316 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



Memphis, the daily catch continuing' for a little over a week. This is 

 encouraging, as shad were never caught here before." 



In a letter dated November IG, 188G, Mr, McDowell adds: "A fish- 

 dealer informs me that his book shows that he bought shad caught here 

 from the loth to the 28th of March last, his purchases amounting to 

 about 75. From what I can learn, the catch did not at any time exceed 100 

 per day. The persons that caught them were not fishing for shad, nor 

 were they in the best places for such a catch, but they were after larger 

 fish and the catch of shad was merely incidental. There is no doubt 

 but that the fish in question were actually shad, as the men who bought 

 them have dealt in the Atlantic coast shad for many years. Hence, it 

 is evident that these fish are the results of plants made by the U. S. 

 Fish Commission in the tributaries of the Mississippi." 



Edible qualities of carp. — The annual dinner of the American 

 Carp Culture Association, whose headquarters is at 44 North Fourth 

 street, Philadelphia, was held October 14. Concerning it the secretary 

 states: "The caterer carried out our instructions to the letter, and the 

 result was that a select party of acknowledged epicures not only tasted 

 but ate sev^eral pounds of carp without condiments or seasoning of any 

 description whatever. The verdict seemed to be unanimous that carp 

 raised and treated according to the system prevailing in this region is 

 a first-class food-fish, excelled only by the Salmonidce and superior to 

 the domestic trout. 



"After some years of experience we now know that the flavor of the 

 carp depends upon the quality of the water they are in and the quality 

 of food they consume for two or three weeks prior to being served at 

 the table, and also upon the method of their death. If they are taken 

 directly from a muddy pond and allowed to smother and die a linger- 

 ing death, the flavor will certainly be a 'trifle strong.' If, on the other 

 hand, they are taken from their ponds two or three weeks before coming 

 to the table, and placed in clean water which undergoes constant change, 

 and are fed on clean, cooked vegetable food, almost any grain, or on 

 bread, their flavor will be second only to the salmon family, certainly 

 fully equal to the for-famed shad ; but they should be killed by thorough 

 bleeding imuiediately upon being taken from the water." 



Carp in James Eiver. — Mr. W. F. Page, writing from Lynchburgh, 

 Va., on August 20, 1886, says : " I have seen several very fine German 

 carp taken from the James River at this place, one of which was a fe- 

 male scale carp 25 inches long and weighing 8 pounds." 



Carp planted in Passaic Elver. — Mr. George Shepard Page met 

 the Fish Commission car at Newark, N. J., November 10, 1886, and re- 

 ceived 500 carp, which he took to Stanley, N. J., and deposited in the 

 Passaic about midnight. The fish were all in good condition. 



Growth of carp. — The leather carp referred to me, and said to be 

 six mouths old, was raised in the Government carp ponds at Washing- 

 ton, D. C. It is 9 inches long, 2.} inches deep, 6J inches in circamfer- 



