Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1899-12-02
FROG INDUSTRY OF MINNESOTA.
Last Years Receipts Estimated to
Exceed Half n Million Dozen.

New York Sun: great Industry has
grown up in st. aPul and Minneap0ils u1
the last few years In supplying frogs
eCs IT is declared that there are no oth-,
er frogs like the Minnesota. product ior
the cplcure. Like the quail and othst
wild fowls found IN the south the frogs
caught there are unpalatabls, The dif.
ference is attributed to the clear cool
weather found in Minnesota $ 1900 lakes
nests. ST Paul and Minneapolis arc the
largest frog markets In the wofa. inc
total receipts, for the pasct year from nron5s
the frog catchers Of the state exceSaeSs
500 900 dozen. Frogs legs are purchases
all through the state by shippers from
the two cities and the occupation gives
MinneYota frogs are known the world
over for their delicacy Of flavor. They
are i'm great demand in New york, Cin-
cinnati, in all OF the Atlantic states, In
California, and, in fact IN every state
north Of st. Louis, and the demand Is
constantly ineI easing The greatest de-
the larger cities, but throughout the coaA
and iron districts there is q great ee-
mand for them, WHICH Is growlng. IN 81,
be found on the bin OF fare of every hcteL
and restaurant. Here they cost from "S
to so cents Dozen IT.,
The frog catchers live near the smaHer
lakes throughout the state. The heaVleVt
catches are in the fall and the spring; III
the spring the frogs come Out OF their
nests In droves, and Ii is easy then 10
catch them. In the fall they return to
the water as soon as cold approaches,
and it is also very easy TO capture great
uantities of them at that time; The
roG breeds very fast and 1t requires -
couple of months for them TO attain iuld
size. In the various lakes and ponds or
the state there are probably more than
900 breeding places
Unlike oysters, there is good defnand
for frogs legs all the year round, ana
II Is necessary to hunt them IN the Win
ter when the ground Is frozen 70 me
depth OF two or three feet and the ice
twenty-four TO thirty-siN ipches. Bnt
with all these drawbacks, 1t is not DIM
cult to earn $40 q day at thts occupa-
ton When they take to the water IN the
fall the professional frog catcher w1Icnes
them and learns where they nest. lie
waits until the prices are higher In tue
winter and then cuts the ice over the
nests marked, scooping out great num-
bers of frogs. AS many as 500 or l,OOJ
can be secured in one OF these nests ln
good seasons. No effort has yet been
made 10 establish frog hatcheries or to-
ing so large The frog catcher Kills the
frogs with a stick and gathers his catcn
up In a bag as he walks around the va
rious lakes and ponds. He has no capt.
tai invested and realizes from - TO $40 a
day for the time he is employed In the
occupation. - g..
The average pricc obtained for frogs
legs In this market at wholesale Is from
to cents dozen during the summer,
but they go as high as Is cents during
the winter months. The demand for
frogs legs is steady from certain Gus.
toners of the st. Paul shippers. one or
the New York hotels has a standing order
for fifty dozen a day, and they have been
shipped regularly for more than a year
TO this house