584 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



pelled by some external force. With a dip-net I took these young fish out, and 

 found that in every ease they were firmly held by a water-bug. The fish were dead, 

 and the bugs apparently had been feeding on them. I had no means of determining 

 how many of these bugs were in the pond. 



Dimmock gives several references to literature on the same subject, 

 and in the report of the United States Fish Commission for 1894 

 (1S96, page 36) it is stated that carp in the ponds at Washington suf- 

 fered from attacks of Wotonecta and JVepa. As has been said, how- 

 ever, there is little to be feared from natural enemies in the temporary 

 ponds and pens as they are conducted in this country, the greater 

 dangers arising from impurity of water and other physical conditions. 



ECONOMIC RELATIONS OF THE CARP. 



Under this heading it is proposed to consider the relation of carp to 

 aquatic vegetation, and to other fish and their spawn, as well as the 

 secondaiy questions arising from these. The discussion is, for the 

 most part, an examination of the numerous charges that have been 

 made against the fish as to the damage it does, and in this respect is 

 distinct from the succeeding chapter, which discusses the uses to 

 which carp are and may be put. In Europe the mass of the literature 

 on carp relates to its culture, but in this country it is safe to say that 

 more has been written on the present subject than on all the others 

 together. It has occupied our newspapers, our periodicals, and our 

 scientific proceedings. Although so much has been written and said, 

 however, this is nevertheless the subject on which perhaps the least is 

 definitely known; the latter fact is probably an explanation of the for- 

 mer. Many extravagant statements have been made on the one hand 

 as to the value of the carp, while on the other the English language 

 has been searched to find words .strong enough for its condemnation. 



This state of affairs has, I believe, a very simple explanation. When 

 the fish was introduced, the impression became prevalent that if one 

 obtained a few carp, dumped them into any hole containing a little 

 water which he chanced to have or could construct on his land, with- 

 out further care he would always have a bountiful supply of excellent 

 fresh fish. As recently expressed at a meeting of the American Fish- 

 eries Society, "almost every farmer had a carp pond in his front yard, 

 back } 7 ard, or barnyard, or somewhere." These expectations were far 

 in excess of what was ever claimed for the carp by its introducers, 

 and it is little wonder that the people were disappointed. As it was 

 seen that the ponds did not yield the phenomenal results expected, and 

 as the novelty wore off, they were left neglected and uncared for, so 

 that within a short time, through the agency of freshets and the under- 

 mining of embankments, the fish had gone to help stock the public 

 waters in all parts of the country. For a time after this, comparatively 

 little was heard of them, except that in local lists of fishes they grad- 



