Man and Nature 



437 



While the primary function of this station is mussel propa- 

 gation, it interests itself also in saving the multitude of fish 

 found in the overflow waters of the Mississippi bottoms, and 

 to which reference has already been made. 



Living a humble life in the salt marshes of our Atlantic 

 and Gulf Coast is the delight of the epicure the diamond- 

 back terrapin. So precious is this creature in the eyes of 

 some persons of elegant and expensive tastes that the best 

 grade of Chesapeake terrapins were bringing about $70 

 per dozen in 1917. Here surely was an opportunity for 

 the economic biologist. The Bureau promptly rose to the 



THE DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN, AN EXPENSIVE TIDBIT 

 Photo by R. W. Shufcldt. 



emergency and in 1902 established a station at Beaufort, 

 N. C., for the study of various economic and scientific prob- 

 lems relative to the fisheries of the region, and more especially 

 those concerning the propagation of the terrapin. In the 

 pens connected with the station are more than two thousand 

 terrapin including some ten generations, which have been 

 raised in captivity. Many of these are now large enough 

 for market, and some have in their turn produced young. 

 The experiments, the details of which cannot be given here, 

 demonstrate the possibility of terrapin farming on a com- 

 mercial scale, and establishing in this manner a lucrative* 

 industry. A terrapin farm on a commercial basis has been 

 conducted for many years near Savannah, Georgia, by Mr. 

 A. M. Barbee, where terrapin are raised for market by the 

 thousand, so that terrapin farming may now be fairly said 

 to have passed the experimental stage. 



