Arizona weekly citizen., 1885-05-30
FROG FARMING EXPERIMENTS.
The Profits and Losses Attending the
 Peculiar Industry.
New York Mai and Erpress I

Peculiar Industry.
 New York Mail and Erpressl
 What do think of the establishment of frog farms in the United States to sup ply the demand in EuropeI It is a fine Idea in theory only, remarked z state fish commissioner.
 Why do you say in theory onlyi"
 Because it has already been tried EX- periments in frog farming have proved futile, and the man who attempts 1t gets some experience and no recompense for his trouble Several frog farms have been started. always with the same result The reason they do not succeed IS simply this; II Is very difficult to provide proper and sufficient food for them during their intantile ..eriod- The birds eat the tad poles and the adult frogs live upon insects. leaving their watery. swampy hAbitation and skirmishing around on the land for them In farm they cannot well forage Tor insects, there are SO many confined io a limited area It is utterly impOs- 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 bull frog. who floats along in a stagnant pool with his mouth open. snapping them up with ayldity. IL is a survival of the fitteSt The ntteSt Tn this case are not enough tO pay Tor those that perished The embryo Jelly that floats along covered over with green oOZe from weeds, from whose pores l.OOO frogs may germinate in the war of the hungry and strong over the weak q oes not escape. A farm started several seasons ago near Caledonia. in Livingston county, this state. proved an egregious failure and dead expense for the reasons have mentioned If it could be done success fully there would be millions in iL IL is a tOpian dream, the fulfllment of which l think. will be many years from the present
 Are many frogs consumed daily in New York;"
 Yes During the summer months from 1000 10 J. QUO 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 Epicures and men of extreme wealth give exorbiiant prices for them The large green bullfrogs is the chief kind sold in this market. In Chicago they are called water chickens. because their fiesh is white as that of a chicken when dressed pr0perly.'
 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 up in cans. It did not pay and they stopped. Then little while ago he industry was started on Prince Edwards island but the facility for shipping live frogs killed it. and today canned frogs are rarity. Thou sands upon thousands of frogs are shipped Europe each summer and fall, alive. They are placed in large bs Skets. between layers of damp moss and leaves. When they arrive al their destination they are healthy and sound and free from fever. The stock of frogs in Europe is limited. l lived in France twenty seven years. and never tasted one during that period Although | the French are called a nation of Og eaters. yet they do not consume one tenth | as many as the people of the United states The frogs there are few and of a very iufe or size, the largest not being | two and a half inches long. They are | stunted in growth. and do not seem 10 l multiply as fast as here.