The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-10-10
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
APPROXIMATIONS BUREAU
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN. Director.
washington, ID. G.
NEW KINDS OF MEAT.

were advertised and sold as marsh
rabbits" Many persons. rejecting
that a marsh rabbit should be as good
as any other kind, bought of this del
icacy and found that it was not only
just as good but great deal better
than common rabbit.
Doubtless some of these persons
would have been panied and shocked
had they learned that they were eat
ing muskrats. For IT is only the name
of rat" with all it's associations, that
has prevented this toothsome little
animal from becoming an American
staple. Even so, it has become a sta
pie and is sold under its correct name
in Baltimore, Wilmington and Phila-
deiphia, and it successfully masquer-
AIDES as water rabbit in the national
capital, while in many small towns
and rural communities it is well
known and liked. Along the eastern
shore of Maryland where muskratS
have been trapped by the tens OF
thousands for many years, it is served
in the hotels and is well known as
food to everybody.
The muskrat market opens about
Christmas and lasts until March In
Baltimore the demand was reported
to be much greater than the supply.
In Philadelphia one dealer. is said to
have sold three thousand muskrats
week. In Delaware and Maryland
muskrat is a favorite dish at dinners
given ny CDuTcn societies, anu dlnudA
muskrat banquetS are given by GER
tain gun clubs in the west. Those of
the Monroe Marsh club in Michigan
have been celebrated for many years.
1t seems certain that if properly
skinned so that the musk glands are
removed, and PREPARED by a skilled
chef, the muskrat is to many palates
a delieacy.
Muskrats as Food.
in the United States is about "A mill
lion individuals, and each of them
Will weigh about two pounds dressed.
In some sections 1T is possible to mar
ket a good proportion of the meat as
well as the fur, but in most places
where the muskrat is taken, the fur
only is used, the meat being wasted
for lack of a market. DIR. David E.
Lantz of the bureau of biological sur
vey, who is great authority on
muskrats and has been trying for
years to populariZe their use as food,
estimates that only 10 per cent of the
total catch in this country is eaten.
Thus about IS million pounds of ex-
cellent' meat are wasted annually.
In time of food scarcity when
many persons cannot affard as much
meat as a balanced diet requires, such
statiStlcS acquire a new Significance,
II more people could be made to ap-
preciate the value of this meat, an
item not to be despised could be add
ed to the national bill of fare
Nor is muskrat the only wild meat
that is being wasted or not properly
utilized. In the west thousands Of
Jackrabbits, for example, are killed in
drives every year, and the carcasses
wasted. Yet they would make excel
lent food, and could be shipped either
frozen or canned. This is proved by
the fact that Australian rabbit is one
OF the foods of the allied soldiers on
the western front, and is much liked.
Rabbits swarm in Australia, and their
export mas now become quite an m
dustry. In addition to the use of the
meat, the fur is used in making felt
for hats. Recently so many have been
shipped as food without skinning that
there is scarcity of this telling ma
terial.
Game Conservation and Meat.
The bureau of biological survey is
now approaching this question of the
utilization of wild meat from the
broadest viewpoint. DIR. T. s. Palmer
an expert in game conservation, is try
ing to estimate how much wild game
there is in the United States, and how
much might be produced. Such esti-
mates can be only approximate in any
case, and are impossible in many
cases. but much valuable Information
thing to be realized is that a more
careful conservation of game is the
only method by which it can be sue
cessfully exploited as a source of food
supply.
Practically every bit of the earth
outside of cities is capable of produce
ing meat. A farm which is producing
all of the livestock, grain and vegeta-
bles it will support, may nevertheless
also produce a good crop of cartridges,
g-gal NtNlA
Moreover, tracts of waste land which
produce nothing else, are often rich in
game, and may be made more so.
Doctor .Lantz tells the story of a man
who bought typical Maryland farm
including marsh and some hill land.
He made very little money farming,
but in two seasons he trapped nine
thousand dollars worth of muskrats.
There are several marshes inside the
District of Columbia which every year
1or period of month or more are
alive with reed birds and rails. Tens
of thousands are killed by gunners
and many Washington restaurants
supplied with the birds The game
from these marshes. right on the edge
OF large city, is quite an item of
food, and might be much more i'm
portant one, If shooting were intelli-
gently regulated and sale of game
prohibited.
If in all parts of the United States
game were protected by federal action
until it had reached everywhere the
greatest abundance possible without
injury to farm crops, an immense
amount of meat would be added to the
national supply. 1t would be possible
for hunters TO kill a great deal more
than they kill now without threaten
ing the game with extinction, as it is
now threatened with extinction in
many places. In a word, we are now
wasting our food resources in the form
of wild life just as we have wasted so
many other natural resources.
Importance of Deer, Wild Cattle.
The larger animals are of course
more important in this regard than
small game, and especially important
are those wild cattle, the deer. DIR.
Palmer has already made some prog
ress in estimating the numbers of
these, His method is to find out how