince Edwards island but the facility for
shipping live frogs killed IL, and to-day
canned frogs are a rarity. Thou.
sands upon thousands of frogs are
shipped TO Europe each summer
and fall. alive. They are placed in
large baskets. between layers Of damp
moss and leaves. When they arrive at
their destination they are healthy and
sound and free from fever. The stock of
frogs in Europe is limited. lived in
France twenty seven years, and never
tasted one during that period Although
the French are called nation Of frog
eaters. yet they do not consume onetentl
as many as the people of the United
: tates The frogs there are few and Of q
very inferior size, the largest not being
two and q half inches long. They are
sluGted in growth. and do not seem "a
multiply as fast as here