The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1908-05-03
HAS Big FROG RANCH
Woman in California Makes
Money Out of 1t.
NOT MUCH WORK, SHE SAYS
siiss Katherine Walsh Went West
for Her HeBIth-FOuRd IL and a
New Source of Revenue-Hoyy She
Raises a DeIieaey for SEN Francisco
aarket-Demand Exceeds supply.


in California is owned and managed by
Miss Katherine Walsh. Like good many
other people now living In the West. Miss
Walsh was forced to leave the East be-
cause of i'll health Being told to live
out of doors and forced by necessity to
earn her own living, she decided 10 raise
frogs for the market, land now not only
owns one. Of the most picturesque ranches
in Contra CUsta County. but supports in
comfort her mother and the two children
of dead sister
The net profit of my froggeries for last
year was something over $500" Miss
Walsh told a reporter who called upon
her recently. Il sold 1890 dozen frog
legs in San Francisco. and that was the
amount cleared They were all shipped
alive to hotels and restaurants, and the
price received was from 81 to IS a dozen.
OF course. the price Of frog legs. like that
of every other yaliSty of game. depends
on the size and the season.
Green Frog Is Small.
The native green frog Of California is
very small, and while the legs are de-
licious in taste they bring much less
money than when the native frog is
crossed with the large Eastern frog. Ac-
cording 10 epicures the very best frog
for the table IS the cross between the
California and the Florida species. With
carefully selected stock this cross pro-
duces exceptionally handsome frogs and
so deliCiOusly favored as TO put 20 blush
the finest Partisan product.
My fTOggeries cover ten acres Of land
and are four in number. besides the small
pools where the tadp0les are kept until
they are large enough 10 be put with their
older relatives Yes, il is absolutely
necessary TO keep them divided accord
ing to size, as frogs are about the most
cheerful cannibals one could imagine.
Anything of his own kind from tad
pole up is fair game for large frog that
can catch and swallow H. They are not
at all particular about being able to swal-
low it at one gulp. either. Indeed, they
are perfectly content II they can get a
portion Of their victim within reach Of
the digestive fluids, TO sit placidly with
a part hanging out of their mouth until
room has been made for it inside.
Sometimes Get Out.
In spite Of every precaution the large
frogs viii sometimes get out. When they
do it seems that instinct leads them di-
rectIy to the tadpole pools. In the morn
ing the runaway frog is found wearing a
placid smile Of conIentment, unmistakable
evidence that sufficiency of tadpoIes
have been stored away by him.
L now have all my ponds and pools
surrounded by close board fences three
feet in height. No, the frogs cannot jump
so high, but if by chance a broom, a gar
den utensil, or even a broken branch is
left leaning against the fence the frogs
seem TO discover It in some miraculous
manner. and at once. using it as a gang
plank, set cut 10 see the world
They are great travellers BY nature,
and soon after moving my stock to this
place I had an amusing experience As
it was not possible to have banks about
my first froggeries, I had fences built,
but when / bought this ranch. as all the
ponds had high banks I thought there
would be no necessity for the fences.
How Frogs Forage.
so long as a frog remains at home he
does not need to be fed at all. as he for
ages for himself and gets all that he can
digest from insects and from the spawn
and young fish found in the bottom Of his
pond. The tadpole seems to prefer q
vegetable diet and gets his chief dish
from the algae. 1t is not generally known
that frogs have teeth in the upper Jaw.
and that the tadpole's horny beak is al
most as sharp as the bill of small birds
When properly cared for. which so far
as / have been able to learn consists in
keeping the frog in one pond. a frog pro-
duees from 5000 TO 5000 eggs a season.
OF this number about three-fouTths can
be counted on TO reach maturity.
THE eggs FIRST appear on the surface
of the water as a sticky scum large clus-
tiers Of them being gathered together
within a gelatinous envelope. If you take
the trouble to watch you will see this
mass presently separate into individual
globules, which turn black as they in
crease in size.
when the little pollywog at last
he has gills that supply him
with the air necessary for his health and
comfort without troubling him TO come
10 the surface. While in this stage his
food is the jellylike substance that has
enveloped him.
Later the little fellow loses his gills
and must come TO the surface every once
in while for air. His tail serves both
as rudder and a propeller, and If it
should be snapped off by one Of the nu-
merous enemies that seem to beset all
pOllywogs it quickly grows out again.
Tads a.Ose Their Tails.
AS it gets older it loses its tail and
legs and then those in front when they
are Of sufficient size ] skim them up with
a long-handled dip and put them with
their larger relatives,
''Of course. 1t is not possible for me to
DO all the work, but always manage TO