Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1898-08-10
FROGS EATGN IN NEW YORK.


The csasua ptioa 10 Greater than In
raras.
Ars there many frogs legs eaten ip
Nov York r the reporter asked Of Com
missioner Hsaekserd.
There 10 net . city in tho world"
said Commissiener Blackford. "that
CONSUMES - many frogs logs - New
York"
"Moee than IN Rarisr'
"YeA indeed" replied the commits
sionsN while pears ago the French
wore cemmenly known ~ freq eaters.
the New-Yeskers to-day should more
properly be called frog eating people.
rather than tho ParisianA. seldom
found the dish en- the menus In tho res
taufaHts of Paris, while In New York
ysu can get them at nearly every arst.
class hetel and restaurant. This dish
b net common In London. and only .
few Of the hieh-sraAe restaurants there
prepare It,"
According to Commissioner Black.
ferd's ASures. fully 70 per cent. Of the
frogs fer the New York market are
shipped from the Ontario district In
oanada- The remaining % per cent.
come from the Adirendaeks and the
State Of Maine. Frogs are very plenti-
full In all Of these districts. and they
multiply % rapidly that thcro IL ne
danger of q decrease In tho supply for
years to come. About si1 Of tho saddles
Of these frogs weigh . pound. and rctadl
~ Is cents.
The largest frogs In the world come
from the State Of Missouri. but they
are scarce and do not figure largely In
New YOrk's market. Three OF these
saddles will make 4 pound. Grea.
quantities Of frogs are to be found In
the New Jersey meadows, but they are
SO small that pound Of dressed legs
cannot be obtained from less than two
or three dozen frogs. Occasionally q
farmers boy will bring forty or Atty
ef these frogs to market, but the pay is
30 small compared with the amount of
work required in the hunt that no one
makes a regular business Of searching
the adjacent meadows.
The frog-taklna season begins about
June 1 and continues steadily until
Sept. I. Throughout Canada there are
many men who mako q regular bust
ness Of frog catching, while In the Ad-
irondaeks the work - done BY the
guides during their spare hours. The
animals arc caught with hook halted
with red flannel and suspended from
q rod about ten feet In length. There IL
a strange fascination about red flannel
that the ordinary croakor cannot resist.
The moment Il - dangled within q few
inches Of his nose he makes . Wild leap
at II. with jaws Vide open. and Il
promptly hooked. He IL released and
placed In . big basket carried on the
back Of the frog hunter.
Sometimes tho frog II found to be
sleepdng. Then the hook 10 placed un-
der him. and . quick jerk lands him.
Whom the baaket y filed the frogs arc
carried - q pan In ons corncr of tho
pond near the huts Of tho hunters, and
are kept there until there is q demand
for them from New York. They are
then scooped out Of the pen with q net
and killed and dressed.
This operation is very simple. The
frog 10 stunned with q blow on the
head and Immediately the head is sever.
ed. Then tho skin Is loosened at the
top and in a jiny 1t comes of like a
glove. The saddle Is separated from the
body with one blow, and the legs arc
folded together as one would fold his
arms. They are packed In boxes of
rhonned ice and arc readv for shin.
ment
During the summer months the New
York market receives from 5000 to
10. 900 pounds Of dressed saddles daily
The retail price then reaches the lowest
notch Of 25 cents pound. As It ia I'M
possible to take the frog during the
winter, immense quantities Of the sad
dles are frozen during the early autumn
and stored in Ice boxes The meat Ne
tains It's full flavor. and is as good as If
II had bean killed the day previous.
A great many attempts have been
made toward the artificial propagation
Of frogs from the eggs. but none has
ever succeeded. Seth Green. one Of the
most successful fish culturists In the
country, made many tests several years
ago. but met with failure. During the
past summer Commissioner Blackford
received several orders from France
FOR live bullfrogs. which were to be
used IN stocking the ponds in that
country. as the supply was found to be
falling below the demand.-New York
Herald.