The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-09-20

from Various Sources.
1t was with a view to learning the facts
about these frog farms, how they are con-
Quoted, where they are, and h the
measure of their success has been, that q
writer applied to Fish Commissioner
Eugene G. Blackford.
Frog culture" said the commissioner,
lis still in it's tadpole state. Thefacts are
very few and simple. Frogs breed Jus'
like fish. 1t is easy to get the spawn n
TO hatch it out. AS you are probably
aware, the hatchings are tadpoles, a
minute, globular mass, with a vibrating
tail. These little fellows at first are half
transparent, but rapidly darken in color
and increase in size. After a few weeks
the tail shrivels, the legs make an ap-
pearance, the head separates from the
body, and the tadpole has become a frog.
He IS a very active and vivacious young
person at this time, n eats all KINDS OIL
animal food.
Frog culturists at this stage feed him
with raw meat, liver, heart Il waste
that have been chopped very fine. he
grows rapidly until he is six months Ola,
and then invariably falls sick, and IN a
majority of cases dies. The reason APP
pears to lie in the diet. So far as we
know, a frog lives on insects. He prefers
them alive, but when hungry eats them
when they are dead. In these cases,
when frogs AVE been fed on flies, they
have always prospered.
it is a practical imposs1bll1ty TO get
enough flies and other insects to feed a
regiment of these batrachians the frog
farmer is compelled to use meat instead.
The result is the sickness and mortality L
nave described. 1t is SO great as to make
all frog culture a financial failure. Out
of a hundred frogs, anywhere from sixty
to ninety-five die when they are SIX
months old.
Gwen as it stands, a great deal of work
is being done. Frogs are, if not raised, at
least fed and fattened for the market IN
New York, New Jersey, and especially IN
Ontario (Canada), Tennessee and many OF
the Western States. There is q wonder
full variety in the sizes attained. Those
around this part of the country are sell
dom large.
IA dozen pair of hind legs from New
York m New Jersey weigh q pound on
an average; the same number from On
tario will run three or four pounds, While
from Tennessee and Missouri they go as
high as five and ever six pounds. The
naturally prefers a large to q
small leg. This is well illustrated by the
price list. When the New York and
New Jersey frogs have a monopoly OF the
market-cold weather keeping Canadian
and high freights Western articles out OF
the city, because they cannot be caught
in cold weather-they bring from thirty
to fifty cents q pound. When, later on IN
the year, the Ontario legs are received,
the domestic article falls TO twenty cents,
and the Ontario and Westerns bring from
forty to sixty cents q pound
''In Ontario the frog business is con-
Quoted on q large scale. The French
Canadians inherit their talent in this
field from their ancestors, and are more
skillful than any of their competitors.
1.-THE demand for frogs legs increases
much more rapidly than the supply. In
1860 scarcely twenty pounds a day were
sold in Fulton Market, while 10 it is no
uncommon thing to dispose of 1000 and
even 5000 pounds in a morning. At first
the demand was confined to French and
Italians. Americans shared that curious
British prejudice, engendered no doubt
by the long wars between England aud
France, regarding beef as the only food
| for a man, frogs, the favorite delicacy OF
Paris, as a pitiful substitute for meat,
| and in consequence called every French
| man a frog eater By degrees the Ger
mans and then the Americans began to
call for frogs until finally every first
class hotel and restaurant in the lane had
| them upon their bill of fare. The differ
| ence between the demand and supply is
well illustrated by the price. Twenty
wears ago it was only about one-half Of
| what it is now, and it has increased
| steadily during that period. tits evident
to any one who gives the matter Thought
| that unless frogs are raised IN captivity
| for the great city markets, before many
years have gone by the price will be SO
| high as to make the delicacy a luxury as
| costly as the finest terrapin.
Gin catching frogs there has been little
or no change in my recollection. The
~favorite method is a hook and line, with
d small piece OF red flannel as a bait. This
is employed more than all other methods
| combined. In Ontario they have a prac-
tice which has been used in France and
Belgium for centuries; they shoot their
prey with q crossbow or arblast. The
bolt transfixes the little reptile and makes
so little noise as not to frighten its friends
| and neighbors. Some spOrtsmen use q
rifle or O Flobert air gun. The latter is
preferable, as the discharge makes almost
no sound. Spearing frogs in the night
time is a custom derived from the In
dians. A fiat boat, a powerful lantern, a
spear and two men are all that is required.
The frogs are attracted by the light and
ALWAYS face toward it. The light is re-
fiected by their eyes and so betray them
to the catcher. If the boat is moved
| noiselessly by the man in the SJern, the
spearman, who occupies the bow either
beneath or behind The lantern, can APP
prOach the frog TO Wlbnln a rev lncheS
and then impale him without difficulty"
-Nep York Mail and Cypress.
An Ambitious Girl.
eff I were q young man." said a charm
ing girl, who knows to a nicely what is
au fait on all occasions, II would wear in
the morning a light gray rough suit, SO
light that it seemed almost white, a white
lawn tie knotted by myself in the pufiest
fashion, n fastened with a pearl pin.
On my head would be snuff brown derby
the color the Prince of Wales likes-on
nv feet black silk stockings and patent
leather shoes, and in my hand a natural
wood stick with a handle hat had a bit
of silver etched on it, but which doesn't
suggest that the family spoons had been
melted for that purpose. Then / would
attend to business. I'd make my bets on
some of the dark horses, I'd watch the
ticker, and pd go down to see some fell
lows, three or four of them with titles to
their names, who, like me, had been
drawn to investing their money into land
on which the sun shone all day, the grass
never grew, the water never ran, and our
cherished cattle die of starvation and
thirst. We would have to consult about
this, SO we would go to Delmonico's to
do it.
"When it was time to dress for the
afternoon I should put on a pair of light
plaid trousers-not too big a plaid-a
s-I..4o .x-o;a+nNot or,l n JovI ak-.~