BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 435 



140— NOTES FROITI THE CARP l»0>»S. 



By RUDOLPH HESSEL. 



In the ponds the fish are looking well, the ponds themselves have 

 good water, and everything around the whole place is in excellent con- 

 dition. I often have to change the water in the smaller ponds, and to 

 supply the larger ponds (the west, north, and south ponds) with fresh 

 water, on account of the high temperature. Snakes are almost all gone 

 or killed; I have not seen oue during the last eight days. The marsh- 

 liens and cranes cause considerable loss by their frequent visits. 



For the 19th or 20th of July a shipment was ordered of about 20,000 

 young carp to Mr. E. G. Blackford at New York. I tried to get them for 

 that time, but without any success. I was convinced that all the young 

 fish would die if taken out of the ponds. These fish are a great deal 

 larger than those we sent some weeks ago, when about 2,000 were lost. 

 The young fish in the ponds now cannot be shipped before fall. 



1 have observed something interesting about the young shad in the 

 western part of the west pond.\ Some days ago I saw a small school of 

 about 200 to 300. Yesterday T saw another one of about 3,000. One 

 that I caught and put in alcohol was about 2 inches long. I am con- 

 vinced that not many hundreds are in the ponds, but plenty of them 

 for investigating the matter of their growth. 



Pond No. 6 now has the richest growth of nelumbiums I ever saw. 

 The vegetation is even with the wire fence and the flowers are about 1 

 foot higher, making the growth fully 7 feet high. I counted this morn- 

 ing about 350 open flowers of nelumbiums in this pond. All the nelum- 

 biums iu this pond got some bone-dust this spring, and the insects 

 (moths) are almost all destroyed. 



Washington, D. C, July 26, 1885. 



150.-EFFOBT8 TO RAISE TROUT. 



By S. IS. SMITH. 



[Letter to Prof. S. F. Baircl.] 



Having obtained a copy of Thad. Norris's works, I determined to ex- 

 periment iu trout-culture. Three years ago I cleaned up a small swamp 

 adjoining my spring-house and excavated four small ponds, ordered 

 1,000 fry from Dr. A. Garwood, of Cassopolis, Michigan, and a few weeks 

 later 4,000 of the fry, 115 yearlings, 30 two-year-old, and 9 three-year-old 

 trout of J. H. Annin, Caledonia, Livingston County, New York. A few 



