HARVEST OF SNAILS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 34, 8 August 1925, Page 16

HARVEST OF SNAILS

A CUBIOUS INDUSTRY.

The harvest of the succulent snail of the cultivated species for European consumption has begun in Switzerland and Trance, and thousands of meu and women will bs busy throughout the summer in thiß curious industry, writes H. P. Devitt in the "Daily Express." The annual production in both countries is about three million pounds, but, as the demand is far" greater than the supply, the. devices of the adulterator supplement nature, and pieces of meat, generally veal, are introduced into the empty shells.

The vjJleys on both sides of the Jura Alps on the Swiss-French frontier mark the centre of the industry, but the epicure prefers the snails of Burgundy, which have long been famed for their exquisite flavour and delicacy. The Burgundy district, however, contributes only a small proportion of the European output, owing, principally, to the treatment of the vines with phosphates against phylloxera.

The large fields which are prepared for the propagation of the snail generally lie at the edge of a wood or forest, sheltered from the sun. The soil of the farm is well sanded and limed, and round it is built a wall 2ft or 3ft high, thoroughly washed with vitriol to prevent the stock escaping into other pastures. During their short Hve3 cultivated snails are supplied daily with vegetables and greens in plenty. A snail has thousands of tiny ' teeth. These are arranged in ' 135 transverse rows on the tongue, and, as there are as many as 105 in each row, it follows that an average snail possesses over 14.000 teeth. The price of snails 'in restaurants varies according to the sea-, aon arid the "crop," but the average tariff is Is to Is 6d a dozen, and getterally light .wine, is taken, jvjth, the di 4j s ..