146 BOARD OP AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



German carp ; what ponds are most suitable for them, and 

 whether it is advisable to encourage their introduction. 



Dr. Sturtevant. It is a pretty difficult question to decide 

 what is the best fish, because tastes differ. The land-locked 

 salmon, I think, is the best fish that swims, next to the real 

 salmon. Tiien come trout; and when you come to the ordi- 

 nary fish of our ponds and streams, I think for all public 

 purposes, the white perch has qualities which recommend 

 him. He is a fish that will destroy almost everything else. 

 He is like the crow, that we were talking about yesterday : 

 he has a good deal of malice about him. A white perch two 

 inches long in»an aquarium, will persecute and finally kill all 

 other fish that we can put in except the black bass. It is a 

 fish that bites readily, and which can be taken with a hook, 

 and is an excellent fish for lakes or for reservoirs. 



I do not know any objection to black bass. Lake Cochituate 

 is filled with them, for the purpose of clearing out the small 

 fish wliich formerly entered the conduit and passed into the 

 pipes leading the water to the city of Boston, collecting in 

 the pipes, and doing a good deal of injury. Many years ago, 

 black bass were introduced for the purpose of destroying the 

 small fish about the mouth of the conduit, and they have 

 been successful. The lake is filled with them. There are 

 very few other fish in the lake. They are in the very best 

 condition for catchiiig. They are very hungry, and they 

 grow to large size. It is only as a public fish that I esteem 

 the black bass. I think that pickerel, for a public fish, in 

 unprotected ponds, is perhaps the best fish we have; but as a 

 fisherman I despise him, 1 never go pickerel fishing. I do 

 not want him on my hook. And yet, for public purposes, in 

 ponds that are not protected, I know no better fish than the 

 pickerel. I know I am taking the unpopular side among 

 people who have studied fish, but that has been my expe- 

 rience. The pickerel and white perch are the two fish that I 

 would recommend for ponds that are not strictly protected by 

 law or by custodians. I am not at all familiar with the carp. 

 I have never seen one, even. 



