THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 683 



As regards the culture of the carp in this country, we find that, 

 although there was for a few ^'^ears an enormous demand for the young 

 fish — hundreds of thousands of which were yearly distributed free by 

 the United States Fish Commission and by many of the state com- 

 missions — their culture was soon abandoned in nearly all cases and 

 the fish allowed to escape into the open waters of the vicinity. There 

 are a number of reasons to account for this. People were expecting 

 too much. They rushed into carp culture in entire ignorance of the 

 conditions requisite for its successful operation, and, such being the 

 case, it is no wonder that they were disappointed in the results and 

 that their attempts were failures. In the second place, there was also 

 a general disappointment in the qualities of the carp as a table fish. 

 Undoubtedly, as in the case of its culture, too much had been 

 expected, though perhaps not without some justification. Still, the 

 bulletins that had been published and distributed made frequent men- 

 tion of the muddy flavor of the carp when grown under unfavorable 

 conditions, and emphasized the necessity of keeping such fish for a 

 time in clear water before killing them. Then, too, the fish were 

 often eaten at the wrong season, during the spring and summer 

 months, when their flesh is admittedly poorer in quality than in the 

 fall and winter. This is true of most fish that live in rather shallow 

 and sluggish waters, and even black bass are seldom caught and eaten 

 at these seasons. Perhaps even more important was the matter of 

 cooking. As has been mentioned in the body of the report, it is gen- 

 erally conceded that carp should be cooked in special ways, and the 

 Germans especially have many elaborate dishes which they prepare 

 from its flesh. Most of those who tried the fish here cooked it as 

 thev were accustomed to cook our native fishes, and decided that it did 

 not compare favorably with these, though, according to the statements 

 published by Smiley (1886), many appeared to be very enthusiastic 

 about it. Finally, another important factor which probably led to the 

 abandonment of pond culture in many cases was the increasing abun- 

 dance of carp in the rivers and other open waters. It was found that 

 what fish were wanted could be obtained with less trouble from the 

 open waters than they could be raised. 



The whole question was admirably summed up in the Report of the 

 Michigan Fish Commissioners for 1884-1886 (Michigan, 1887, pp. 41, 

 42). This report not onl}'^ contained much cool-headed advice to those 

 who were contemplating launching into carp culture, but was almost a 

 prophecy of the outcome of the introduction of carp into the country. 

 After insisting that the carp will not be a success unless properly cared 

 for, the report continues: 



From the fact that carp could be successfully grown m warm and muddy waters, it 

 was inferred that they would be just the fish to plant in our comparatively shallow 

 lakes throughout the State, and from the published accounts of their amazing fertil- 



