CHAPTER XVI 



NOVEL LIVE STOCK 



OCCASIONALLY we hear stories of the wealth which is 

 being made on a frog farm here or there. But as a rule 

 little commercial success has attended attempts in this 

 direction. 



The difficulty lies in feeding them. A single frog can be 

 fed by dangling a piece of meat before it, but it would be 

 impossible to feed thousands this way. There are so many 

 enemies that few tadpoles become adult frogs ; besides, the 

 frog is a cannibal and will eat not only the larvae or eggs, 

 but the tadpoles and young frogs as well. 



Frog culture is successful in some places where ponds are 

 large enough to be partitioned, separating the tadpoles and 

 young frogs from the old ones, and where insects are abun- 

 dant enough to supply food naturally for them. Near San 

 Francisco there are a number of frog ranches. Even in 

 1903, according to Mary Heard in Out West, one ranch sold 

 to San Francisco markets 2600 dozen frogs' legs, netting 

 $1800. This was considered poor. Frogs' legs are sold to 

 hotels and restaurants, and bring in New York, according 

 to size and season, from fifty cents to a dollar a pound. 



Tons of frogs come to New York markets each year from 

 Canada, Michigan, and from the South and West. Few 

 people outside of the cities eat them. The United States 

 Fish Commissioners reported the product in one year: 



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