[17] CARP-CULTURE IN THE UxNITED STATES. (m"* 



Repuoductiox.— The 1,G12 scalo carp of last year's s|)a\vuiiijr wei'rhod Iroin 5 

 ounces to 1 ]>onnd each. The niuiiber of carp hatched this year is o,70().'^ 



MiscELi-AXEOUS.— A peculiar circumstance attcndin-^r thc'drainiui; of Jheiuind was 

 the absence of stran;,r(> Ush. Last year and tlic year hcfoie hundreds of stran<'ers 

 such as catlish, sunlish, perch, eels, frogs, Are., were found, wliercjis this year we 

 found but 2 ])erch, 1 eel, and 1 fro<;-, ail the others bein<v carp. I cannot account for 

 this circumstance, as no screen was placed over the suiii)ly pipes. The lar<'e carp 

 appeared to have gained very little in weight during the year. '^ 



74. Statement of Elliott Jones, Arsenal Grounds, Washinf/ton, I). C, June 2 IHHl. 



Disposition of carp keceivep.— The 1-acre pond at the Arsenal was comideted 

 in the iall of 1877, and in May, 1S7S. 1 j)laced in it 48 of the scale carji inijiorted from 

 Germany and measuring from 'A to 4 inches and weighing jierhaps as many oinices. 

 A second, ])ond, covering ^ acre, was constructed in July, 1880, and in this I put 

 leather Ciir)i, weighing from 1,",^ to 2-,',; pounds. 



Gkowtii axd kkpkoductiox.— The l-acre. ])ond was not drained nntil May, 1879, 

 when itwasfonnd that the carj) had grown womh'rfnlly in size, having attained a 

 length of from 10 to If) inches and a weight of from 2 to :{ ])ounds each in one year. 

 Half of thes(3 fish were placed in the Monument ponds and the other 24 replaced in 

 the Arsenal pond. 



In November, 1879, the pond was again drained and 6.054 young taken out with 

 the 24 lireeders, which now Aveighed from 2J to 4-i<^(; pounds! Two thousand and 

 nineteen young, with 18 original carp, were rejjlaced in the pond. I draiuiid the 

 large ])ond again Iti October, 18S0, and found that the original carp had increased 

 little in ueight, though the carp spawned the ])revi(Mis year had attained a weight 

 of from f) ounces to 1^- ])ounds. Six thousand four hundred and forty-two young 

 carp were taken out, and all but r),700 and the several hundred lost by careless 

 handling were replaced in the pond. The small pond has never been drained yet. 

 According to my records, the following iish should now l)e in the ymnds, exclusive of 

 the young tish spawned this season: In the large pond, ir> scale carp (bre(;ders), 

 weighing irom 2 to 3^ pounds, and 1,422 scale carj) (spawn of 1879), weighing from .'i 

 ounces to IJ pounds; in the small pond, 6 leather carp (breeders), weighing from l-y*^ 

 to 2^^ pounds, 204 scale carp (spawn of 1879), and 62 mirror carp (spawn of 1879), 

 weighing about 5 ounces each. 



DisPOSiTiox of yocxg. — Of the young of 1879 there were 4,035 distributed to vari- 

 ous parties, and 5,700 young of 1880 were placed in the Monument ponds. 



DiiFicULTlES. — Three of the original carp were lost by jum])ing out of the tank 

 when I drained the pond in November, 1879. When the pond was drained in Octo- 

 ber, 1880, 3 original carp were missing, and several liuiidrcd young lost by careless 

 handling. 



75. Statement of Thomas r. JHorgan, Washhujlon, D. C, Ajyril 21, 1884. 



Carp in the Potomac. — A carp weighing from 12 to 14 ]iouuds was captured a few 

 ilays ago in the Potomac River, near the mills, abo\(^ the A(|ucduct Bridge. It prob- 

 ably escaped from the Government carp ponds at tlu^ tiuus of tlu; ilood in 1881. 



76. Statement of A. S. I'ratl, Washington, D. C, Juli/ 27, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — The 20 carj) I received in May, 1881, and the 20 

 in 1882, I put in my })ond at Rock Phion Si)rings, Frederick County, Virginia. 



Enemies. — The muskrats have so cut holes in the banks that all the young have 

 escaped into a mill-pond. 



Food. — The carp in the mill-pond receive much refuse from the hotel. There are 

 still some old carp in th(\ pond. 



77. Statement of John A. Ryder, JVashiuffton, I). C, Xov. 27, 1883. 



Carp carnivorous. — The carp examined to-day was fouml to coidain rijic milt 

 with active spermatozoa. About a dozen small fish were taken from the iutcstiuc, 

 each one about an inch to 1^ inches long when alive. They seemed to be young pcr- 

 (oids, or some small fresh-water Iish. 



78. Statement of Charles TV. Scudder, Washinf/ton, D. ('., Jan. 1, 1-^4. 



Vitality. — Wishing to examine some scale carp anatomically, on January 2d I 

 visited the central hatching station of the United States Fish Commission in the 

 Armory building, and called for dead carp, aa they would answer my purpose as well 



