The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-09

The oyster is as fixed and seden-
| tary as a potato, and it's cultivation is
extremely simple. Up to the pres
ent time, however, it has been re-
cause naturally SO plentiful, and it's
cultivation has not been, attempted,
in this country, on any plan less prim-
tive than that pursued in Long Island
Sound, where quantities of old shells
are dumped overheard, in order to
invite the attachment of the free
swimming oyster larvae in the breed
ing season.
The intensive culture of oysters is
som ething quite different. In Eu-
rope it is pursued by various meth
DDS, one of which consists in placing
the shadows of boys and estuaries
at the breeding season. The baby
oysters are afterwards scraped from
the tiles and placed in wire net box
es in shallow water: to grow, While
thus protected against enemies, they
are fattened by the food which the
tides bring them, and rapidly increase
in size, being transferred to fresh
boxes as fast as the first ones be-
come crowded.
fisheries has recently taken up the
problem of frog culture with much
seriousness. With frogs legs at 81
a pound, the demand even at this
price exceeding the supply, such an
| industry invites the attention of the
considered that swampy and other
wise worthless land is best for the
purpose. In fact, "a froggery costs
almost nothing. The eggs are cay
| to obtain, and the rearing of the tad
poles involves no difficulties. The
| only trouble is to furnish enough food
| for the adult frogs, which insist upon
| having something alive.
1t appears that there are thirteen
edible species Of frogs in the United
States, the largest being the well
known bullfrog, which reaches q
weight of a pound and a half. It's
solitary habits, however, make it un-
Suitable for propagation in ponds. The
best frog for this purpose is the green
| frog-an animal with massive body
citron yellow. 1t is the first species
heard in the spring, when it ernerges
from the mud in which it has spent
| the winter, and, joining its fellows
along the grassy shores, fills the air
| both day and night, with it's cries.
This is the song of love-the male
| calling to its mate and her answer.
The frogs eggs are laid in ball-like
| mass of jelly Of albumdnous material,
which, absorbing water, swells to two
or three times the size of the mother.
| Matched a few days later, the tad
| wards eat anything they come across,
| especially dead animal matter. They
become frogs in two or three months,
and thereupon eschew all dead
| things, feeding chiefly on live in
sects.
A frog farm, on a paying basis,
should occupy at least three acres,
| should start with one small pond, in
| which to hatch the eggs and care for
| the tadpoles until they become frogs.
| Plenty of eggs may be obtained from
any nearby marsh where there are
pools, and twenty to thirty quarts of
spawn, may be counted on to furnish
| 10000 tadpoles A better method,
| the desired species, and put them
| into separate ponds for breeders. All
spawn should be removed at once;
| else they will eat it. While the young
| are developing, at least three more
ponds must be built, in which to
place the crop of baby frogs.
To keep out predatory mammals
and wading birds, the ponds of the
| froggery must be surrounded by fen
| ces of wire net, with a board along
| the bottom. There should be water
lilies, for the frogs to sit upon; and
the banks should be overgrown with
grass and weeds, to attract insects
and afford hiding places. Such, al
mentally at the Pennsylvania hatch
cries. But, as already stated, the
great difficulty is to supply enough
| live food for the adult frogs, and
until this problem has been solved il
| cannot be considered that frog farm
| ing is established on a practical and
| satisfactory basis.