Sept, 2, 1899.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
191 
there are caught here, besides the regular citizens of the 
river, these spring visitors, and sometimes first-rate rock 
fishing is found in all these waters to the White Eddy 
at the foot of Great Falls. 
Though the canal has for many years furnished anglers 
some sport with pike, their antipathy to rough water 
keeps them out of the river until below where it meets 
the tide; none seem ever to be caught in these waters. It 
is no great loss except the sport of catching, for few 
fishermen who can get better have any great fondness 
for its flesh; but there are a good many city people who 
do not fish who find in a freshly caught pike a flavor 
superior to the stale fish of the stalls, and there is no 
difficulty in disposing of the catch where it is really en- 
joyed, in spite of the \vorthless regard in wliich it is held 
'by the majority. It is something like the carp in re- 
quiring artificial aids to impart any richness of flavor. 
In Temple Bar (vol. 92, p. 211) are quoted the words of 
.a modern chef on its treatment: "Yes, it is costly to 
cook; I stufif it with chopped oysters and pounded an- 
chovy, and after baking it cover with port wine sauce." 
Reading this, it seems a little reckless to insist that pike 
are not first-rate eating, but the verdict must stand. 
The shad and herring pass here, but are not dipped 
until they reach the basins at the falls, and of course 
are never fished for with hook and line, though they have 
screens across the sluiceways. In these pens are water, 
grass, wet and dry sand, and "Mister Tarrapin" can take 
his choice as to where he spends his time. 
Plank walks high above water and marsh are con- 
structed over the farm, and when Mr. La Valette wishes 
to feed his valuable reptiles he simply goes out on one of 
these elevated walks and claps his hands together, making 
a loud noise. In an instant the terrapins come helter- 
skelter from the sand, marsh and water and huddle under 
the walk where he stands, Avhile those in the other pens 
crawl against the wire screens and fence in an effort to 
get through. They sometimes crawl on top of each other 
until they are piled up 2ft. thick, and occasionally there 
are some pretty lively fights, though a terrapin is not 
generally very pugnacious. They are fed on crabs, fish 
and meats of any kind, but are small eaters, and it is 
seldom that a terrapin Avill attack any live thing larger 
than a fly, bug or very small fish. 
Mr. La Valette has terrapin of all sizes, from the largest 
to the tiny little fellows not yet quite one year old and 
not larger than a silver half-dollar. Their grov\rth is 
remarkably slow, and it is estimated that at least thirty 
or forty years is required for a terrapin to attain its fult 
growth. The diamond-back — said to be the finest known 
— seldom grows to be over gin. in length measured by the 
stomach or under shell. It is the opinion of Mr. La 
CABIN JOHN S BRIDGE. 
been caught with both fly and bait. This is of so seldom 
occurrence as to be always food for wonder. 
A foot bridge below the mouth of the run leads to 
Sycamore Island, a densely wooded knoll now controlled 
by a fishing club. There are more fish caught at some other 
points on the river than here, but none which excels it in 
the character of its surroundings — ^in its variety of scenery 
or the beauty of its waterscapes. 
Henry Talbott. 
Terrapin Farming. 
[Crisfield (Md.) Correspondence of Louisville Courier-JoUttial,] 
A DIAMOND-BACK terrapin farm with more than 15,600 
terrapin in stock 'and worth at a conservative estimate 
$40,000 is one of the new and interesting industries of 
Crisfield, the very heart of the famous eastern shore of 
Maryland. 
When Washington and Lafayette were forced to eat 
terrapin at Yorktown because the army supplies were 
low, when counties in Maryland passed laws prohibiting 
the feeding of slaves oftener than twice a week on terrapin 
meat in order to save pork, and when the succulent reptile 
was cooked as food for fowls and swine, and could be 
bought for $1 an ox-cart load, no one ever dreamed that 
the day would ever come when the terrapin would become 
almost extinct and worth as much as $160 a dozen. But 
such is the exact situation to-day. and in this section, the 
most productive of the luscious diamond-back of the 
Chesapeake, they are cared for and guarded w-ith greater 
anxiety for their safety than were the slaves in the days 
when they protested against being gorged on terrapin 
meat. In those days the diarhond-back terrapin were as 
numerous in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries as are 
crabs at the present time, but now there is a shipload of 
crabs where there is one terrapin found. 
Believing that good money could be made in "culti- 
vating" terrapins. A. L. La Valette, a grandson of Rear- 
Admiral E. A. F. La Valette, decided to embark in the 
business, and according to his own statement he has no 
cause to regret this decision. He Icnows the Chesapeake 
Bay thoroughly, having been actively engaged in the 
terrapin, oyster, crab and fish business for more than 
foiirteen years, and there was no question in his mind 
that it would only be a few years before terrapin would 
bring fabulous prices. Selecting a pretty site for a home 
on the shore near Crisfield, he had erected a splendid 
house, adjoining which he built his terrapin farm, cover- 
ing about seven acres, everything being arranged to suit 
their habits as regards water, grass and sand. Tlie farm 
is divi'lcd up iritg pens, with high board f^nce§ wifQ 
Valette that no man can accurately estimate the number of 
j^ears it takes for a terrapin to get its full growth, but 
believes it cannot be less than thirty-five or forty years. 
Notwithstanding the fact that every pen appeared to be 
full of terrapin of all sizes, Mr. La Valette said that he did 
not think he had more than 15,000 in stock, that orders 
were heavy last winter and the severe weather last 
February had killed a large number. The terrapin is by 
nature a cold-blooded reptile, and with the coming of the 
first frosts he begins to locate himself for the winter, and 
it is necessary on this farm to keep a dose eye on the 
weather and use artificial means for keeping the terrapins 
from freezing. The favorite place for the hibernation of 
the very large size is a few inches below the soft oozy 
mud at the bed of a three or four-fathom V-shaped 
channel in the bed of a creek of about the same distance 
from shore to shore. Thousands of such creeks penetrate 
the shores and islands of the Chesapeake, and those less 
frequented by man are instinctively selected by the terra- 
pin for its haunts. No matter how long they may remain 
hibernated they never lose an ounce in weight, and come 
out as gay as crickets in the warm spring, though for 
months they have not tasted food nor water. 
The time of hibernation usually lasts about six months, 
beginning with the approaching frosty weather in the fall 
and continuing until warm spring weather. They bury a 
few inches in the mud and leave at the spot where they 
disappear a mound, in the middle of which a hole can be 
discerned. It is the mound and the hole which first 
attract the attention of the fisherman. During this period 
terrapin are caught in their torpid state. They receive no 
noursihment whatever while in this condition. At least 
90 per cent, of those taken from the beds of deep creeks 
will measure from 6% to Sj^in., with an average weight of 
2?41bs., and are females, while 80 per cent, of those bedded 
in the marshes have an average weight of -541b., and meas- 
ure less than Sin. The males invariably bed in the 
marshes and among the rushes of very shallow ponds, only 
venturing in cold water during the summer and warmest 
spring and fall months, in which time the^'- lead a mi- 
gratory life in search of food, consisting principally of 
small shell fish and the soft-shell crabs. There being an 
abundance of these in the bay, the few remaining terrapin 
have no difficulty in finding all the food they wish, and 
have plenty of time for lazing in the grass and sand. At 
this season of the year terrapin are caught occasionally in 
dredges and drag nets, but most of them are found in 
the marshes and sand. They are easily tracked, and their 
market value being so high the shores are always dotted 
with hunters, and it is mainly from these that Mr. La 
Valette buys. 
A f^w qi th? hunters still employ dogs jfl tracking 
them, but a dog trained to track terrapin is seldom suited 
for any other purpose, and the result is that but few dogs 
are utilized in this way. Years ago nearly every resident 
of the eastern shore had his terrapin dog. When a dog 
tracks and finds a terrapin he places his fore feet on the 
terrapin's back and holds him until the hunter comes, the 
hunter being notified of the "tree" by the barking of the 
dog. A man might fallow a terrapin track which had 
been made several days, but a dog knows at once by the 
scent whether it is an old or fresh track. Dogs also locate 
the nests of terrapin and hunters take the eggs, worth 
but little as food, but going far toward hastening the 
extermination of the terrapin. Both male and female are 
very shy and active, swim well and run with considerable 
speed, but like a cow or woman on the run, are very 
av/kward. Terrapin manage to evade dredges and nets 
unless the handlers are skilled in their work. Nothing 
has perhaps speeded the scarcity of terrapin more than the 
habit of some hunters of firing the grass in the marshes 
in the early spring, causing the terrapin to come from 
their places of hibernation under the impression that 
warm weather had set in and that it was safe for them 
to venture out. Thousands are burned to death this 
way, and there are stringent laws against firing the 
marshes, but the hunters get out of it by testifying that 
the fire was accidental. 
Rats will dig up and destroy the eggs, and as a terrapin 
does not deposit eggs but once a year the brealdng up of a 
"hatching" is regarded as a heavy loss. Mr. La Valette 
says it is a great error to state tliat terrapins place eggs 
in dry sand and that they are hatched by the sun's heat. 
He showed the writer a nest of eggs and these were in 
wet sand, covered at a depth of 5 or 6in. Incubation is 
brought about by atmospheric conditions, and it requires 
from forty to forty-two days for the eggs to hatch. The 
eggs resemble those of the snake, having no shell, but a 
thin, tough skin, and are about the size of the egg of the 
American partridge, though not as well shaped. It is from 
three to five days after the little fellows are released from 
the eggs before they are sufficiently strong to go waddling 
about, and it is always necessary to keep a close watch to 
prevent their being killed by rats, crabs and large fish. 
The young receive but little attention from the mother, 
and almost from the first are left to look out for them- 
selves and get along as best they can. Mr. La Valette has 
separate pens for the very young, where it is almost 
impossible for anything to get to and destroy them. After 
a few months the little terrapins sport around in the 
shallow water and crawl out in the sand banks as frisky 
as colts in a pasture. Eggs are always deposited in the 
months of May and June, the female terrapin crawling 
out on the sand, and when she finds a suitable location 
she scratches out a Jiole to the depth of 5 or 6in., lays 
her eggs, and then carefully covers them over, drawing 
her stomach over the sand in such a manner is to hide 
all traces of the nest. This being done, the terrapin goes 
back into the water or grass, and as far as is known she 
never returns to the nest until time for the eggs to hatch. 
A terrapin does not begin to deposit eggs until she is four 
years old. 
About fifty years ago Capt. John Etheridge sold in 
Norfolk about 3,000 fine diamond-backs for $400, and a 
little later he shipped to Baltimore about the same num- 
ber, receiving something over $350' This, it is said, was 
the beginning of the onslaught on the terrapin, and from 
Cape Fear to Baltimore men engaged in the work of 
terrapin hunting. It is known that terrapin formerly 
lived in colonies, but constant dredging caused them to 
scatter, and from that time until the present the catch has 
grown smaller each year. According to Mr. La Valette 
the annual shipments from thi-s section and its tributaries 
will not exceed $400,000. It has not been more than- 
twenty j'ears_ since those who were familiar with the facts 
began to realize that there was danger of a terrapin famine 
— that the reptiles would soon be almost exterminated. 
Naturally, with the increase in price, there were, thou- 
sands engaged in the work of hunting them, and it was 
found expedient for the States of Maryland and Virginia 
to enact laws governing the taking of terrapins and the 
sizes which should be sold in season. These laws have 
been added to and enforced as rigidly as possible, but the 
scarcity of the Chesapeake diamond-back grows more 
apparent each year, and even now it requires many days of 
laborious and tedious work and many miles of walking 
over soft, boggy marshes, prodding in deep, narrow chan- 
nels with long-shafted tongs by men experiencel and 
skilled, familiar with the terrapin's cunning habits, before 
one is taken from its hiding place. 
The people have robbed themselves by trapping in- 
calculable quantities of terrapin before they had matured 
sufficiently for breeding, and by digging eggs from be- 
neath the sand shores, where they had been deposited by 
the females to hatch. While the laws enacted by the 
Legislatures of Maryland and Virginia for the protection 
of the terrapin differ somewhat, they are both excellent, 
and had they been rigidly enforced this spectacle of ulti- 
mate extermination would not exist. 
It takes an epicure to detect the difference in the Chesa- 
peake diamond-back and those of North Carolina and 
Mississippi. Ordinary mortals do not know the differ- 
ence. Of course, it is not infrequently the case that other 
terrapin are palmed of? by unscrupulous caterers for the 
genuine Chesapeake diamond-back^ and it is also true 
that male terrapin are substituted for females by placing 
eggs in them when served. Those thoroughly up on 
terrapin, however, can readily detect fraud. The terrapin 
season is from November to May, inclusive. It is claimed 
by some that penned terrapin are not as succulent as 
those freshly caught, but it is reasonable to imagine that 
the "stall-fed" terrapin is good enough. The small species 
are divided into two classes, "heifers" and "bulls." The 
undershells of the heifers never measure more than 5in. 
in length, and bulls from 5 to Measurement is al- 
ways made from the collar-bone under the stomach to 
the tail. The larger the terrapin the greater the value a 
pound. For instance, a terrapin measuring 7^in. and 
weighing 640Z, is worth, say, $2.05 a pound, or $8.20 — 
$98.40 a dozen. The diamond-back terrapin is always 
high and brings a much larger price than any other. The 
outlook is that the price will be much larger than ever this 
coming season. The largest shipment ever made by Mr. 
La Valette was in 1890, when Jay Gould gave a banquet 
at Delmonico's. It required twenty-eight barrels to make 
th? shipment, and th? bill w^s something over $4,70^, 
