The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-05-09
Possibilities Of
Aquatic Farming
With Proper Protection the
Sea Cow Could Be Rear
ed in Rivers
The Undeveloped Oyster and
the Methods of Culture
Pursued in Europe
CLANS and Mussels Invite
Propagation-Likewise
Frogs and Turtles

lana waters as We'll, on a somewhat
intensive plan will soon become nee
essary as an expedient for keeping
down the cost Of food supplies. AL
ready, indeed, steps in that direction
are being taken.
Experts are Of the opinion that the
manatee, or "sea cow" which was
formerly abundant all along the Gulf
coast and up the Atlantic shore as far
as the Carolinas. could be successful
ly bred in many a bay and estuary,
chiefly for its meat. 1t is a huge
aquatic mammal, attaining a length
of ten feet and weight of 1000 lbs,
but gentle and even affectionate in
disposition. Exclusively herbivorous
it browses on water plants; and, odd
ly enough, it eats under water, though
unable to breathe so.
Manatees may be kept in captivity
Indefinitely, and under such circum-
stances fed readily on garden vege-
tables, such as cabbage. celery tops
and spinach. The London zoo had
a specimen which ate 100 pounds OF
lettuce daily-an expensive diet, but
the animal would not touch anything
else after having tasted lettuce.
The meat, which resemble veal, Is
eaten on fast days in South Amerf-
ca, as fish," because the beast lives
in the water.
The green turtle, so highly valued
by epicures, is threatened with ex-
termination in a commercial sense.
and efforts are being made by the gov
eminent fisheries bureau to propagate
it artificially in Florida, where a nur-
sery has been esta blished for the
purpose. All obtainable eggs are
Matched, and the young liberated rs
soon as they are big enough to take
care of themselves. But it is diff
cult to get the eggs, because the spe-
cies has been so greatly reduced in
numbers. For many years it has
been customary not only to capture
the turtles at their breeding places
but to dig up their eggs-a system
which could not fail to wipe the crea-
lures off the face of the earth after
along the shores of Yucatan, clear
across the Gulf Of Mexico.
The eggs secured by the fisheries
bureau are Matched by q very sim
pie process, being buried at a depth
of a few inches in boxes Of sand, and
ical sun. After few days the little
turtles make their appearance, and
then are confined in shalIow-wateI
pens, or "craws." The food thai
seems best for them is an aquatic
plant called "sea lettuce"
In6Te Is no T0dSOU WHY we SIiOult
not raise swapping turtles on a large
scale in this country. 1t is an indus
try which,, though new. has already
been developed with much success ir
Japan. Recently an officer of oul
own fisheries, bureau made a specia
study of three establishments neal
Toxic, which together turn out $4,000
swapping turtles annually. Theil
breeding habits are so much like
those of the diamond back terrapir
that, in all likelihood. the methods
used for propagating them would be
applicable to the latter reptile, SC
highly considered as table delicacy
The typical Japanese turtle farm
consists of a number of rectangular
ponds. large and small, shallow, with
mud bottoms, and connected by lit
tie canals. Each pond is walled
with planks. sunk edgewise into the
ground, to prevent the occupants
from digging their way out and to
exclude moles. 1t is necessary to
avoid putting old ones and young
ones together, lest the latter be de-
voured, and one pond is reserved fol
the large and VIGOROUS specimens Sc
lected to serve as breeders. The
breeding females dig holes in the
pond banks, in which to deposit theil
eggs, and these nests, as fast as made
are covered with wire baskets, to pre-.
vent them from being disturbed. In
geniously constructed barriers direc'
the young turtles, as soon as hatch
ed, into sunken jars of water, from
which they are collected daily, to be
put in ponds by themselves and fec
with chopped fish.
The days of the "soft' or long
clam as wild crop along our shores
seem to be numbered. This much
valued mollusk has been exterminat
ed over wide areas by remorseless
to 1I~xy 4.
must be had to artificial planting, il
the species is to be comm ercially pre-
served. Fortunately recent expert.
ments by the Rhode Island fish com
mission have shown that it is just
about as easy to grow CLAIMS as tt
them being to show the little "seec
clans broadcast, like oats.
The production of eggs by the in
dividual female clam is enormous
running up into the millions, and ir
late summer it is possible, in many
places along the New England coast
to get from 5000 to 5000 baby CLAIMS
sized pin, out Of a single shovelfu
of sand. They are separated from
the sand by passing the latter through
a. suitable screen. The time to SOW
them is when the tide is coming in
for, as soon as the water covers then
In suitable localities CLAIMS can be
made to grow so thick as to be al
most a solid mass. Indeed, a produc.
tive sand bank may yield a revenue
that would be creditabIe to a GOLD
mine.
Another species of mollusk that in
vites propagation is the common mus.
sci. Though it's merits are almost
unknown in this country, it is quite
as palatable as the oyster and more
nutritious. Also, it is exceedingly
digestible and has the advantage OF
being in season when oysters are out
Roasted, stewed or fried, it is equal
ly excellent, and for invalids it Is
highly recommended.
The government fisheries bureau
says that mussel farms, such as
might be established in bays and es-
North Carolina northward, and or
the Pacific side from San Francisco to
Alaska ought to yield ten times the
profit obtainable from good agricul-
tural land. In British waters such
farms average an output of 10S tons
annually per acre-salable for 1852
The method of raising mussels adopt
ed in that part of the world is to col
lect the little "seed mussels'' from
piles and other such places, and
transfer them to brackish water, in
places where mud and sand flats are
exposed at low tide.
1t is merely a question of time
when the growing of oysters will be
recognized in this country as a
branch of agriculture. AS a matter
of fact the Chesapeake Bay is reck-
oned to possess greater fertility than