220 FISH CULTUEB 



cost is so high that frogs' legs are only within 

 reach of the well-to-do. 



Experiments and Problems. — ^At the time 

 that Pennsylvania began experimenting there 

 were no establishments in the eastern United 

 States where frogs were reared. The entire 

 supply was derived from wild frogs, the great 

 bulk coming from the West and from Canada. 

 Pennsylvania soon ascertained that frog-enl- 

 ture presents about as many difficult problems 

 as did the earlier work with black bass, and also 

 some which are not encountered in any branch 

 of fish culture proper. The results were just 

 sufficiently encouraging to warrant a strong 

 hope of success at some future time. One dis- 

 heartening feature is the f teqiiency of the com- 

 plete loss of young tadpoles. Often twenty- 

 four hours will include the beginning and end 

 of events which lead to complete disaster. On 

 one occasion, while on a visit to one of the state 

 hatcheries, I was shown a pond containing thou- 

 sands of apparently healthy tadpoles. By the 

 next morning every tadpole had disappeared. 

 They had died, gases had generated, their 

 bodies had burst, and the skins had sunk to the 



