284 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



have made the pond brackish. As it was, the schools of beautiful 

 fish that I had thought were carp began to die, and these fish died by 

 hundreds. They proved to be young menhaden, or a fish exactly like 

 them. Other small fish died at the same time, and I took out a large 

 number; but no fish that resembled a carp could be seen after the most 

 careful observation. Duriug this time one large carp jumped upon the 

 bank at night and was not quite dead in the morning, but from its size 

 I concluded it was one of the breeders. Fresh water was soon obtained 

 and has been kept up until to-day, when I drew it off and obtained 

 about one-half barrel of common fish — trout, gars, suckers, bream, perch, 

 eels, flounders, crabs — and, to my great surprise, 73 large carp. 



As they were being taken, I concluded that they were the breeders re- 

 ceived from you, but when 12 had been taken out and still they kept 

 coming of the same size I was confounded, as they all appeared larger 

 than those you sent to me. I weighed 10 of them, with the following 

 results : 



They were principally mirror carp; a few were full scaled; and one 

 beautiful specimen was entirely free from scales. They are a beautiful 

 lot of fish, but whether any of the original breeders are among them or 

 not I cannot say. 



Two things are demonstrated absolutely by these results: 



1. That carp will live in warm shallow water, and will live :u such 

 water even if the same is largely impregnated with salt. 



2. That rice-fields are pre-eminently adapted to the growth of carp. 

 Here is a positive growth of 1 pound and 11 ounces in the smallest fish 

 of the 73, which cannot possibly be more than 11 months old and may 

 be only 7 months.* These fish are of such a size that even now they 

 would readily sell as edible fish. If an acre of rice-field will sustain and 

 perfect 1,000 of these fish annually, they would at 18 months old readily 

 sell at 25 cents each. The failure with me has been in the propagation. 

 If this difficulty could be overcome I see no reason why carp on rice- 

 fields should not be a most important factor in the suceessful working 

 of our rice lands, large bodies of which are now idle. 



Georgetown, S. C, March 24, 1885. 



* Mr. Donaldson sent two specimens of these 30-ounce carp to Washington, and they 

 have been placed in the National Museum (accession No. 15920). Should small prop- 

 agating ponds be used for spawning the success of Mr. D. would be complete. — 

 Editor. 



