700 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



of good flavor. The bull frog (R. cat- 

 esbiana) is the largest of all our frogs 

 and is the one commonly seen on the 

 market. It reaches a length of 7 to 8 

 inches. The color is olive brown above 

 and silvery white below. It is found 

 everywhere in the country, from Cali- 

 fornia eastward, and may be recognized 

 by its bass song: jug o' rum. In Cali- 

 fornia we have Drayton's frog which 

 grows to a length of Sy 2 inches and is of 

 a yellowish olive color. It is highly 

 spoken of for its meat. The wood frog 

 (R. silvatica) is about 2 inches in length, 

 yellowish gray in color with black stripes 

 on either side of the head. 



Minneapolis is one of the large dis- 

 tributing centers for frogs, of which 

 about 1,000,000 are handled in the city 

 annually. New Orleans is also a large 

 frog market, and an active demand ex- 

 ists for frogs in all large cities. Most 

 of the frogs offered on the market are 

 caught in a wild state; but a few men 

 are engaged in frog farming. In raising 

 frogs it is necessary to utilize natural 

 ponds or to construct artificial ones. It 

 is best to have several ponds connected 

 together. The eggs may be collected 

 and placed on netting in a pond to 

 which the frogs are not allowed access. 

 By the use of a netting the eggs are pre- 

 vented from sinking to the bottom 

 where they do not hatch as well as on the 

 surface where they get air and sunshine. 

 If several ponds are maintained, the 

 frogs may be grouped according to their 

 size and thus prevented from eating one 

 another. The pond should be fenced to 

 protect the frogs from rats, snakes rac- 

 coons and other enemies. A shady grass 

 covered area should be provided along 

 the edge of the pond where the frogs 

 may hide and catch insects. Flies and 

 other insects are the chief food of frogs. 

 Sacks soaked in molasses are, according 

 to Coombes, valuable for attracting flies. 

 Sow bugs are also much relished by 

 frogs. The female frog lays about 1,000 

 eggs in early spring. These hatch with- 

 in six weeks. The tadpole stage lasts 

 four to six months and the frog does not 

 reach a good marketable size until he 

 is five years of age or older. Cold stor- 

 age has been tried with frogs but it is 

 not satisfactory. The market demands 

 live, healthy frogs. 



FISH 



On many farms there are ponds or 



streams more or less suitable for fish. 

 Such waterways may be fairly well 

 stocked with fish or they may have been 

 fished out. Fresh fish of various kinds 

 constitute a delicate article of diet, and 

 the farmer often wishes to know where 

 he can get eggs or fry to stock his 

 waters.^ The United States Bureau of 

 Fisheries is doing more every year along 

 the line of propagation and distribution 

 of food fishes. In 1904 this bureau dis- 

 tributed more than 1,250,000,000 fish 

 eggs and fry. This work was conducted 

 in 26 states and at 49 stations and sub- 

 stations. The kinds of fish chiefly con- 

 cerned were various species of salmon, 

 white fish, lake trout, shad, pike, perch, 

 cod, flat fish, striped bass, white perch, 

 yellow perch. The bureau has stocked 

 the rivers of the Atlantic coast with 

 shad, salmon, striped bass, white perch, 

 and yellow perch ; the streams of the Pa- 

 cific coast with quinnat salmon, as well 

 as with blueback, silver, humpback sal- 

 mon and steelheads; the great lakes 

 with white fish, lake herring, lake trout, 

 and pike perch ; the interior lakes, ponds 

 and streams with landlocked salmon, 

 rainbow trout, black-spotted trout, brook 

 trout, grayling, black bass, calico bass, 

 crappit ? rock bass, sunfish, etc; and the 

 waters of the northeast coast with cod, 

 pollock, flat fish and lobster. The im- 

 provement of salt water fishing imme- 

 diately benefits the maritime farmer. 



More than 50 species of fish are now 

 regularly cultivated and distributed by 

 the Bureau of Fisheries. These include, 

 in addition to the fish already men- 

 tioned, four kinds of cat fish, suckers, 

 tench, ide, ten kinds of trout and sal- 

 mon, etc. 



The bureau keeps in close touch with 

 the fishery authorities of the states and 

 co-operates with them to the fullest ex- 

 tent. Donations of eggs and fish are 

 made to the fish commissions of the 

 different states, under whose direction 

 the fry is distributed. In Michigan the 

 bureau operates the state hatcheries at 

 Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie. The 

 brook trout has been acclimated in 

 many of the streams of the Rocky moun- 

 tains, the waters of the Black Hills 

 which were originally devoid of trout 

 have been well stocked, the rainbow 

 trout has been brought to New England, 

 and many other important pieces of 

 work of a similar nature have been 

 done. The work of the Bureau of Fisher- 

 ies is, therefore, of great importance to 



