Connecticut western news., 1906-10-18
RAISING FROGS FOR PROFIT.
Five Years From the Spawn to the
 Finished Frog Leg.


 Finished Frog Leg.
 Not many of the people who sit down to a nice order of frog legs know where they come from, how they are raised, caught and mar keted. or, in fact, know anything about them, yet frog legs are con- sidered one of the most dainty of dishes. Not many know that Penn sylvania raised frog is one of the best on the market.
 People who have made the study of animals, especially water animals, a life work, know that the frog pos sesses almost as many peculiar char acteristics as a human being.
 The bull frog, the eatable species, comes from the lakes and low lands of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Louisi- ana and along the marshes of the Great Lakes. It Is said that there Is more trouble and less money about frog farm than there is about any other business. Still many people living in the low lands and swamps of the States mentioned depend en- tirely upon this novel but interesting work for a livelihood.
 The better class of frog farmer has from two to six ponds where he breeds and raises his frogs. In this way he can keep the frogs of different ages in different ponds.
 Frog eggs are about the size of pin heads, and are laid In slimy, jelly-like substance that partially protects them. From 400 to 800 eggs are the spawn of a single fe- male. The eggs hatch the tadpole or pollywog. This in turn becomes a baby frog. Between the time of change from tadpole to frog about a year elapses, and 1t takes the frog about two and half or three years to grow large enough for market. They are better around the age of five years than at any other time; very hard matter to separate the frogs at different ages for they must have mud in the bottom of their pools or they will not hatch, so no floor can be placed there, and they easily dig under any wall that can be built.
 After he is big enough for market the frog Is caught with bulls eye lantern. This is flashed in his eyes at night, blinding him long enough to be captured. In the daytime the animal Is shy and will not allow a person to approach, but when he Is once scared from place 1t Is safe to say he will return there as soon as the person has gone. When caught and worried or leased he will cry almost like a baby.
 In hard season, when small fish and insects are scarce, the frog eats his own families, 1t being case of the biggest frog getting the most to eat. It Is no uncommon thing to catch a bullfrog that has another in his stomach half its own size that 1t has devoured in hungry moment. They can stay under water from 20 to 30 minutes, when they come to the surface for air Their worst enemy Is the large fish. In ponds where fish are also raised the fish live almost entirely on the frogs.
 Another peculiarity of the frog Is that 1t will seldom touch a dead carcass. The beetle or other insect must move before the frog will touch 1t.
 There Is one other species of the eatable frog that Is known as the spring frog. It grows in the spring on farms and ranches and Is consid- cred to be more palatable than the bull frog, but Is smaller. Farmers who have these frogs In their springs refuse to allow them to be killed, claiming that they purify the water. This makes them harder to get and they are more expensive than the other variety.
 The tree, or marsh frog. Is noted as being one of the best weather prophets that lives. He always cries before a rain. He is about three inches In length, but Is not fit for for food. Some are sold as weather prophets, but the demand does not pay one to raise them.
 The last of the common species Is the horned frog. 1t lives In the Southwest on the dry, arid regions of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, and lives on desert mice and insects. They have never been known to drink water and, like the toad, is good for nothing