308 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



" It was not until early in November that the work upon the reservoirs 

 could be commenced, and this once begun, although i)rosccuted with 

 great vigor, was retarded by bad weather, the defection of workmen, 

 the difficulty of obtainiog the i^roper kind of cement for the brick-work, 

 and other causes beyond our control ; and it was not until the begin- 

 ning of December that these reservoirs were finished and ready for use. 



" By this time, however, it was ascertained that the carj) had gone 

 into winter quarters by burying themselves in the bottom of the pond, 

 and, as the drainage of these ponds would leave the fish in the exposed 

 mud and involve their certain death, it was considered necessary to 

 defer further action until the coming spring. Probably in the early 

 part of April the work will be begun and the stock of young fish avail- 

 able for distribution ascertained, 



" It is, of course, impossible to say now in what numbers this stock 

 exists, but we hope to be able to supply a considerable portion, at least 

 of the applications already on file. In any event we shall have a much 

 larger number of breeding fish in 1879 than we had in 1878, and we 

 have every reasonable assurance that in the summer of next year a 

 supply of fish will be available sufficient to meet the current require- 

 ments." 



The carp trade in Austria. — From one estate in Southern Bo- 

 hemia from 370,500 to 492,000 pounds of carp are sent to Vienna 

 annually. 



Marsh-hens and night-herons catch carp. — Under date of July 

 17, 1883, Dr. End. Hessel writes : " The other day I shot a marsh-hen 

 with 38 young carp in the stomach and a uiglit heron containing the 

 heads of 78 young carp." 



Carp sent to the Sandwich Islands. — Writing from Wailuka, 

 November 17, 1882, F. H. Enders, M. D., says : " On August 27, 1882, 

 20 carj), recently arrived from California, and measuring from 1 to 1^ 

 inches in length, were placed in a pond about 150 feet square by from 1 

 to 5 feet in depth. It is supijlied with water from a spring. On No- 

 vember 15, 1882, the pond was drained and 15 fish found, noue of which 

 measured less than 11^ inches and some were 13 inches in length and 

 very fat. The water of this pond contains about 1 per cent of iron and 

 a dense growth of moss from top to bottom. It is prolific in tender buds 

 and shoots, upon which the fish subsist, as they have never been fed 

 since being put in the pond. These fish, I presume, will spawn in a few 

 months, when we hope to raise at least 10,000 next year, as they have no 

 enemies to disturb them." 



Carp sent to Cuba. — I have received by the steamship Newport, of 

 New York, two large cans containing twenty-six live German carp. 

 Three of them died during the trip, and as I was obliged to keep them in 

 the cans for a day while I found a place to put them until I could take 



