The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-10-29
Exclusively Sold by
OdDItOI Shoe Co.,
345 Robert Street.
fiji STYLES UD-tO-Ddt6.
MINNESOTA FROG INDUSTRY.
last Years Receipts Estimated nj
Half IL Million Dozen.

Half Million Dozen.
A great industry has grown up in ST.
Paul and Minneapolis in the last few
years in supplying frogs legs. 1t IS de-
clared that there are no other frogs Ike
the Minnesota product for the epicure
Like the quail, and other wild fowls
found in the South, says the New York
Sun, the frogs caught there are unpala-
table The difference Is attributed to the
clear, cool weather found in Minnesota's
10000 lakes In which the frogs live and
have their nests. st. Paul and Mime
apolis are the largest frog markets in
the world. The total receipts for the past
year from the frog catchers of the state
exceeded 900, 900 dozen.
Frogs legs are purchased all thr ugh
the state by shippers from the two cities,
and the occupation gives employment to
more than 100 families.
Minnesota frogs are known the world
over for their delicacy of flavor. They are
in great demand in New York, Cincinnati,
In all of the Atlantic states, in California,
and. in fact, in every state north Of st.
Louis. and the demand is constantly in
Creasing. The greatest demand for frogs
legs. Oh course, SAiSiS III lIi6 larger CLUES,
but throughout the coal and iron districts
there is great demand for them. which
is growing. In ST. Paul and Minneapolis
frogs less are to be found on the bill Of
fare of every hotel and restaurant. Here
they cost from 80 to so cents a dozen.
The freq catChers live near the smaller
lakes throughout the state. The heaviest
catches are in the fall and the spring. In
the spring the frogs come out of their
nests in droves, and 1t is then easy to
catch them. In the fall they return to
the water as soon as cold approaches,
and It is also very easy to capture great
quantities of them at that time. The
frog breeds very fast and it requires
couple of months for them to attain full
size. In the various lakes and ponds Of
the state there are probably more than
100000 breeding places
Unlike oysters, there is good demand
for frogs legs all the year round, and
1t IS necessary to hunt them In the winter
when the ground is frozen to the depth
of two or three feet and the ice covers
the ponds to the thickness of from
twenty-four to thlrty-six inches But
with all these drawbacks it is not difficult
to earn $40 q day at this occupation.
When they take to the water in the fall
the professional frog catcher watches
them and learns where they nest He
waits until the prices are higher in the
winter and then cuts the Ice over the
nests marked, scooping out great num-
bers of frogs. AS many as 800 or 1000
can be secured in one of these nests in
good seasons. No effort has yet been
made to establish frog hatcheries or to
cultivate the frog, the natural supply
being so large.
The frog catcher kills the frogs with
q stick and gathers his catch up in a
bag as he walks around the various lakes
and ponds. He has no capital invested
and realizes from So to $40 day for the
time he is employed in the occupation.
The average price obtained for frogs legs
in this market at wholesale is from to
s cents a dozen during the summer, but
they go as high as 10 cents during the
winter months. The demand for frogs
legs is steady from certain customers
of the st. Paul shippers. One OF the
New York hotels has a standing order
for fifty dozen a day, and they have been
shipped regularly for more than year
to this house. Cincinnati and Chicago
also have q number Of houses that have
standing orders for from thirty-f1ve to
fifty dozen daily, and the orders are being
gradually increased as the public taste
is educated to appreciate this delicacy.
They are all shipped by express, packed
in ice In the cold-storage houses here
there are now about 200 dozen frogs legs
held as reserve for emergency, the
dealers often being called upon to supp y
an unusually large amount for banquets
or other entertainments.
The large Southern bullfrog comes into
competition with the Minnesota frog in
Southern states and in states bordering
on the South, but the Southern product is
not regarded so highly by those with
discriminating palates as the Northern
product The meat is coarse, the taste is
not so sweet, and there Is preference
given for the frog from the clear, cold
waters of the Minnesota lakes.
Five years ago there were no frogs
shipped out of Minnesota, but now the
business amounts to upward of 100000 a
year.