The Washington times., 1918-04-01

Shall we eat snails?
To be or not TO be, that is the ques-
tion. Eat -.wes must. and since our
allies and our armies are under the
same stern neesssity. the next prob
len, is how to get enough food to go
around.
In the year so B. c., just LOGS years
am a meat famine hit Rome. snail
cnlture almost solved the meat PROB
lam After the famine had spent t-
self snaIleries continued to thrive ans
millions Of them have been used an an
nuaIiy in many European countries
AZ well as being shipped 10 other IN
tIons. some to this country.
For hundreds OF years miilions OF
them were shipped each year down
~ 0.p,Ibe river to Vienna. and the
Austrian converts, where they were
eaten under the name OF fish during
the lenten season.
P.rI. Eat. Fifty Tons Daily.
Fifty tons of snails are consumed
daily in Paris.
American soldiers in the French
CAPITAL writing to the folks back
home laud the snail as an appetizing
dish.
Tbe Department of Agriculture
.ays eat snails Herbert Hoover s
Food Administration exhorts Ameri-
can, IN eat snails. The Food Admin
istrstor saws success Is already at
tending the efforts OF the several
snaileries that have been established
in this country. The demand so far
has been principally among the FOR
eign element.
Snail eating has Its charms. The
advantages Of the snah over the
chicken are without NUMBER.
Think of the sirayiuS chickens who
cone from a neiEhbors' premises and
ruin your gardens with their scratch
ings and your nerves with their shriii
hystericaI elor Jence.
Good Quiet Live stock.
spaiIs. on the other hand, are good
auIst live stoca. They do not eacSle
and they do not scratch.
Where can be found that average
American who has engaged in that
outdoor sport, catching a chicken for
dinner who does not remember the
chase that led all over the poultry
ward, probably into the back To-,
through a crack in the fence, and
ofttirnes ended in disaster?
If snails are good for the French.
,he Food Administrator says they
ought to be good enough for Amer
leans. The fondness OF the Fren...
for this food seems not to have dimin-
ished the natural quickness OF their
temperament.
A plot OF ground twenty-five feet
square viii accommodate 10000
snaIIs. In France and other Euro
pean countries a fence is often built
around the inclosure, hut the Depart
nent Of Agriculture is OF the opinion
that no fence or barricade Is needed in
America, because the snails do not
wander far and are perfectly capsule
Of obtaining both food and shelter
from the plants that cover their do
main. . r
stock MuItIpiies Rapidly.
The family. once given home in a
farmers back yard, will continue 10
multiply. There would be no neces-
.Ity In restocking the plot. The farm
er would not only have his own sup
ply 10 replace the widely used oyster.
but might also supply his less fortu-
nate city neighbor, with profit to
both.
SnaIls usually retail at to Z cents
the dozen. An acre plot devoted TO
the snailery would yield handsome
profits.
Snail keeping Is much less expen-
give than keeping chickens Their
'ood consists mostly OF cabbage, let.
lettuce. dandelion leaves. potatoes
and corn meal.
Sapaa of and small -
acute, and it is said that tn. snail