Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 March 1894 — SNAIL FARMS. [ARTICLE]

SNAIL FARMS.

SNAILS BECOMING A POPULAR DISH IN NEW YORK. A Hotel Keeper Soya That Fortunos May Bo Mode in Raising Them--Their Cultivation Abroad. “It is surprising,” said the proprietor of a well-known New York restaurant to a Tribune reporter a few days ago, “how many snails are eaten in this city. I remember well the first time we added them to our bill of fare, not many years ago. We cooked them day after day, displayed the fact in large letters on our bills of fare, but it was all in vain. The patrons of the house seemed afraid to try them. We lost considerable money in our efforts to introduce them to New York. At first they remained on our hands, and day after day we were obliged to throw our supply into the waste barrels to be carried away as food for animals. But it is different now. People seem to have overcome their prejudices, and snails in various forms are ordered so frequently that we have ceased to be surprised. I do not doubt at all that they will become a favorite dish among New Yorkers. Fortunes, in fact, may be made by their cultivation, and the enterprising Americans who begin ‘farming’ them now will be certain of large incomes from this industry in a few years. It will then be unnecessary to import them, as we do now, almost exclusively. Many of the snails to be found in the restaurants of New York and on the tables of some private families are imported from France and Switzerland. “In the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland,” added the hotel man, “a number of peasants have established large snail farms from which they derive handsome incomes. Soft land, covered not too thickly with trees, is the favorite breeding place for these little horned animals. The trees and shade must not be too thick, because the uncovered snails will then die in great quantities in the autumn and early winter. In the sun, they usually get large, handsome, white-shelled houses, and the snails with such coverings are always the best. The earth should contain a good percentage of lime or chalk, so that the snails can easily get material for their houses. Neither should the earth be what we call ‘fat.’ If the earth does not contain sufficient lime, the farmers should sprinkle it with burned chalk or sand. The snails lay their eggs in May. To keep them from ‘running’ away from the farm there should be a wooden fence about two feet high built about it. On the fence iron-vitriol or some bad smelling oil should be sprinkled. It is not a bad idea, either, to surmount the fence with nails placed closely together, as this will prevent the snails from crawling over.

“As a rule one can raise 500 snails to a square metre of earth. One person can easily raise 20,000 t0J25,000 snails on fifty square metres. The space, however, must not be too cramped. When the sun shines too hotly snails like to conceal themselves. It is, therefore, necessary to provide hiding places, so to speak. Moss along the fence about the snail park and low sheds made by placing boards over a framework are to be recommended tor this purpose. “The best food for snails is salad, cabbage, kitchen waste, nettles and dandelions. In dry weather they eat nothing, but as soon as it rains they seem to become hungry and seek food. If the food is not at hand when they want it they will try in every way to escape from their bounds. White-leaved weeds seems to satisfy them also. If the farmers wish to make them very fat they sprinkle some kind of meal on the leaves which they eat.

“In the beginning of f Autumn—about the end of August or the first of September—the farmer strews the entire snail park with moss. It must not be too thick, or the snails will smother. They crawl under the moss at this time of the year, and remain there until they are wanted. When they are covered with their shells they are sorted out, according to size and quality. If they have finely rounded or vaulted houses, which shine in the sunlight, then they are nice and fat, and the purchaser can tell that he has good ware. “They are packed in boxes containing from 1,000 to 5,000 for shipment. Hay, or some other soft, loose material, is used to keep them apart. They can stand cold better than heat. If it becomes too warm for them they will open their shells and burst the strongest box. “A different method of raising snails is used in parts of Bavaria. There they have as much freedom as possible until the fall. Then they are picked up by the children or servants of the farmer and thrown into a deep hole. Grain is put in the hole, and they feed on this until they become fat enough to be sold. This is generally in the spring. “In Switzerland the monks of the Capuchin order raise large quantities of snails. “Americans have not begun to pay much attention to their cultivation as yet, but fortunes await those who begin at the proper time. The snail as a delicacy has come to stay, and will become more and more popular every year with the New York gourmands.”