[45] CARP-CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 708 



212. Staiement of C. T. Allen, I'rinceton, Caldwell Co., Ky., Amj. 2(i, 18^1. 



Disposition of carp received.— The 20 carp, received iu good order December 15 

 1880, 1 placed iu an excellent pond of good water. Tlie pond is a deep one and froin 

 :30 to 40 yards in diameter. ' 



Food. — I did not feed the carp. 



Growth — I seined the pond day before yesterday, and caught a carp Avlilih meas- 

 ured by the rule 14| inches in length and weighed from 1| to 2 pounds. I caught 

 only 1, but am conlident the remainder are alive and doing well. 



213. Statement of J. H. Bitchey, BurJcesville, Cumherland Co., Ky., Jan. 1 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — About this time last year I received a can of 

 carp. My pond was dug in a marshy place, with a bottom' composed of a stift' blue 

 clay, 8 or 10 inches deep, which became soft after being uuder water since last April. 

 The pond is fed by a spring, is about 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide by 100 feet lon<'. 

 The stream at this time will furnish 500 gallons of water in 24 hours, and the water 

 is running over the dam. The pond in which I now keep them is a new one with 

 stiff yellow-clay bottom and sides. 



Food. — During the warm weather they were fed regularly on bread, wheat, and 

 corn, for which they came to the top of the water. Since tne 1st of October I have 

 not seen any of them, but 1 still continued to give them about one- fifth as much feed 

 as they had previously. It seems they had not eaten any of it, and I suppose there 

 was about i bushel of food in the pond. 



Growth. — Three of my carp weighed 2| pounds each ; others are much larger, one 

 weighing 4 pounds. 



Difficulties. — A few days ago I discovered a few of them sick, floating on the 

 water. I caught them and placed them in another pond, and in a few hours they 

 seemed to be well. Others were discovered to be sick dunog the day. I then drained 

 the pond as rapidly as I could, and at the close of the second day had the water all 

 out, but by this time all my lish were sick and three of them liad died. I cut open 

 the dead ones, but failed to find anything wrong. Thej' were entirely empty, not one 

 particle of food or mud being in them. Could it be possible that tbc decayed food in 

 ♦he pond poisoned them, or was the poison generated in this blue mud iu the pond ? 



214. Statement of Alex. Jaffrey, Lexington, Fayette Co., Ky., Sept. 20, 1883. 



Difficulties. — Musk-rats destroyed my dam, leaving so little water that the heron 

 and minks gobbled the young carp before they were 2 inches long. 



215. Statement of James H. Mulligan, Lexington, Fayette Co., Ky., July 25, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — Three years ago I received 30 carp, and in the 

 autumn of 1882, 10 more. My pond is circular in form, 100 feet in diameter, 30 inches 

 in depth, and has a rockj' bottom with a deposit of from 4 to 6 inches of soft mud. 

 The water is from limestone and is hard. It comes from a spriug 50 feet distant at 

 the rate of from 40 to 60 gallons per minute. Its temperature in summer is from 40° 

 to 45°. 



Plants. — It contains no plants, except green moss growing from the bottom and 

 the fine roots of willows which stand on the banks. 



Enemies. — It contains some frogs, some white and black perch, which it seems im- 

 possible to exclude. 



Food. — At very irregular intervals in summer I feed them on A^egetable scrap.s, 

 boiled corn, &c. 



Growth. — I still have 11 of the first lot, which will weigh from 6 to 8 pounds each. 

 Those of the second lot are from 6 to 8 inches in length. 



Difficulties. — I am afraid that the eggs, like those of the trout which I had pre- 

 viously tried, would not fecundate in the cold limestone water. 



216. Statement of William Warfield, Lexington, Faxjette Co., Ky., Aug. 2, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received 8 carp in June, 1880, and 21 in No- 

 vember, 18H0. My ponds are 150 yards long by 40 feet wide and 16 feet deep, with 

 a muddy bottom. The ponds are fed by a constant stream of water from 4 to 24 

 inches, according to the season. They contain no plants. 



Enemies. — They contain the ordinary perch and croppy. Cominon mud-turtles and 

 frogs are occasionally found in them. 



Growth.— I have caught with a seine several of the old ones. Tli(\v grow very las( 

 and weigh from 12 to 15 pounds each. 1 have seen no young ones. 



