The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-09-07
ABOUT FROGS FOR FOOD.
THEY CANNOT Be RAISED FAST
ENOUGH FOR THE DEMAND.

|
Insects Their Only Natural Food--A
French Deiicacy That Is Now Very Much
In Demand-A Fish Comm issio,,er Tails.
| 1t Is fair 10 assume that the frog, with all
the force of whatever intellect he may pos
ssss, revolts at the public attention that is
| from time TO time directed toward him.
Brek-ek-kek-koax is naturally of shy and
retiring disposition, actively seeking scclusion
on all occasions where men desire to crafty
their fondness for him, and il is safe TO say
that no loves men far less than men love him.
This is natural for the fondness men have
for the queer little amphibian Is solely due to
the promptings of the palate and stomach,
and mans love is death to the frogs" Nat
urally, he objects and shrinks modestly from
observation when the hunter pursues him.
Nevertheless the pursuit is kept up, and from
year to year almost countless numbers Of the
batrachians are slain.
Mr.. Frog begins life as tadpole, and tad
poles are easily Matched and reared. The
fertile American commercial instinct from
time to time seizes on the notion that moth
ing is much easier than to procure a suitable
marsh, stock it with tadpoles, furnish cheap
food, which is all that Is assumed to DO neces
sary, and wait for the tadpoles to become
frogs and multiply. Then, argue many san
guine persons, it will be easy to supply the
marke. with frogs legs at thirty or forty or
fifty cents pound. One proposition which
goes to support the theory of this scheme Is
indisputable. There is q constant demand in
oil the great markets of this country for more
frogs legs than are ever supplied, and the
price seldom falls very low.
FROG CULTURE STILL YOUNG.
1t was with view to learning the facts
about these frog farms, how they are con-
Quoted, where they are, and what the meas
ure Of their success has been, that writer
applied to Fish Commissioner Eugene g.
| Blackboard
Frog culture" said the commissioner, lis
still in its tadpole state The facts are very
few and simple. Frogs breed just like fish.
1t is easy to get the spawn and to hatch 1t
out. As you are probably aware, the hatch
ings are tadpoles, 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 few
weeks the tail shrivels, the legs make an APP
pearance, the head separates from the body
and the tadpole has become frog. He is a
very active and vivacious young person at
this time and eats all kinds of animal food.
"Frog cultursts at this stage feed him with
raw meat, liver, heart and waste that have
been chopped very fine. He grows rapidly
until he is six months old, and then invari
ably falls sick, and i'll a majority of cases
dies. The reason appears to lie III the diet.
So far as we know, frog lives on insects.
| He prefers them alive but when hungry eats
them when they arc dead. In these cases,
when frogs have been fed on flies, they have
always prospered.
"As it is practical impossibility to get
enough flies and other insects to feed u regi-
ment of these batrachians the frog farmer
| is compelled to use meat instead. The result
is the sickness and mortality | have describ-
ed. 1t is so great rs 10 make all frog culture
| u financial failure Out of a hundred frogs,
anywhere from sixty to ninety five die when
| they are six months old.
Even as it stands, 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 wonderful Va 'ety in the
sizes attained Those arouid taIis part of the
country are seldom large.
"A dozen pair of hind legs from New York
and New Jersey weigh pound on an aver
age; the same number from Ontario will run
three or four pounds while from Tennessee
and Missouri they go as high as five and even
six pounds. The consumer naturally prefers
large to a small leg This is well illus
trated by the price list When the New
York and New Jersey frogs have monopoly
Of ba LOT GOLD
dian and high freights western articles out
of the city, because they cannot be caught i'll
cold weather-they bring from 80 to 50 cents
u pound When, later on in the year, the
Ontario legs are received, the domestic
article falls to 20 cents and the Ontario and
westerns bring from 40 to 60 cents pound.
sin Ontario the frog business is conducted
on a large scale. The French Canadians in
herit their talent in this field from their an
cestors aud 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 now it is no uncom-
mon thing to dispose of 1000 and even 5000
pounds in a morning. AT first the demand
was confined to French and Italians. Amer
leans shared that curious British prejudice,
engendered no doubt by the long wars be-
tween England and France, which regarded
beef as the only food for man, frogs, the
favorite delicacy Of Paris, as pitiful sub.
stitute for meat, and in consequence called
every Frenchman frog eater BY degrees
the Germans and then the Americans began
to call for frogs until finally every first class
hotel and restaurant in the land had them
upon their bill of fare. The difference be-
tween the demand and supply is well illus
trated by the price. Twenty years ago it
was only about one-half of what it is now,
and it has increased steadily during that
period. 1t is evident TO any one who gives
the matter thought that unless frogs are
raised in captivity for the great city mar
kets, before many years have gone by the
price will be so high as to make the delcacy
luxury as costly as the finest terrapin.
"In catching frogs there has been little or
no change in my recollection. The favorite
method Is n hook and line, with a small piece
of red flannel as bait This is employed
more than all other methods combined. In
Ontario they have practice which has been
used in France and Belgium-for centuries,
they shoot their prey with n cross bow or
arblast The bolt transflxes the little rep
ti1o o,J ,,al-as e, I+tla rniCa o. mot q. friObt-