FROG CULTURE. 
BY W. E. MEEHAN, COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
In May, 1904, a four-line item sent out by the Associated 
Press appeared in the Pennsylvania newspapers, announcing 
that the Department of Fisheries would receive applications for 
frogs or tadpoles for public planting. In anticipation of this 
announcement the Department of Fisheries had prepared about 
1,000 blank application forms. To the astonishment of the 
Department the 1,000 blank application forms were taken up 
within ten days and it is safe to say that nearly 1,000 letters 
in addition were received, asking to be supplied with frogs for 
stocking purposes. Editorials appeared in the majority of the 
country papers and even in the metropolitan daily papers call- 
ing attention to what they termed an admirable effort on the part 
of the Department of Fisheries to rear frogs. To my surprise 
and pleasure hundreds of letters poured in commending this 
branch of the work and before long the news of Pennsylvania 
going into the work of frog culture extended beyond the state 
and letters of inquiry came from many state fish commissioners 
and from magazines devoted to fish cultural work. 
I had always regarded it as important that frog culture 
should be undertaken because I saw that an important industry 
could be developed. Almost immediately upon assuming my 
duties as Commissioner of Fisheries I directed the various super- 
intendents to experiment with a view of successfully raising 
frogs. My wishes in this particular were well known not only 
in Pennsylvania, but elsewhere, consequently when the public 
announcement was made that applications for frogs would be 
received and filled it was naturally supposed that success had 
followed the experiments. This, however, was not the fact, 
although one of the superintendents, Mr. William Buller of the 
Corry Hatchery, was on the eve of what now appears to be a com- 
plete success. The tadpoles and young frogs distributed in 1904 
under the calls were raised from wild spawn, gathered in the 
marshes on Lake Erie by Mr. A. G. Buller, superintendent of 
the Erie Hatchery. 
17 257 
