The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1902-05-10
THE FAD is A SNAIL FARM.
NINE. PERNOT HAS THE ONLY
ONE IN THE UNITED STATES.

/ ONE I'm Olst y - GSs
She Thinks the Raising Of These Liz
tie Creatures Might Prove Profita
BILE Occupation for Women-Eow
the Toothsome Delicacies are Eaten
| Southern California has q snail
farm. 1t is said to be the only one in
| the United States. OF course, 1t is
French snailery-each original mol
lusk having been imported direct from
France, and imported for it's gastron
omic features alone. This snallery is
a few miles out from Los Angeles, al
| the ranch Of Nine. V. A. Pernot. 1t is
located under the tank house OF
huge windmill short distance from
| the driveway leading up to the Per
not home. Vines growing over the
| framework of this particular spot rem
der it cool and shady. Inside of the
Enclosure, running all around the sup
| ports, are box shelves, lidded with
wire gauze, where the snails are con
| fined.
Snails are great travellers. If not
guarded they wander far from home
| SO here they have plenty of room and
| comfortable quarters. Each box is
furnished with sections of porous
earthen pipe, where the little creatures
| may retreat at night or in cold wealth
err, attaching themselves to the inner
! surfaces by means of viscous fluid
which oozes from around the edges O!
| the she'll.
The first snails imported from
France by Nine. Pernot were of the
| variety escargot Bourgogne, but they
did not long survive. The smaller
variety, escargot Bourdelaise, were
then tried, and the three dozen which
arrived in the month of June in good
condition before a year had elapsed
numbered more than three thousand
This was in 1900, and now the snailery
is growing too small for the new thou
sands of family relatives.
In this group of mollusks respiration
is effected by means of a lung OF
pulmonary sac, no giIIs being develop
ed. The eggs are laid in hole in the
earth about an inch deep. They dc
not hatch simultaneously, but the av
erage period is about sixty days. The
eggs, numbering 200 or 300, are whit
| ish gray. The young snails are about
the size of pinhead when Matched
having a perfect shell complete as
when grown.
Nine. Perrot is as devoted to hel
snail fad as many women are to 9
poultry fad. She gives the little
| things a bath with the hose upor
bright mornings when they trave
| YEARLY around with their shells upor
their backs.
"As my snails are shut in," sait
Nine. Pernot to a New York Tribune
representative, they must be well fec
| or they eat each other. Their food
consists of lettuce, artichokes, cab
bage and various kinds of herbs. Just
before We eat them l feed them arc
matte herbs, mint, thyme and sum
mer savory, which adds greatly to the
flavor. A month before eating we
| pack them in bran. At the end Of
this time they are ready for use
They are then thrown in salt ant
vinegar, which extracts the slime
Then they are placed in boiling water
for few moments. After being stuff
ed with parsley, bread crumbs. picked
bacon, butter and parsley, they are
placed in the oven and Drowned, ant
then you have the most delicious
dish.
About forty are considered meal
though many more may be eaten, al
they shrink greatly in cooking. An
other method of preparation is to fry
them with an onion in butter, brown
ing them little with -four. Still an
other method is to stew them in hal
water and half white wine, mixed witt
parsley, thyme, garlic and laurel leaf
After baking for half an nour, serve
them in high pyramid, With thicken
ed sauce made of the yoiks of eggs
butter and lemon juice. The stuffins
and seasoning SO chan; I, the flavor
that really the taste of The snail be
comes a secondary cons Iteration. O.
course, there is none of the fishy
taste found in the bivalge. In France
snaiis are a great pes: in vineyards
and boys are hired to pick them. TIL,
large ones are taken to market, where
they are sold as regular article O
diet. The small ones are fed to poul
try.
while my fad for snails is onl,
for the pleasure of the family table
yet | supply many of my French
neighbors with these toothsome delica
cies. Considering their easy and yer.
| rapid propagation, there is no reason
why snail culture might not be {
very profitable industry in Southern
California"
The Romans considered the snai
a great delicacy, and portions of plan
tations were set apart for their cult
walton. From Italy the taste spread
throughout the old world. and colonie.
are yet found in Great Britain where
the Romans encampments were.
How Horses Catch Fatal Diseases.