REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. LI 



SO great a depth as to stop all movemeut of vehicles. Fortunately the 

 water was cold enough to drive the carp to the bottom of the ponds close 

 to the mud, so that not very many of the breeding fish escaped. 



March 30 an edition of 1,000 copies of Mr. Rudolph Hessel's paper on 

 the cultivation of carp was ordered from the Public Printer for distri- 

 bution to persons applying for information. This treatise was reprinted 

 In the London Fishing Gazette. 



In April, at the request of the Commissioner, Maj. W. J. Twiniug, the 

 Engineer Commissioner of the District advertised for bids for construct- 

 ing an additional carp pond. B. J. Coyle & Co. proved to be the lowest 

 bidders, and the contract was awarded to them April 13. This action 

 was in pursuance of an appropriation by the Forty-sixth Congress, second 

 session, of "$12,000 for the construction of an additional carp pond.'^ 

 Including the one in question there are now 20 acres of water devoted to 

 the cultivation of carp. The grading of the pond was completed Decem- 

 ber 28. 



During the summer, many fish born in 1879 spawned abundantly; 

 indeed, in some cases, fish of 1880 produced an abundance of fry. Su- 

 perintendent Hessel succeeded in the artificial impregnation of carp, 

 having during June many thousands in his hatching-trays. Some of 

 his young fish, only twelve and fifteen days old, acquired a length of 

 from 3 to 4 inches. 



On the 31st of May Mr. George Eckardt arrived from Germany with 

 two cases of carp-eggs. These had been sent by his father, Mr. E. Eck- 

 aidt, of Liibbinchen, with a view of testing the feasibility of transporta- 

 tion across the ocean. Unfortunately, the eggs were found to be dead 

 and covered with fungus. They were packed in ice, which probably 

 destroyed them, as they are extremely sensitive to cold. On the other 

 hand, without ice the eggs would probably have been hatched pre- 

 maturely. 



In September we were confronted with the problem of distributing 

 an enormous number of carp in small quotas to numerous applicants. 

 An ordinary 10-gallon milk-can had hitherto been found most suitable 

 for their transportation in lots of twenty-five or thirty. This method, 

 however, being expensive and not entirely satisfactory. Colonel McDon- 

 ald tried the experiment in November of shipping carp in small tin pails. 

 As the result, he found that 20 carp could be inclosed in a tin pail of C 

 quarts capacity, when half full of water, and be kept alive two or three 

 days. This led to a radical change in the methods of shipping, and a 

 great saving of expense. Sixteen pails containing 20 carp each were 

 put into a crate and sent by express almost as readily as the single 10 

 gallon can had been sent. In December the new car was brought into 

 requisition, and being loaded with carp was sent to Missouri and Texas, 

 as has been explained under that heading. 



The Arsenal Ponds. — On the 4th of June Mr. Elliot Jones reported 



