St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-26
rERRAPiN FARMS.
The Imdlustry Successfully Carried co q


New jersey.
OF late years the demand for terrapip
has become SO great that at times il is
impossible to fill it. Some JerseymeL
finally originated the idea of terrapiI
farming. and among the first to engage
in the business was ex-senator Gardi-
ner, of Atlantic City. He damned up
cove in the Thoroughfare near his house
and stocked it with terrapin found in
the locality. After years of practice
and experiment he now cmphatically
says that terrapin farming pays. In
fact, it is now the genial statesman's
mcney-making hobby, as he finds
ready market for the product of his
farm in this city.
There are several kinds of terrapin,
and the good, gray senator does no:
raise the best variety, unless he has re-
Gently stocked his cove with the ceie-
brated diamond-backs, which are oo-
tainable only in Chesapeake bay. Still.
the market for any kind of terrapin is
usually good.
The harvest time on the terrnpin farm
is in the fall. Early in the fall the finest
and fattest terrapin are captured and
placed in a warm cellar. There they
live for weeks, and although left with
,ut food, persist in getting fat and fatter
until the chill blasts of winter usher
in the market time. 1t is no nonsense 10
be sent down into dark cellar to cap
ture fugitive terrapin that may at any
moment adhere to your legs or fingers
with mge than bulldog tenacity. Still.
TIC work of capturing the creatures il
easy to man who understands it.
With a lantern. hung where its yellow
chickering's will partly Danish the dark
his hand hunts the terrapin in out-of.
t],e-way places. With a crooked staff
he deftly tumbles them over on their
backs. and places them in q crate that
will hold six or eight heavy-weights.
When the terrapin is on his back he is
disarmed, for his fat prevents his turn.
ing his head back far enough to catch
hold of his cnptor. His legs. too. are
so short that he can't get his feet on the
ground to enable him to turn over.
When the crate is well filled it is covered
and expressed to the purchaser.
Diamond-backs in season are worth
from two to three dollars each, accord.
ing to weight. When the stock in the
cellar is shipped the slumbering terra
pin in the mud at the cove's bottom ara
rudely awakened. Men go in boats, and,
armed with long crooks, prod into the
mud to locate the turtles. When the
crook strikes a "shell' the work gets
exciting. a terrapin. no matter how
torpid, instantly regains his usual ac-
t:yity when an iron strikes his shell.
and begins plodding away through the
mud as fast as he can. The fisherman
then tries to catch him under the
''ituke" or she'll with the crook and Sd
raise the struggling terrapin into the
boat. The man with the crook soon
gets the hang of the business. and but
few terrapin ever escape him when once
they are located on the bottom.
When landed in the boat the savage
creatures are laid on their backs in
locker, and there thsyHpass the time
away, foaming at the mouth, until they
are consigned to the crate. These fish.
ermen handle fierce turtles with won
derful skill. The tails are regarded
as natural handles, and to, grasp them
i, the first thing necessary in complet-
ing their capture. Should the fisher
man be clumsy the chances are that
the terrapin will chew his fingers. To
monkey" with q terrapin is even more
dangerous than to shake hands with a
lobster or to tickle crab under his
chin, for when the terrapin gets grip
on anything it holds SO that the jaws
have to be pried apart before release
can be effected. Then often there will
be left but remnant of a finger, for
this turtles head is nearly all mouth.
1t is, in fact, a yawning chasm with
swinging walls. the hinges of which
are as strong as iron, and the stranger
who fools around the terrapin's front
door is sure to be taken in.
The average marketable terrapin
weighs from eight to twelve pounds.
After two or three years growth they
increase in size slowly, but get heavier
rapidly. With age the fish becomes
more and more firm and solid. and it
frequently happens that two terrapins
Of the same size will vary two or three
pounds i'm weight. The ediaInond-backetl
terrapin seldom grow very large. and in
size can be readily discounted by the
fresh water ''loggerhead."
When terrapin attains great size its
flesh becomes very tough and is only
available in the kitchen for making
soups. Naturalists say that the dia-
mond-backed terrapin never lives more
than 25 or 80 years, while his relative,
the land tortoise, has been known to be
"as young us ever" at 100 years. Some
men along the Chesapeake claim that
they can accurately tell terrapin's age
by certain lines upon its shell that in.
dicate the growth of the armor year by
wear. The men who raise them in New
Jersey scout this idea. but none of them,
s. far as known, have ever tested the
matter.
Terrapin farming. If successfully con-
Quoted. is a money-making business.
and pays all the way from 800 to 500 per
cent. per annum on the investment.
Once in awhile, however, bad luck
comes, the terrapin freeze or the
waters become impregnatcd with pois-
onous matter, and, in consequence,
there is an upturning of terrapin toes.
However, the few men engaged inthe
novel business in New Jersey seem we'll
satisfied with their investments.-Phil-
adelphia Times.
The Newspaper.
A statistici1n has learned that the an
nual aggregate circulation of the pa
pers of the world is calculated to be r.
00O, ,OOo. GOO copies. To grasp any idea
of this magnitude we may state that it
would cover no fewer than 10, ,45O square
miles of surface; that it is printed ON
$3.50 t,ns of paper, and, further, that
II the number Il, ,O00, ,OO0, 600 represented,
instead Of copies, seconds, it would take
over 333 years for them to elapse. In
lieu of this arrangement we might press
and pile them vertically upward to
reach our highest mountains. Topping
all these, and even the highest Alps. the