542 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. [Tfi] 



The spawniug carp are selected iu autumu during the fisheries in tlie 

 stock ponds, and are, during winter, kept in special tanks, where they 

 receive little or no food, for they should not be fat, but onlj^ fully ma- 

 tured ; and they are, therefore, generally taken from poor ponds. It is 

 not very difficult to distinguish the male from the female carp, still it 

 may require a little practice. 



Horak says: "Fishermen atIio are not able to determine the sex of a 

 fish at once are in the habit of squeezing the genital parts until they 

 yield either milt or roe. This method is very injurious to the production 

 of young fish. An experienced pond culturist will, at the first glance, 

 distinguish a male from a fenuile carp, even when they are only one 

 year old. The milter, or male fish, has a depression or concave place 

 in its genital parts, while the spawner, or female fish, has a protuber- 

 ance or convex place."* 



The aperture oi' the navel also seems to be somewhat larger aiul redder 

 in the female than in the male. 



Eeimann characterizes good spawning carp as follows: "They should 

 have a long stretched shape, have a bright, shining, yellow color, and 

 be entirely free from bluish or reddish spots; nor should they have lost 

 any of their scales. The best age is between five and seven years, and 

 the proper weight four to five pouiuls."f Horak says: "Spawning 

 carp should be raised in medium ponds, weight not less than four and 

 not more than six pounds, and not be younger than four and not older 

 than six years. Their shape should be long-stretched, and they should 

 be well grown and l)uilt, the head small and the body long. The 

 spawner should be well rounded, but not too plump; the milter should 

 have a bright, shining belly, hard to the touch. xVll the scales should 

 be perfect. Every year the scales grow tiiicker, a new leatlet or layer 

 being added, which may be easiily distinguished through a magnifying 

 glass. Fish with thick scales are old."* 



Tn making the selection, care should also be taken that all the spawn- 

 ing carp are of the same age, so that young should not pair with old 

 fish, as a great deal will depend on this. If lish of unequal age a*e 

 l^aired one may look for delay in the })roduction of the young fry, or for 

 young lish of very unequal growth. On a systenuitic pond farm where 

 fish of every age are raised iu separate ponds and are developed into 

 marketable fish in certain regular and well-defined periods, and where 

 books are kept for every pond, there will be no difficulty in making the 

 l)roper selection of spawning carp. As, nevertheless, the growth of 

 carp will be unequal, esi)ecially on large pond farms, those fish which 

 have been retarded in their growth will either have to stay another year 

 in separate ponds or they will have to be placed in stock ponds and 

 stay there two, and perhaps three, years. No experienced pond culturist 



* Horak, Teichicirthschaft, 1869. 



t Reimaun, Praktischer Abriss des Fischereiwesens, 1804. 



