Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1903-03-28
GREAT FROG RESERVE
MORE FEATURES OF A wIscoNsIN
MANS PROJECT.
A Acre Farm Leased as n
Breeding Ground For All
Varieties.

John Baerser, a well known member
of the Milwaukee, chamber OF cofa-
merce, has leased his thousand acre
farm at Lomira, Wis. to Il. X. Neuen.
feldt of Oshkosh, who win convert it
Into the greatest frog preserve in the
northwest. says a special dispatch from
Milwaukee TO the st. Louis Post-Dis
patch.
Mr.. Neuenfeldt will use five pic
turesque lakes upon the farm for his
frog raising project. The ponds, which
Wisconsin, will be cleaned out and de-
voted to the raising of frogs of all
kinds and descriptions. from the small
variety used to entice the gamy bass
to the larger species whose hind legs
are used by thousands in the spring
and summer months in all the large
hotels In the west and by people who
recognize frogs legs as a choice table
delicacy.
MIR. Neuenfeldt by no means intends
to conine himself to the frog industry,
as he has planned to raise horned
toads by wholesale. The horned toad
has usually been considered m adorn-
ment for a curiosity cabinet, but Mr..
Neuenfeldt has discovered a practical
use for this product of the desert.
among the side issues that | propose
TO establish with my frog farm says
Mr.. Neuenfeldt, sis a distribution
agency for horned toads. This species
Of reptile lives mostly in the deserts
Of this country, and its great value
is In destroying bugs such as infest
and ruin fine flower beds. / will also
raise all kinds of turtles, crawfsh,
mussels, edible snails, insects and
worms. to be kept to supply the grow
ing demand for educational institutions
throughout the country. This will be q
valuable feature of the industry, as
there is nowhere any n conducting a
business to cater especially to this
trade. My first ambition. however. Is
to supply 100000 dozen frogs this sea-
son to the market, and with the in
creased facilities which l have for do
ing so | have no doubt that I VIII be
able to-
Mr.. Neuenfeldt's Oshkosh plant con-
sists of a ten acre pond adjoining Lake
Butte des Morris. three miles from Osh-
rosh. The land adjoining the lake Is
both high and low. with a ridge along
the lakeside, and a dam is to be placed
along the lower end Of this body of
ground. while a windmill will throw
water from the lake over the ridge at
the upper end. This will create an ar
tiflcial pond and marsh, insuring con
tinuous fresh water and at a proper
temperature. A dam Is necessary for
the control of the water, because wa
ter is not essential for the growth Of
the frog at a certain season of the
year and because at other seasons ii
must be kept high enough to protect
the spawn until the sun develops it
into the pollywog and then into the
next grade, the tadpole. In their wild
state millions of frogs are destroyed
annually because the water lowers so
rapidly that the spawn is left on high
ground. Instead of being developed
by the u the spawn becomes food
for reptiles. turtles and fish.
Inc dEtIcidl pOHu anu HluTSH winch
Mr.. Neuenfeldt will establish will thus
be a protection TO the ~infantile frogs
against fish and turtles, while a high
boarded fence about 1t will prevent the
insidious snake from creeping into the
home of the frog, thus saving thou
sands of frogs legs for the tables of
epicures.
This establishment Of Mr.. Neuenfeldt
at Oshkosh will be the main point for
frogs. while the lakes on Mr..
Buerger's farm Will be used as a sort
Of stamping ground. The place is adj
mirably adapted to raising them, and
as it is on the direct line of the Wis
consin Central to Chicago the facilities
for shipping them are excellent