] 'iO BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



During- tlie pond fislieiies early in November ]\Ir. Wendt sold oue- 

 A^earold fisli at 10 crowns [$2.G8j per liimdred. Some of tliese fisli 

 were bought by persons from the provinces of Wermland, Yestergott- 

 laiid, &c. Whether carp culture north of Scania will pay, is a question 

 which cannot as yet be answered. In sucli provinces as Smaland and 

 Wermland the growth would probably be too slow. It is quite proba- 

 ble that in a more northerly latitude than Scania the carj) would grad- 

 ually degenerate and become smaller. On a large scale it will hardly 

 pay north of Scania, but experiments on a small scale may be recom- 

 mended. Farther inland, where there is still a considerable supply ot' 

 other fresh-water fish, the price of cari) could not for any length of time 

 be ke]>t at the height of the German prices, and the transportation 

 would cost more than from Scania. Locations should be chosen where 

 the cost of construction is small, and which otherwise are of little or no 

 value. In many respects it would be desirable that north of Scania 

 attempts should be made to cultivate car^) on a small scale, in i)ond.s 

 the construction of which would involve but little expense, and where 

 the carp could either be used for home consumj^tion or find a ready sale. 

 In (Tcrmanj^ much has recently been said and written in favor of plant- 

 ing large masses of young carj> in peat-bogs, marl-i)its, lakes,, and rivers 

 with a slow current, in the brackish water near the mouths of rivers, 

 and in sheltered inlets of the sea. Experiments made in Berlin by Dr. 

 Petri, at public expense, have show^u that the saltness of the water in 

 an aquarium, where carp, tench, goldfish, and eels were kept, could 

 gradually be increased to 2^ per cent without injurious infiuence on 

 these fish, which remained in this water for more than half a year. 



In Sweden the carp is said to have been introduced in 1500, and has 

 since that time been cultivated on many farms in Scania. Linne states 

 in his tilanslM Ecsa (Journey through Scania) that in 1749 there were 

 near Marsvinsholm 40 carp i^onds, and that these were the largest and 

 most important in the Kingdom. Formerly their number was much 

 larger. It is hardly to be sui)i)osed that these ponds were as large as 

 those at the present time in Germany or in Scania, nor is it inobable 

 that carp culture in the Scanian ponds was carried on then as rationally 

 as it is now. ]n some ponds crucians were kept, and in others carp; in 

 tlic ])<)nds near Larkesholm — at least in one of them — the carp were 

 allowed to stay from four to five years. 



Linne does not state tlnit these fish were kept in separate i)on(ls ; and 

 it is therefore possible that this was not the custom when he visited 

 Scania. liut in a pamphlet on carp culture, published at Lund in ITGO, 

 O. Cederlof says that "care should be taken not to have the two kinds 

 of fish intermingle." It was even then known that hybrids of cjiri)s 

 are not of much value. Cederlof, who certainly got his information from 

 Scanian car]) cultivators, says in another place that "a ])ond having 

 an area of 14 square yards Avould annually feed at least 300 three-year- 

 old car]), oUO two-year-old car]), and 400 one-year-old carp." 



Stockholm, Sweden, January 10, 1885. 



