The Washington herald., 1913-07-27
OFFERS
BUSINESS field
Government Authority Says
There Are Big Dividends
in Diamond Backs.
LITTLE CAPITAL NEEDED
Uncle Sam Points Way in Which For
tune Can Be Made in
Industry.
LITTLE CAPITAL NEEDED

The diamond-back terrapin. aristocrat
of the dining table and king Of the ban
quet menu, need not disappear from the
sandy shores of the United States and
be lost to disciples Of Epicurus forever,
il the business men Of the nation VIII
Just allow themselves to be awakened &c
the fact that there are fat dividends in
the breeding of the animals.
Uncle Sam is sponsor for this state
ment, and he supports 1t with details
and reinforced testimony in a bulging
official report, which Is being sent broad
cast over the country by officials Of the
Bureau of Fisheries Of the Department
of Commerce. The report Is best de-
scribed by its own title, Artificial Pro-
pagation Of the Diamond-Back Terra
pin"
Terrapin q Business.
Experts in the Bureau Of Fisheries
are very anxious that business men, and
especially business men with little
nerve and a bit of capital, shall read
the report. In the first place, the eX-
perts are worried because they fear the
king Of terrapins is becoming extinct.
and in the second place they want the
artificial propagation to get under way
quickly.
The experts figure that II men. with
capital to invest. can be induced to read
through the report, the artificial propa-
CATION will be begun without delay. for
the report reveals one of the best little
methods of gathering in profits yet dis
covered by the government And further,
the report is based on fact. pure, I'M
adulterated fact, without any Of the col
oring which promoters lend to their
schemes.
In the report. It is easy to see, by peep
ing between the lines. Uncle Sam ss-
sumes that the average citizen. the every
day ordinary business man knows about
as much about terrapins as about the
prevailing styles in perfumes in Sitka,
Alaska. And. as a matter Of fact. al,
that the average business man does know
about diamond-backs Is that they can
tickle the palate when concocted by q
chef who knows his business, and that
the price of the chefs concoction is gen.
orally a large percentage of the total
bill for the dinner.
Therefore. Uncle Sam goes into dia-
mond-backs from A to z, and any one
who reads through the diamond-back
alphabet will come pretty near know
ing all that has been learned by the two
experts of the Bureau of Fisheries who
have been experimenting with the ami
mas at Beaufort, ~ L., LOT more tndn
four years. The climax of the report is
found in this summing up: 1T appears
probable that in favorable localities the
business of breeding diamond-back terra
pins will be profitable.
At Beaufort the experts started out
four years ago with forty females and
eighteen males. terrapin such as may be
found from Southern Virginia all along
the coast down to Florida. From this
small breeding stock the experts pro-
cured 295 eggs In 1910. OF the 2s5 eggs
only Z failed to hatch.
Good Results Obtained.
In 1911 5l3 eggs were procured, and of
these 4N were Matched. Even better re-
suits were obtained in 1872, when $50 eggs
were procured and SIS Matched. The num-
Der of eggs laid and Matched in 1913 is
expected to be even greater than last
year. OF course. terrapin must be five
or six years old before he is in the best
shape for the table, but this slow growth
is Offset by the fact that ''one man may
care for several thousand terrapin."
A sea-food commission merchant in
Washington received barrel Of terrapin
last year st time when the supply was