128 Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



One of the great advantages in raising carp is, that they 

 feed largely upon the vegetable and waste matter that nat- 

 urally grows in the ponds and streams. Carp eat up tons and 

 tons of what might be called waste in the form of various water 

 plants common in most Kansas waters. These fish are very 

 rapid growers, and it frequently happens that five or ten 

 pounds of carp can be raised where it is possible to raise but 

 one or two pounds of other fish, such as the crappie or Black 

 bass. The carp are undoubtedly a very useful fish when prop- 

 erly understood and handled. At any rate, we have them in 

 our streams, and it will not be possible to get rid of them. It 

 is the purpose and will be part of the business of the Depart- 

 ment of Fish and Game to study them with the idea of making 

 the very best possible use of them, either directly, as food for 

 human beings, or indirectly, by making them serve as food 

 for other fish.* 



Food Habits. 



In addition to various kinds of growing vegetable matter, 

 the carp seem to be fond of all kinds of grains and seeds. In 

 the examination of the contents of their stomachs we have 

 found such grains as corn, wheat, oats, kafir corn ; and among 

 the seeds of wild plants, the elm, smart weed, foxtail grass, 

 sourdock, the sticktights, and the old-fashioned beggarlice 

 were among the varieties found. As many as from 1000 to 

 5000 seeds have been taken from a single stomach of a carp. 

 The examination of over 1200 stomachs of the carp did not 

 .show a single little fish or minnow, and no spawn or fish eggs 

 were discovered except in a few instances where a small num- 

 ber of carp eggs were found in the food contents of some of 

 the stomachs ; these we have reason to believe had been sucked 

 up with other food, as stated before, while the fish were feed- 

 ing on their own spawning grounds. 



Live minnows placed in a pool nineteen feet in diameter, 

 with water sixteen inches deep, were not eaten by the carp, 

 even though the latter were deprived of their regular food for 

 several days at a time. When the minnows were killed and 

 thrown on the bottom of the pool they were sometimes taken 

 by the carp. Minnows fastened on hooks so that they could 

 move about but little were also sometimes taken. The mouth 

 of the carp is not properly constructed for catching live min- 

 nows. When small pieces of fish and dead minnows were fed 

 with com the carp would take the corn before they touched the 

 minnows, and if there was sufficient corn for them they would 

 not take the minnows or pieces of fish. They were very fond 



* This department has been criticized a good deal because it has pre- 

 sumed to offer something in defense of the humble carp. We only mean to 

 Tae fair to this fish and make the best possible use of it. We may in the 

 future publish a special bulletin on the carp. Meantime we presume cer- 

 tain critics will continue to harp, and the carp will continue to carp. 



