Worcester morning daily spy. (Worcester, Mass.) 1888-1898, 1898-03-20
THE COMMON TOAD.
Prizes Offered Massachusetts,
School Children
For the Best Observations of the Habits
and Phases of Familiar Denizen of
the Farm and Garden.

AS stated in the Worcester papers last
July, the writer agreed to repeat the Of
fer of prize for the best study of the
toad, adding that the conditions of the
contest would be specified later. Since
then a sum of money has been placed in
my hands by the executive board of the
State Federation of Woman's Clubs for
this purpose, so that two prizes will be
offered instead of one.
A first prize Of SIS, to be known as
the Massachusetts Woman's Club prize,
and a second prize Of $40 will be award
ed to the public school children in the
state of Massachusetts, who present the
best practical studies on the value of our
common toad. The prizes will be given
by a committee of Clark University on
or before Nov. 1, 1898. All essays must
be sent in to the undersigned on or be-
fore Oct. l. Each essay presented for
competition must bear an assumed name
which will not indicate the identity of
the writer, and must be accompanied
by a sealed envelope having the same
assumed name on the outside and CON
tanning the true name and address of
the writer within. This envelope must
also contain the name and address of
une teacher whose school the child has
attended during the year.
AS stated last year, the prizes will be
awarded not so much for the best es-
says as for the best original observa-
tons and experiments of the pupil.
These should cover, so far as possible,
the different phases in the life history
OF the species, noting at each phase the
value to the community which the work
of the animal represents. In the essays
last year. for example, no account was
taken of the work the toad tadpoles do
in cleansing our surface waters. Some
experiments in this line might be made
by any child, by simply taking two
dishes of water, putting in bits of animal
and vegetable matter in both and hav-
ing tadpoles in one and not in the other,
and noting the results; or valuable OBJ
servations may easily be made in the
ponds, where the tadpoIes may be seen
swarming around and deVourng all
sorts of dead and decay!ng matter. This
should not be overlooked but the chief
study should be directed toward discov-
ering how much good toads do after
they leave the water, by destroying
troublesome and injurious insects. On
the basis of the cutWorms alone, which
toad consumes during the months of
May, June and July, Mr.. Kirkland fig
ures that a single toad might well be
worth to the gardener $40. 88 each year
We need more general estimate.
hope especially that the study will re-
suit in the revival of interest in the
problems of natural history, in the hui
name treatment of the toad on the part
of the children and in a just apprecia-
ton of the value of knowing about
things that are commonly ignored.
Similar studies may proftably be made
on O111 frogs and MANY Of O11r cOn non
birds, our nevis, fishes and even in
sects
Those interested in the competition or
in the subject generally, should refer to
Mr.. KirlIand's excellent bulletin, THE
habits, food and economic value of tine
American toad" issued by the Hatch
experiment station, Amherst Mass,
April, 1897. C. F. Hodge,
Clark University, Worcester, Mass.