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Show I I A.! '-' II HE LAST CHANCE of 4& '-- J UNCLE SAM r. :; IfLHlji '-"- ! LooKSTOTHEFEED. DIAMOND BACK TERRAPIN ING OF HIS FAMILY ' '; H 11 -t! ""ITjEPS Taken by the Federal Bureau of Fisheries to Propagate This Crustacean, Which, as It Becomes Scarcer, .jl H S I? ' ''-s Risen from $4.00 a Dozen to $120.00 H (Copyright, 1011. bj the New York Herald Co. All rlcbtn &vrreij.1 ! N the year 1S7S a vessel from the port of New York went to Wllnitngtou, X. C, In seiirch of diamond back terrapins. By Judicious buying the captain obtained live hundred dozen of this species of edible H j " turtle at the rate of ?4 n dozen. Two years later H another large consignment of diamond back terrapins H was shipped from North Carolina for the price of H 10 a dozen. To-day the wholesale price of this dell- H cacy Is $120 a dozen. H The total catch of edible turtles in 1SS0 in the Middle H Atlantic States was 237,000 pounds and In the South Atlantic States It was 100,200 pounds- In 1004 In the H Middle Atlantic States it was only 11,600 and iu the H South Atlantic States only 05,5-iO. H These facts indicate more clearly than any others H vhat is happening to the supply of edible turtles in Bm&B ,mWj Fcmales wk -:&40m J H ggrg. Wra ;&$; g fl' t$A M this country. Although the' Increase In the demnnd, H and consequently Iu the price, was enormous, the H catch fell off- to a remarkable degree. This condition H is the more alarming from the standpoint of the lover H of terrapin stew because of the fact that up to tills H day it has not been demonstrated to a certainty that H there Is any efficient means of artificially Increasing H the supply. Diamond back terrapins have never yet H been propagated artificially for the market. H One other historical fact about the terrapin may M serve to show the extent of the ravages of man upon H his race. It is a matter of oQlcIal record tltat the M Maryland Legislature more than u hundred years ago H passed "an act declaring that slave owners should not m be permitted to feed terrapin to tholr slaves more than H twice or three times a week. The purpose of this act was not to protect the terrapin, which was so H plentiful that it was the cheapest kind of food for H the slaves, but to protect the slaves, who were not H supposed to thrive and to do their work well wlun M living on such a delicate food. M Aroused by the rapid decrease In the terrapin sup- M ' ply, tho United States government, through the Bn- M reau of Piaherles of the Department of Commerce and Labor, has undertaken to discover if possible a meaiis fl ' of artificially propagating them. Tho Gxperlments H have been going on for seeral years, but the outcome H hi still hi doubt, although the scientists who are in 1 charge of the work are extremely optimistic, f I - The first experiments were mace ubout three years Hj 1 ngo near Lloyd's, Mil., on Chesapeake Bay, by Profes- H t Bor William Perry Hay, instructor In natural history H at Howard University, Washington, D. C lie did his H work under the auspices of the Bureau of Fisheries, H and the facts which he collated are now serving as a M basis for the further experiments of the bureau. Two H I years ago the scene of the terrapin Investigations H I was changed to the Government Biological Labo- M I ratory nt Beaufort, X. C. H , It wjls first necessary to accumulate an adequate H supply of breeders, males and females, of tho best H J varieties. These denizens of the salt marshes along Hl l the Atlantic coast weio confined In corrals or pounds H 'extending out Into the ocean. Tlrec very Important M ' problems next presented tliemselves for satisfactory H; solution. KIrst, It was Jieoessavy to make the ter- H rapin thus obtained breed In cupllvitj'. Second, a H successful method of protecting the eggs had to be H ; devised. Last, it was necessary to iuduce til' H ! young turtles to take the proper ort of food to mako H thcm grow. H V, Like all other wild animals in captivity, the tendency Hhl ot the terrapin is not to breed. To overcome tills the H ' conditions surrounding the terrapin In their natural H places of abode were simulated as closely as possible H ( They were allowod a certaiu amount of freedom in tho H pounds built out Into the sea In marshy regions. Hi' Great care was exercised to provide them with food H llko that which they find for themselves Jn the wild H Btatc- Their principal diet In the pounds is cabbage, H ' fish and crabs. H i Tu!s Pnrt of the cxperlmont his proved successful H I A11 oi th( old terrapins that were collected by the H J Benufort laboratory two years ago were induced to 1 " breed. and three hundred egs were obtained last year. H ' At tnat laboratory there ace to-dny still 270 young H j 'diamond back terrapin from those eggs, bom last sum- H j la,er Everi' few weeks tixoy are weighed and meas- 5 Laboratory Station. Be ured, In order that their rate of growth may be ascertained. ascer-tained. The utmobt care is being exercised in the feeding, but this Is still largely guesswork. It remains to be seen whether these turtles will grow to the edible size, which will take from five to seven years according to the popular theory this has not been scientifically ascertained and. what Is equally equal-ly important. It remains to be seen whether turtles bred and raised in captivity will themselves reproduce their kind in captivity. It can readily fie understood that it will be at least four and probably six or seven year before this can be known with any degree of certainty. To Be Kept in Captivity. Uniko the lobster breeders ou the New England coast, the terrapin breeders plan to keep tho artificially propagated terrapins In captivity until they arc rady for the market The young lobsters are liberated in the sea by the millions each year, and It is to some extent ex-tent a matter of guesswork to determine how many of these same lobsters over grow up to reach the dinner tables In New York. Boston. Philadelphia and -the other places where they are so greatly coveted. The terrapin Is much too precious to be thus set frpe and allowed to escape capture If he can. Besides, the terrapin is by no means such a prolific breeder as the lobster. It Is only the female diamond back terrapin that commands the big prices and is considered the great delicacy. The males do not grow so large nor Is their meat considered so good. A 'count" terrapin, which Is one that has attained the proper slzu and is a female, fe-male, must bo seven inches long. The measurements are taken on the bottom of the shell from tip to Up. This is well understood by even tho negroes who make a business of catching terrapins along the eastern and western shores of Chesapeake Bay nnd other places In the Southern States. While they will sell n "count"" terrapin for $r, or ?G to a buyer who is collecting them fon' whnesale distribution, they are willing to part with the smaller male for twenty-five or fifty cents apiece. The latest figures of the Census Bureau on the catch of ediblo turtles In the United States serve to show how much more valuable the diamond back terrapin is than the other varieties. The total catch In tho yea 100S of ediblo turtles was 1.0S3.000 pounds, nnd Its vnlue was approximately $40,000. In the same year the total catch of the terrapin was only 308,000 pounds, but its value was approximately :?SO,000. Diamond back terrapins have been known to connoisseurs con-noisseurs and purveyors of bea food for a great many years. They aro distributed more or less continuously along the eastern coast of North and Central America from Buzzard's Bay, Mass., to Yucatan. Their occurrence occur-rence along the Yucatan coast was recorded In JStfo by Professor Gray, a student of natural history. It is quite possible that the range extends further to the southward. The famous natural historian, Professor Agassbs, ha8 stated that they are to be found or have been found as far south as the, northeru coast of Souti America. Generally, however, this statement of Professor Pro-fessor Agasslz is taken with a grain of salt by othor students of the terrapin. All the species are lovers of salt or brackish water, and they find their most congenial homes In low lying swamps Mini protected bays or inlets. Bui they ajso I occur more or less bountifully in nearly all the rivers ' that empty Into the sea within the limits named, and they ascend these rivers to points where the water Is quite sweet. In the .lames Iliver. In Virginia, they luive been found considerably above Jamestown. They were formerly abundant at West I'olut. In the Yor Ulvcr. Individual diamond back terrapins have also boon taken within four miles of tho city of Washington in the Potomac River. is compelled to feed upon the smaller and softer animals ani-mals of these groups. At unusually high tides It occasionally follows the water Into the grassy lowlands, low-lands, and may be seen catching und eating injects. The tender Flioots and rootlets of the mnrsh plants are nho eaten, and probably form a very considerable considera-ble proportion of Its food at time. Fresh water seems to be a necessity for the life of the diamond back terrapin at certain periods, but it can live for a long time without it It Is the common belief In many placop that tho - utfcr,- - .-r -. ,,- r- lL-,a l 1 lBS Station at Beaufort, N. C, Where Experiments Are t "" M Being Made with Terrapins l. ' .;' 'C -' '"'.'" ' '''sX5?-- aufort, N. C. , - - k K-iir v. . -- m Adult Terrapin Absolutely uothlng Is known of the habits of the more Southern vurleties. except as they have been studied In the corrals on the Chesapeake Bay. There they have acted much like the Northern kind, going into hibernation early and emerging late in the spring The Northen species Is pretty well known, so far as its hublts are concerned. Its period of hibernation begins soon after the advent of cold weather, but for some weeks It emerges whenever there Is a warm day. Eventually, however, It buries Itself completely In the mud at the bottom of some pool or stream and remains to hidden until spring. Very soon after the wiuter sleep is over It works its way out of the mud. seeks others of its kind, and tho process of reproductipu begins. ' The lovemaklug of the terrapin usually takes placn at night or In the very early hours of the morning, and invariably In tb water. The diminutive male Is curried cur-ried around on the back of the female. For the most part the eggs are laid In May and June. The female digs a nest with her hind legs. It Is n hole In somo-convenient somo-convenient bank, and at a depth of five or six Inches she deposits from five to twelve eggs. The lobster produces from 10.000 to S0.000 eggs every season. Hnvlug" laid her eggs the female terrapin crawls out of the hole, carefully covers It up. effaces every trace of her work nnd forthwith departs. If tho weather Is warm the eggs hatch in about six weeks. They may require twice that long if the season Is a cold one. f Food of the Terrapin. The young soon after hatching go to a noarby marsh and burrow Into the mud. where they remain for the first winter and sometimes for the first summer. sum-mer. As compared to the growth of other turtles, that of the diamond back terrapin Is fairly rapid. The average lncreaso in length Is about one Inch a year until a total length of live Inches or thereabouts has been reached, when It becomes much slower. It is thought that growth continues throughout the life of the Individual, but in old age it is bo slow as to be practically imierceptlble. Apparently the limit of a terrapin's life is twenty-five or thirty years. For food In Its wild state the diamond back terrapin ter-rapin has what crustaceans nnd mollusks it is able to catch aud crush, but as its jaws are rather weak it """' i IJb ' Young Terrapins turtle Is nomadic, moving restlessly from place to place, and that it is able to make considerable Journeys Jour-neys in a very short space of time. There Is no .scientific .scien-tific evidence, however, to support this theory On tho contrary, the Individual born in or accidentally transported to a favorable locality probably stays there for au Indefinite period of time. No other theory' the-ory' than that has beeu found to explain the numerous local races and the stories of the reappearance of certain marked terrapins season after season. .. The former abundance of the diamond back terrapin Is a matter of unmistakable record. At one time in this country hundreds could be seen in n single day where now perhaps only one or two can be found in a season. Thanks to lax laws and ruthless hunters, the species Is on the very vergv of complete extinction, nnd ljefore long, unless proper measures are taken, must be numbered among the lost host of animals that man has exterminated. The turtles of this genus exhibit some very Interest-lug Interest-lug and Important changes In form and sculpture as they advance In age, aside, of course, fiom the natural Incronse in size and weight. The young of the Northern North-ern species resemble the female parent very closely, Vffch the shell a little rounder and the head proportionately propor-tionately a little larger. The color, however, lu every case among a groat ninny that have been studied by Professor nay for the Bureau of Fisheries was a dark blackish brown, the soft skin being everywhere su hic)ly speckled with black as nearly to obliterate the ground color' of the shell. " As the young animal Increases in size the plates of 7 the shell are spread apart To fill the space thus lef. I new shell Is developed, underlying the original plates I nnd extending beyond its margins, where it appears I In the first year as the first concentric ridge. Presum- I ably this growth takes place period lcnllyr and the age I of the turtle can be approximated by counting the I ridges. The determination of a very larg and old I terrapin, however, becomes difficult, for the reason I that the shell becomes worn off so as to obliterate all I but the last formed ridges. I There is much difference of opinion ns to the age I which a turtle may reach. Professor Agasslz was of I the opinion that most of the North American turtles, I the diamond bnck errnpln included, could attain a H very great age and continue to grow nlmc t without I limit. It Is generally ndmltted to be true that t.iere I to almost Indisputable evidence to support till ns- ; H sertion In regard to some of the species, but Professor I Hay believes that for nearly all of them there Is a ;H limit, at least in size. ' I The maximum size of the diamond back terrapin, t according to Professor nay, Is about nine inches. It H very rarely exceeds eight Inches, and he says this ' H size Is attained at the age of fifteen or twenty years It Is quite possible, of course, that the turtles live for V ninny years after reachiug the maximum growth, but Professor Hay believes in that event It would be natural to look for shells worn wholly smooth, which he says he has nt bserved In the case of any specie ' except the T xas terrapin, which, probab.y as a re- ; suit u. .ae warm weather and more uniform climate of its habltnt, seems to grow more continuously than its northern relntives. It Is upon these lnvestign loni - mat he buses, his opinion that the average duration oi tlie life of the diamond ' -': terrapin Is from twenu to twenty-five years. |
