Curiously enough, the species of turtle favoured respectively by the Japanese, Americans, and by English people are totally different. For instance, the Japanese farmer gives his attention to the propagation of the snapping-turtle and American to the diamond-backed terrapin, while the turtle soup so much prized by the wealthy and sought after by the sick in this country is made from the green turtle of the West Indies. [Illustration: A GROUP OF YOUNG TURTLES JUST HATCHED. _From a Photograph._] The terrapin is quite a small creature, rather flat-backed and rounded in outline, its scales being marked by independent black patterns composed of many geometric figures placed one within another. At one time it was found in large quantities in the shallow bays and salt marshes along the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to Texas. The discovery that its flesh made a delicious stew and an ideal soup, however, resulted in the creature being hunted so vigorously that to-day it is exceedingly scarce. Indeed, whereas a terrapin, seven inches in length, could be picked up a few years ago for a few cents, it would be difficult to secure one to-day for a five-pound note. It was this scarcity of the terrapin, and the big demand for it among the hotels and restaurants, that have led not a few enterprising men to establish farms, where these much-sought-after creatures are bred and reared for the market in large numbers. The terrapin being small, perfectly harmless, and requiring but a little pond of salt water to dwell in, there is nothing particularly exciting in farming it. Indeed, a terrapin “farm” consists merely of a number of small ponds or basins in which the creatures are confined according to their age and size. Thus, in the smaller ponds, we discover those just hatched from the eggs--curious little things not much bigger than a billiard ball. As they breed well, and it is not necessary to keep the creature long before it is ready for the _chef_, terrapin farming may be described as a fairly remunerative business. [Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF MR. HATTORI’S TURTLE-FARM NEAR TOKIO, JAPAN. _From a Photograph._] [Illustration: THE EMBANKMENT OF A “PARENTS’ POND”--EACH OF THE WIRE CIRCLETS HERE SHOWN COVERS A DEPOSIT OF EGGS. _From a Photo. by M. Ichikawa, Japan._]