[3] CARP-CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. G61 



7. Statement of Mrs. L. E. K. Eogan, Selma, Dallas Co., Ala., Sept. 15. 1883. 



Disposition of carp received.— The carp I received last March are doiii"- iiuelv, 

 though several of them died just after their arrival, probably due to bein<>-'^hurt oil 

 the way. My pool is fed by four springs and is beautifully .situated. "^ 



Food,— I fed them every day with bread, biscuits, crackers, coarse hominy, and 

 candle-flies (caught in soap-suds near the lamp every evening), and cut-worms'fronj 

 the garden. They seem to like candle-flies and cut-worms better than the other food. 

 The large carp come to the surface to eat them. 



Growth. — Those that survived the journey have grown immensely, and are more 

 than a foot long. 



Eepeoductiox. — The last week in June I found the pool full of young fish, excetjd- 

 ingly small; now they are about 2 inches long. There seem to be three sets of them. 

 They are very gentle. I have never been able to find any eggs, but don't know how 

 to look for them. 



Miscellaneous. — I have another pool 30 by 45 feet, containing trout. The water 

 is very clear. I can see them at any time of the day. Some .500 or (00 of these trout 

 were taken from a large jiond and brought to my pool. I take great interest in lish- 

 culture. 



8. Statement of E, B. Dunlap, Boligee, Grccno Co., Ala., Jiili/ 27, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received some carp about four years ago, and 

 placed them in a pond covering one acre, which has a bottom half of black muck and 

 half of gravel and sand. A three-fourths inch stream of water enters it from an arte- 

 sian well ; it becomes very warm in summer. 



Plants. — There is a species of Bermuda grass in it, which grows vei-y high. 



Enemies. — It also contains perch, bull-frogs, and a few turtles and minnows. 



Growth. — I do not feed them, and they have produced no young that I have seen. 

 I am afraid that they are all of the same sex. I have 13 old ones, which all seem to 

 thrive, and one of them, which I weighed last October a year ago, weighed 6 pounds. 



9. Statement of Greene B. Mohley, Eutaiv, Greene Co., Ala., Sept. 11, 18-3. 



Disposition of carp received. — November 11, 1879, 1 received 21 carp, 2 of which 

 died. The remainder were put into a pond, with a muddy bottom, covering about one- 

 third of an acre, and having a depth of from 4 inches to 6 feet. The pond is formed 

 by a railroad embankment over a marsh, and cannot be drained. The marsh is caused 

 by springs. 



Plants. — The common swamp grasses grow around it. 



Enemies — I find in it some trout, an ahnndance of bream, and frogs and turtles. 



Food. — I fed them often, for the first year, with corn-bread and crackers. Since 

 then I have not fed them much. 



Growth. — I have been unable to catch any of the large ones, hut I can see them 

 occasionally ; they will weigh from 12 to 18 pounds. The young ones are of all sizes, 

 from an inch long to from 6 to 8 pounds' weight. 



Reproduction. — I do not know how many young J^hey have produced; but I have 

 eaten several hundred, commencing in 1881. 



Streams stocked. — I am satisfied that the creeks and branches are stocked below 

 this pond. I recently saw a carp 12 inches long that was caught 2 miles helo%v. 



Miscellaneous.-— The lack of a good pond, capable of being drained, has been my 

 most serious difficulty. I have now purchased an excellent pond 4^ miles from town, 

 one-quarter of a mile long, 200 yards wide, and with a f'epth varying from 4 inches 

 to thirty feet. I should like to get 20 of each variety of the carp to stock this pond. 



The success of carp in this section is assured. In a few years the carp, in my 

 opinion, will be the predominant fish here in all our ponds with muddy bottoms. 



10. Statement of James E. Webb, Greensboroiu/h, Hale Co., Ala., Jnli/ 27, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received 2 carp alive out of a lot of 2.'3 or 30 sent 

 hy express in .Tune, 1881 ; and 10 out of a second shipment in March, 1882. I got them 

 for Mr. A. F. Flynn, who put them in a pond (iO feet square, with a depth ranging 

 from 2i to 5 feet. The bottom of the pond is muddy, and some boxes of gravel 

 have been put on it. The supply of water comes fi-om a spring, and is very cold; the 

 inflowing stream is of the size of an inch. 



Plants. — Water-cress and wild grass-head eoutaining grass seed are found m the 

 pond. 



Enemies. — There are no other fish in it, and I have tried to keep it clear of frogs. 

 I have had difiiculty in protecting the carp from hawks. 



Food. — They are given corn-bread, about half done, and worms once every day. 



