The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-10-12
AMATEUR EARNING.
Something About the Care and Nurture Of
the Festive and FESTIVE Frog.

Something About the Care and Nurture Of
the Festive and Festive Frog.
do not believe there is to-day in ex-
fstence q book on the culture of the sue
culent frog. I know that there are ref
erences in books of engineering to rail-
way frogs, but that is a totally different
animal, although to the amateur they
may appear to be of the same species.
The railway frog does not cook well,
and even after hours of boiling remains
tough and. In q manner, indigestible.
Not so the ordinary swamp frog. It
has become a standard attraction in all
the first-class restaurants and in price
resembles the soft-shell crab and other
toothsome dainties. In fact, the high
price of dish of frogs at a restaurant
of the first magnitude is what induces
needless amateur farmers to go in for
frog culture. They think there is money
in it The great object of these papers
is to show that there is money in moth
ing for the amateurs. If / can induce
one person to hesitate about going into
any thing pertaining to farming I shall
be satisfied.
Frogs to-day are selling at retail in
Detroit all dressed and ready for cook
ing for twenty-five cents dozen, and
not twenty-five cents apiece. 1t is just
little trifing errors like that that has
been the ruin of us farmers. 1t is so
easy to get twenty-five cents each on a
paper and so hard to get twenty-five
cents dozen in practice. That is the
hot Of, -
be Vanderbilts and Jay Goulds. Be-
sides this is the dear season for frogs.
In the spring when the young mans
fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love
and brighter plumage adorns the
turtle dove and all that, the amateur
frogger's thoughts lightly turns to
thoughts of ten cents a dozen for his
frogs and even less.
But to get down to business. One
requisite of a frog farm is a swamp.
That is one great advantage in frog
raising as compared with any other
kind of farming, you don t have to I'M
derdrain your place. I acquired a
swamp cheap and put wire netting
around it so that the frogs could not
jump the claim. The fence always
costs more than the estate itself The
article that induced me to go into the
industry and which promised a large
fortune before three years had passed,
said that the proper way to begin was
to stock the swamp with six fine New
Jersey frogs. got a frog mans ad-
dress there and ordered six of the finest
from him.
Here is the correspondence that en-
sued:
DEAR sIR-Please send me half dozen OF
your finest frogs, together with bin OF same.
Yours truly, LUKE SHARP.
Company half dozen dressed frogs packedin
ice. Would suggest that you order in larger
quantities as express charges on a small pack.
age viii make such shipping expensive.
Yours, BINGHAM & co.
STR We hold at your risk package marked
''Perishable'
G. o. D. charges ......S SO
Express so
-
AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY.
81, sRa wv, ] wanted was 'to' frogs ssne
SIR-Have attended to your order. Very
much doubt if they will arrive in good order.
Sent at your risk c. Cd.
BINGHAM g. co.
SIR-very Objectionable package received
addressed to you. Has been handed over to
the health officer Please call and pay charges
50 AM Elk co.
Well, the result was that I had to
stock my swamp with everyday De-
troit frogs. Never got any thing out OF
that swamp but annoyance and touch
of malarial fever.
After a couple of years, finding that
the frog industry was failure, l first
tried to sell the swamp and afterward
endeavOred to find some one to whom
could give it away. At last I heard OF
a Frenchman who, it was thought,
would accept the place. He was in
the frog industry and, not being an
amateur, had made reasonable sue
cess of it
You were foolish" he said to me,
after the bargain was made, ''to give
away that swamp"
''WhyP'' asked.
1T is the best frOgging place around
Detroit - he replied. 'Ihave made my
living out of that place for the last two
years. Some fool must have been feed
ing them, I guess, and then was too
lazy to get up early enough mornings
to catch them"
That's all know about frogs