[31J 



CARP-CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. (IS! I 



i;U. Statement of Quincy Bzirgesser, Clayton, Adams Co., Ill, Anf/. 11, 1884. 



Growth.— The 10 carp, about 2| inches long wheu received December U), 1882 were 

 on September 20, 188H, from 14 to 16 inches long. ' ' 



Edible qualities.— The other day Mr. H. R. Matter and myself repaired to liis 

 pond with hook and line, determined to test the eating qualities of carp. After about 

 a^ half liour's wait for a bite I succeeded in landing a very iino carp wei'rhin"- 4* 

 pounds and about 20 ini^hcs in length. It was as beautiful a tish as you would wish 

 to look at, it being one of the lot received in November. 1882. We had the tish pre- 

 ])ared in good style and invited a few guests to pass judgment on its merits. Suffice 

 it to say that the fish was pronounced by every one to be of as fine a tlavor as any 

 tish, far surpassing the buHalo, or even the much-souglit-for catfish ; and to my taste 

 it was more palatable than even the salmon or halibut of the East. I am perfectly 

 satisfied if this one was a fair specimen of the carp. I do not ask any better fish for 

 my use, and this was the decision of all who i)artook of it. 



132. Statement of S. P. Bartlett, Quincy, Adams Co., III., Sept. 18, 1883. 



Carp in the rivers. — There have been a number of carp taken from the Missis- 

 sippi with hook and line and. by seine, several above Quincy, and a few days ago one 

 near Hannibal in the Sue River. The latter weighed a little over 8| pounds and was 

 of the mirror variety. Mr. Abner Foster, of Beardstown, 111., on the Illinois Kiver, 

 writes me as follows: "Have you at anytime planted carp in the Illinois Kiver? 

 My reasons for asking is that one was taken from the river near here weighing about 

 8 pounds. I procured it alive and put it in my pond." As wo value carp too highly 

 to exjjerimeut with by putting them into the river, those taken must have escaped 

 from live boxes or from i)onds. It nevertheless demonstrates the practicability of 

 eventually stocking our streams with this wonderful fish. 



Three years ago Illinois secured some of the first carp distributed by the United 

 States Fish Ccmiraissiou. Since that time there have been built, or arranged for their 

 accommodation, nearly 2,000 ponds, a large number of them being stocked, and some 

 already have produced their first increase ; and if the large number of letters received 

 by the Commissioners is to be regarded as evidence, very few of those applying for 

 and receiving the fish have had any complaint to make. The almost universal testi- 

 mony is that the fish have grown beyond the most sanguine expectations, and it 

 seems to have mattered little whether they have been planted in northern or south- 

 ern counties; they have as readily adapted themselves to the waters and at once made 

 I hemselves at home. 



A gentleman residing in Henry County writes: 



" I received from the United States Fish Commission, in December, 1881, some Ger- 

 man carp. I placed them in a large pond, used principally for making ice. During 

 the rainy months the <lani gave way, and I su])p()se(l my tish were all gone, but upon 

 draining off the water left in small holes I found 3 of them, measuring from 16 

 to 18 inches long, weighing from 2^ to 4 [)ounds each." 



Another letter from Adams County, under date of September 15, 1882, says: 



"The carp you sent me in Deceml)er, 1861, when receiycd were but from 2 to 24^ 

 inches in length. Now they measure from 14 to Ki inches. They conies to the surface , 

 whenever I go to feed them, and, in fact, I sometimes think they know my step. 

 They eat almost anything of a vegetable nature. I would not part with my fisli for 

 any nuisonable amount." 



And still another, from .Jackson County, dated October 15, 1882, says: 



" The fish received from the State fish conunission were placed in the pond, in good 

 shape, December 15, 1881. I had not seen them, as I wrote you, up to Sei)tember 1, 

 not having fed them daily, but having, as you suggested, placed a sack containing 

 shipstuft' in fjond, supposed they had sufficient food. Judge my surprise, upon 

 making an examination of my pond by drawing a seine, to find that the earj) Avere 

 from 20 to 21 inches in length, beauties indeed, and to find all tin; old car|i there and 

 my pond full of what I suppose are young carp. As my ]>ond was clear of other 

 fish they must be such. Put me down as being no longer skeptical as regards big fish 

 stories." 



The fish noted in the above extracts are all now but little over a year old, none ftf 

 t liem having been planted before December, 1881, and when it is taken into (•f)nsi<lera- 

 tion that the fish, as a rule, do not grow during the winter montiis, it follows that 

 t his remarkable increase in size must have taken i>lace in less than i) montiis, showing 

 an average growth of from 14i to 15 inches in that length of time, even in the iiortliern 

 ]>art of the State. 



133. Statement of the editor of the Quincy fVhif/, Quincy, Adama Co., III.. Scjit. 10, 1-84. 



DisPOSlTiox OF CAKP KECEIVED— About 2 years ago 60 young carp were pl.inted in 

 the large ])ond at Highland Park, when none of them weni over 5 inches long. This 

 pond was dry a short tim<; before the carp were deposited therein. It is only such a 

 j)ond as any farmer can have. 



H. Mis. 68 44 



