CARP, DA CE AND MINNO W. 413 



And when the timorous Trout I wait 

 To take, and he devours my Bait. 

 How small, how poor a thin,q; I find 

 Will captivate a greedy Mind ; 



And when none bite, the Wise I praise, 



Whom false Allurements ne'er betrays. 



If (ioo intent on Sport) I fast. 

 Good Fortune gives me repast ; 

 My Friend it serves me to invite. 

 In whom I more than that delight ; 



Who comes more welcome to my Dish 



Than to my Angle was my Fish. 



Not only must we recognize their claim to a place in our esteem, but we 

 must, in our far-reaching plans for the preservation of life in our waters, 

 provide for them, not only for themselves, but for the sake of the common 

 species which are dependent upon them for food. 



These fishes are of importance also for bait, and an excellent essay upon 

 the use of minnows for bait, written by Mr. D. W. Cross, was printed in 

 the American Angler for April, 1883. 



The Asiatic Carp is the king of the Cyprinoids. The tribe takes its 

 name in fact from the genus Cyprimis, of which the Carp is the best known 

 form. Linne thus described it in 1758 in his " System of Nature:" 

 Nobilis piscis sapius piscinis cdiicatus, circa anno 1600 in Angliam intro- 

 ductiis. We all have heard the old saying, that turkies, carp, hops, pickerel 

 and beer came into England all in one year, which is by no means a 

 statement of fact. It was known in England as early as 1696, when if 

 was alluded to in the " Boke of St. Albans" as "a dayntous fysshe, but 

 there ben but few in England." It came to Denmark in 1660, and to 

 Sweden in 1560, and was cultivated in Germany and France as early as 

 1258, in Austria in 1227. Cassiodorus in the sixth century spoke of the 

 Carpa of the Danube as a costly fish of delicate flavor, and supj^lied to 

 the tables of princes. No one knows when or how it came to Euroi)e 

 from its original homes in Persia, China and the far east, but it seems 

 probable that it moved by slow stages, from i)ond to pond, and from tribe 

 to tribe, the beginning of the mo\ement dating back beyond the beginning 

 of the Christian era. 



The acclimation of the Asiatic Carp in America has been wonderfully 

 successful. As it often hajipens, the conditions here seem to be more 

 favorable than in Europe, and in our southern waters, color, activity and 

 growth continue throughout the entire )-ear. the fishes soon attain a 

 remarkable size. 



