712 EEPORT OF COMMISBiONEE OP FISH AKD FISHERIES. [54] 



261. Statement of Jamea Burton, Greenwood, Baltimore Co., Md., July 28, 1883. 



Disposition of carp kecei\':ed. — In February, 1881, I received 20 carp, but I Lad 

 not finished my pond and so lost most of them. Afterwards I received 98. The pond 

 is ])erfectly round, measures 80 feet across, and is 4 feet deep. The bottom is of clay, 

 with sandy spots in it, and is fed Ijy a strong running spring. The water is cold in the 

 milk-house, but when it empties into the pond it gains heat and becomes much warmer 

 than the streams. I want to make another pond to i)ut the large carp in this fall. 

 They are a splendid fish. 



Plants. — Plantain and blue grass grow on the edges of the bank. The water is 

 too deep for any grass to grow in it. There are no other fish but carp in it. We shoot 

 all the frogs we find. No turtles can get there. 



Food. — -We boil potatoes for them, and give them stale bread and refuse from the 

 table. Wo feed them every 3 or 4 days. 



Growth and ueproduction. — I do not Icnow how many of the original lot I have 

 left, as the water is stirred up during the spawning season. I caught one last fall 14^ 

 inches long and 8^ inches around. Some of them grow faster than others. There are 

 some young; they go in schools. The spawn of last season were from 3 to 4 inches 

 long in the fall. 



262. Statement of TV. H. Shirley, Earrisonville, Baltimore Co., Md., Aug. 19, 18S3. 



Disposition of carp RECErvrED.— I received 55 carp in November, 1880. I have 

 kept them in a pond of running spring water, which is 70 feet long, 25 feet wide, and 

 4 feet deep, with a sandy and muddy bottom. Enough water flows through it to fill 

 a 4-inch pipe. A i)art of the pond 50 feet long was made 5 years ago, and I have added 

 20 feet since. 



Enemies. — It does not contain any other kind of fish, but it contains ordinary frogs. 



Food. —We gave the carp corn and corn dough once a day. 



Growth. — Last fall, when I lost them, there were some that would have weighed 

 over a pound. I believe that I had over a hundred altogether then. 



Ediule qualities. — The next day we had some fried, and they were the nicest fish 

 I ever tasted. I would not have taken $25 for the lot 1 had, for I i>rized them very 

 highly. The carp is as fine a fish as I want to raise or eat. 



DiKiiCDLTiES. — At the time of the Oriole last fall, while my wife and I were in 

 Baltimore, the man whom I had employed to work on the enlargement of my pond, 

 not knowing that the fish were in it, cut a ditch and turned all the water and carp 

 out. He discovered some of them, and, being scared, brought them to the house, and 

 then left before I got home, although if he had put them back in the pond he could 

 have saved them. 



263. Statement of Andrew Reese, Lutherville, Baltimore Co., Md., July 20, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — About 3 years ago I received about 50 young 

 carp 2 inches in length, and placed them in a pond of fresh water supplied from a spring 

 and emptying into Roland Run. This pond is about 30 by 60 feet, with a shelving 

 ing shore and a muddy bottom. Its greatest depth is 4 feet. It is about 11 miles 

 from the city of Baltimore and about 3 miles above Lake Roland, which supplies Bal- 

 timore with water. It was early in the winter that I stocked the pond, it having 

 previously been cleaned of all impurities. Unfortunately a heavy freshet broke 

 down the embankment of the lower end of the pond and washed all the fish into Lake 

 Roland. Again, a second time, after fixing the pond, as I thought, more secm-ely, I 

 stocked it with about GO young scale carp, and they too went down the stream into 

 the lake. If 1 had a suitable pond I would not part with my carji. 



Plants and enemies. — The water was kept free from grasses, as it was an ice 

 pond. There were no other fish, and no frogs, turtles, nor other reptiles in it. 



Food. — I fed the carp once a week with water-crackers, and occasionally with 

 Avorms. 



Growth. — I was surprised to find that the first lot of fish, in 6 months after they had 

 been planted in the pond, had grown to the length of 7 inches. 



Lake Roland stocked. — Lake Roland must by this time be pretty well stocked, 

 as I have lately seen some fine specimens that were taken from it. 



264. Statement of Thomas V. Pdcliardson, Phcenix, Baliimore Co., Md., July 26, 1883. 



Disposition of carp RKCEm:D. — In the autumn of 1880 I received 50 carp. I 

 have kept them in a pond about 200 feet long and 35 feet wide, with an average depth 

 of 3 feet and a muddy bottom. The pond is supjjlied with water from several springs 

 situated from 50 to 200 yards distant, which yield about 3,000 or 4,000 gallons daily. 



