1898 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
7o3 
"FROG FARMING.” 
THE REAL DIMS THE IDEAL. 
“Fakes” About Frogs. —Several months ago, 
The R. N.-Y. took up the inquiry of a subscriber as to 
the profit in raising frogs for market. A few days 
ago, I was stopping in a locality where several per¬ 
sons make a business of catching frogs. Every little 
while a fake story goes the rounds of the daily papers 
about the bonanza profits in raising frogs; so I 
gathered a few facts from these men, that may be of 
service to some who are thinking of engaging in the 
frog business. 
In the first place, the market price, wholesale, for 
frogs, is so low that one could not afford to create 
artificial means of propagation, if indeed, it could be 
done. Nature has established vast breeding grounds, 
and has furnished all the accessories, so that to engage 
successfully in the frog industry, one must go where 
the frogs are. Such a place, however, is not the ideal 
environment of the enthusiast, neither is catching 
and skinning the frogs an employment seasoned with 
pleasure. 
A Day’s Catch. —The men with whom I conversed 
are hard-working, patient, and persistent, yet they 
earn but small pay considering the work they do. 
They commence early in the morning, tramp through 
miles and miles of marsh and mire, bringing up at the 
railroad station at 3 o’clock, p. m., in time to pack 
their catch in ice and express it to New York, where 
it arrives early the next morning. I saw four men 
bring their day’s catch, which was 38 pounds of legs 
“shucked” ready for market. They told me that rep¬ 
resented an average day’s catch. 
What Frog'S Bring. —They showed me some bills 
from their commission men in New York, showing 
sales at 20 to 23 cents per pound. The shippers were 
charged the express and the commission for selling, 
which left the net returns 15 to 18 cents. I paid one 
of the men 30 cents for two pounds of legs, and found, 
by counting them, that I had 74 pairs, so it seems 
the shippers get about five cents per dozen pairs. 
These men commence catching frogs early in the 
Spring, wading around in water and slush ice cold. 
They continue their labors till late in the Fall. They 
told me that $9 per week was average pay for a good 
man, if he worked steadily. Perhaps frogs grown 
under artificial conditions, by incubation or other¬ 
wise, might be taught to come out on dry ground and 
be killed ; but the wild, native breed likes to coax a 
man out into the water and mud about two feet deep, 
before getting in close enough relation to be hit. 
Keep Away from It. —While watching those men 
wade around in the slime and mire, their clothing 
wet and besmeared with mud, I fancied I saw in their 
places, some bright young fellows who had been read¬ 
ing how two sisters in New Jersey had made a six- 
months’ trip through Europe on the profits of catch¬ 
ing frogs the Summer before. I won’t say that I never 
will resort to catching frogs for a living, for I have 
often noticed that the very thing a person said he 
would not do, fate afterwards compelled him to do ; 
but I will say that “ not till all other means fail ” will 
I consider the subject. Fig. 321 is an example as I 
Saw it. C. W. SCABFF. 
Vermont. 
THE MODERN P/GHOUSE. 
SMALL, BUT DOES GREAT SERVICE. 
For Temperate or Zero Weather. 
Large Houses Objectionable —Nearly all pig 
growers have the wish, some time, to possess a hog- 
house that will be “ up to date,” and reduce to a 
minimum the labor of taking care of the hog stock. 
The feeling is strong with some that a fine house is 
necessary to enable a farmer to produce fine pigs of 
the best quality, and at the cheapest rate. Most 
men that have undertaken to build hoghouses have 
been disappointed in results, except, perhaps, men 
living in the northern parts of the United States, and 
Canada. 
The objections are many to a large hoghouse, such 
as will accommodate the whole herd. The difficulties 
that the farmer meets, in keeping the sanitary condi¬ 
tions of such a house as they should be, should 
cause him to give the matter careful consideration 
before he puts much money in a large house. When 
disease once strikes a herd in such a house, the prob¬ 
lem of thoroughly disinfecting the building becomes 
a serious one, so serious that but few farmers possess 
the skill to accomplish it. Without this, he can have 
no assurance that he will be safe from loss when he 
again puts hogs in the buildings. It is also known 
that the weather, air, sunshine, rain, and snow, are 
the best disinfectants that we can command. If we 
can construct buildings so that we can expose every 
part, inside and out, to the weather, we are in better 
shape to ward off disease, and if once caught, can the 
sooner start again. 
Small Houses Better. —In our experience, I have 
concluded that a small house, easily handled, large 
enough for one sow when she farrows, or for several 
shotes or feeders, according to size, is much better 
than a large, permanent house. Figs. 322 and 323 
show the house we use. Fig. 322 represents the house 
as in use for all weather, except when a sow farrows 
in zero weather, when we cover the house with straw 
or fodder to make it absolutely safe against the frost 
and cold that destroys young pigs so quickly. Fig. 
323 shows the house covered with bundled fodder. 
Straw will answer as well, or even fresh stable ma¬ 
nure piled around the house to one-half its height. 
The most convenient size for the house is six feet 
HOW THE FROG FARM WORKS. Fig. 321. 
square. The sills should be oak or other durable 
wood of 2 x 6 or 2 x 8-inch stuff. The rafters, of 2x4- 
inch material, are cut five feet long, three on a side. 
If the roof is to be of plank, the best quality of roof¬ 
ing plank should be used, and the joints carefully 
covered with strips. If to be of metal, the sheathing 
should be of matched lumber. The ends, excepting 
the doorway, should be of matched lumber. When 
the frame is put together, it should be spiked and 
nailed as securely as possible. The lumber used in 
construction—except the sills—should be of light 
material. This is best to make it easily handled, and 
being light, it will not rack to pieces so easily. An¬ 
other point must not be forgotten—the house must be 
as tight as it can be made, as all the air needed can 
be had through the doorway. The best door, when 
one is needed, is a fertilizer sack, or something of that 
kind, fastened above the doorway, and allowed to 
hang over it. This is always closed, and there is no 
danger or risk attached to its use, as there would be, 
HOUSE COVERED FOR COLD WEATHER. Fig. 323. 
to a wooden door. The sow and pigs soon learn to 
push it in or out, as occasion requires. 
A Cold-Weather House. —It is only in extreme 
cold weather that any door is needed. We always 
have the house set with the doorway in the direction 
from which comes the least wind. When the house is 
made as tight as it should be, the wind driving in at 
the door will affect them but little, at any rate. 
When the surface is rolling, floors to these houses 
will seldom be needed. The ground is the best floor, 
under most conditions ; but when the weather is very 
wet and the ground muddy, a plank floor comes in 
excellent play. The floor should be made separate 
from the house, and the house placed over it, the 
floor fitting neatly inside the sills. When a plank 
floor is used, care should be taken to prevent the wind 
driving under it. One man can turn one of these 
houses over on to a sled and move it when desired, 
which should be done when the ground floor is used 
and becomes filthy. If disease strikes the herd, the 
houses can be turned upside down that the sun and 
weather may disinfect them. 
A few years ago, we had sows farrow the last of 
January, when the mercury went below zero. We 
covered their houses with fodder, nailed a sack above 
the doorway and hung a thermometer inside of one 
to note what influence the heat of the sow’s body 
would have on the temperature. We found, when the 
mercury registered eight below zero outside, that the 
heat from the body of a sow weighing about 400 
pounds would raise it to 26 degrees above inside. We 
found farther that, by going into the house with a 
common lantern, we could raise the temperature 10 
degrees higher. 
These houses, including carpenter work, can be 
built of plank alone for $5 or less. Painting will cost 
about $1. Metal roof will increase the cost from $3 to 
$6 more, according to the kind of metal used, and 
manner of putting it on. In the great hog-growing 
sections, these houses can be made to answer an ex¬ 
cellent purpose if set on high ground, and the feeding 
grounds are protected by a windbreak. A hog does 
not care so much for eating out in the cold if the wind 
does not drive against him. john m. jamison. 
Ohio. 
THE DAIRY LABORATORY AT GENEVA. 
HOW IT WAS DEDICATED. 
An Event m the State's History. 
I EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.! 
(Concluded.) 
The Greatness of Agriculture. —At the after¬ 
noon session, Prof. Jordan paid a tribute to Cornell, 
and Prof. I. P. Roberts came to the front to reply. 
He talked to us just as he would to his class of boys at 
the University. We realized, as he stood before us, 
what changes had come over New York State agricul¬ 
ture since this gray-haired man was, as he expressed 
it “ a boy playing on the shores of Cayuga Lake”. It 
was like opening a book of the past to hear him talk, 
yet his theme had to do with the future. He told us 
of the 1,500,000,000 humans now on the earth—90 per 
cent of whom live directly from the soil. If they 
were all brought to the United States, there would be 
1,000 upon each square mile—900 of them farmers. 
Americans are interested in this vast army, both 
morally and financially. Agriculture is the life blood 
of commerce and manufacturing. The $3,000,000,000 
worth of products annually produced on our farms 
sustain not only farming but every other business. 
Prof. Roberts said that the American farmer stands 
at the parting of two roads. The old means the max¬ 
imum of toil and the minimum of intelligence. The 
new leads toward intelligent work directed by a 
knowledge of the natural forces. In the end, knowl¬ 
edge will win in agriculture as it has in other indus¬ 
tries. Considering how much the Nation and State 
owe to agriculture, it is impossible to furnish too 
many facilities for acquiring a full understanding of 
Nature’s laws. This dairy building is a standing 
evidence of the fact that the people of New York State 
realize that farmers must be enabled to reach out after 
knowledge. 
Lengthen the Reach. —Prof. Jordan stated that 
10 members of the Station staff came from the Agricul¬ 
tural College of Michigan. He thought that Michi¬ 
gan ought to have a place in the day’s exercises, and 
Hon. Chas. W. Garfield, a member of the Michigan 
College Board, responded. Mr. Garfield is one of those 
nervous, quick, magnetic men who carry right in the 
face the evidences of sincerity and high purpose. He 
told us how, when a boy, he prided himself on his 
ability to rake and bind grain after any cradler. One 
day a stranger came into the field, and cradled too 
fast for him. When asked how it was done, the 
stranger said, “ It’s all in the length of reach.’’'’ Mr. 
Garfield went on to apply this, and to show how 
sound education is to “lengthen the reach”, and 
broaden the vision of the men on the farm. To my 
mind, this was the most appropriate speech of the 
day. It was on a high, devout plane of thought. 
Prof. Jordan and his co-workers must have felt, as 
they heard it, something of the responsibility that 
rests upon those who act as middlemen between the 
busy common people, and the measurement of Nature’s 
forces which we call knowledge. 
Ex.-Gov. Hoard. —It was late in the afternoon, 
and there were shadows creeping under the tent, 
when a tall, dark man with a face that showed sad¬ 
ness and patience, arose on the platform. Many in 
the audience knew Ex.-Gov. Hoard, of Wisconsin. It 
was late, and the audience had listened steadily for 
hours. It was a critical time for a speaker, and it 
