42* REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



more iSrortheru trout, and capable of being kept and cultivated in ponds. 

 In the carp tliis desideratum is auiply met, with the additional advan- 

 tage that the same water will furnish a nuich larger amount of fish-food 

 in the aquatic plants, roots, seeds, &c., to be found, while feeding may 

 be accomplished bj^ means of leases, seeds, pieces of cabbage, and 

 lettuce, by crumbs of bread, or by boiled corn and potatoes, or other 

 cheap subttances. Of course, amoug fishes, as among land-animals, sus- 

 tenance is derived either primarily or secondarily from the vegetable 

 kingdom. The carnivorous trout and black bass find their food in the 

 form of the Cyprinidcc or other fishes, or insects and worms, which 

 either directly or indirectlj' have been fed from plants. In the case 

 of these fish, therefore, we change, first, the vegetable substance into 

 animal, and feed the animal to the carnivorous fish, to a very great 

 disadvantage. In the case of the carp, the plant substance goes directly 

 to the formatioA of the eatable fish, and j^roduces a much larger yield 

 of flesh. 



The growth of the carp, in view of its sluggish, semi-domestic nature, 

 is very rai)id, and it is not at all uncommon for the fish to attain a 

 weight of two or even three pouuds by the end of the second year, 

 this dependiug somewhat upon circumstances. In the coldest regions 

 the fish buries itself in the mud during the winter, and of course expe- 

 riences no growth during this time of seclusion. In more southern por- 

 tions of the United States this hibernation would not take place, and 

 the fish by feeding throughout the entire year would experience a pro- 

 portional increase of weight. 



There is no ditch, or pond, or mill-dam, or any muddy, boggy spot 

 capable of being converted into a pond of more or less size, that will not 

 answer for this fish. Except for unforeseen casualties, I fully believe 

 that within ten years to come this fish will become, through the agency 

 of the United States Fish Commission, widely known throughout the 

 country and esteemed in proportion. 



The earlier reports of the Fish Commission contain accounts of what 

 has already been done in the matter of introducing the carp, and the 

 results of several unsuccessful or unsatisfactory trials are recorded. 

 Kot discouraged, however, by failure, the experiment has been con- 

 tinued, and I am happy to announce as a result that a sufficient supply 

 of the three principal varieties has been secured. 



The first exijerimeut by Mr. Hessel during the present year, or rather 

 dui-ing the winter of 187G-'77, was not successful, the fish being all 

 destroyed in consequence of a storm of unusual severity to which the 

 vessel was exposed in its trip from Bremen to Baltimore. He, however, 

 immediately returned to Europe, bringing a supply of fish to New York 

 in the month of May. There being no suitable locality under the imme- 

 diate direction of the United States Fish Commission, arrangements 

 were made with Mr. T. B. Ferguson and the commissioners of Druid Hill 

 Park for their accommodation in ponds i^rejjared expressly for their re- 



