72G REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [68] 



31 i*. Statement of Jlenj. iK Palmer, Sandy Spring, Monttjornvrii Co., Md., July 21, 1883. 



DisrosiTiON OF CAiJP RECEIVED. — In November, 1880, I received 50 scale carp aud 

 20 leather carp. The poud is supplied with spriug water at an average rate of 6 gal- 

 lons per minute. At noon of this date its temjierature is 88° Fahr. at surface and 70'^ 

 at the bottom. The area of the pond is ^ of an acre, aud its depth from 6 inches to 

 7 feet. The bottom is muddy. 



Plants. — It has in it cat-tails and marsh lilies, also a border of marsh grasses. 



Enemies. — There are no other fish, but there are plenty of frogs, and a few turtles 

 recently arrived. 



Food. — I feed the carp as often as convenient with bread and vegetable scraps 

 from the tal)le, boiled corn aud wheat, and also wheat screenings. 



Growth. — There ought to be 2:5 old carp left, as I have iised 47 of the original 70. 

 They are aViout 18 inches long, aud from 21 to 4 jiounds in weight. Some may l)e 

 larger than this. The leather carp are larger than the others. The young are from 

 i inch to 9 inches in length. 



Reproduction. — Carp appear to spawn from May to October, Mine first spawned 

 in the summer of 1882, at 2 years of ago; and they spawned again this summer. 

 They rei)rodiiced by thousands and thousands, so that the young fry are too thick to 

 thrive ; and I am giving the latter to all who will come for them. My pond has been 

 eminently successful. 



Disposition or young. — I have used 47 of the old ones, aud find the scale variety 

 first-rate eating, I have stocked my neighbors' i)onds, aud let the boys fish in mine. 

 I have also put some of the young car]) in the Northwest Branch. 



Difficulties. — My principal difficulty has been to get rid of the excess of young. 



320. Statement of Edward Stahltr, Sandy Sjtring, Montgomery Co., Md., Sept. 20, 1882. 



Enemies. — I found it difficult to get an ice pond to liold water, owing to the dep- 

 redations of nniskrats, honeycombing the banks. My last pond had to be lined in- 

 side with boards set on end and below the depth of the water, pi'obal>ly 100 or more 

 yards around the pond. A few muskrats were caught in steel trai)s, but that did not 

 abate the nuisance. We caught more feet than rats, for they Avould gnaw otf the 

 feet, leaving them in the trap, aud escape. I subsei|U('ntly destroyed them by the 

 use of sulphur and saltpeter, finely pulverized, used togeihcr as an cxjilosive. 



There an^ tliret^ other drawbacks to lish-culture, but of easy remedy, namely: the 

 turtle, the kingfisher, and the water-snake. For the destruction of these I use ex- 

 jilosive shells of my own construction in a breeeh-loading rille, but which are not 

 safe to load in a muzzle-loader. They explode into fragments on striking, even on the 

 water. These exjjlosive shells are admirably adapted to the purpose of extermination 

 for these pests, and also to <lestroy snakes in their dens. It is not safe to use solid 

 lialls, except in very isolated situations, as they glance on striking the water, and 

 nuiygohalfa mile or more beyond. I know this is olten the case in shooting deer 

 Avhile swimnung, or other objects in the water. We have destroyed a score of turtles 

 in this way. I am satisfied they feed on the spawn and very young fish. The king- 

 fisher is an arrant poacher. A neighbor tells me that he has killed from 10 to 12 at 

 his pond, aud that they were stuffed with young carp. 



Food. — My carp were occasionally fed in the past two months, some three or four 

 times a week, on scraps of wheat and corn-bread, soft corn, boiled potatoes, fruit 

 parings, &,c.. 



Growth. — I received my carp 2 years ago last April. They are now about the size 

 of herring, from 9 to 10 inches long. I caught 1 recently which in<'asuied fully 17 

 inches in length, ") inches in width, and 2| inches across the back, aud weighed 3 

 pounds. This carp is as large as the ordinary shad, aud yet not 2i years old from the 

 spawn. The rapid growth of carp is wonderful, far exceeding either trout or bass. 

 They are strict vegetarians, aud rarely, if at all, feed on animal food. They never feed 

 on their own fry, as the bass does indiscriminately on other small fish. There are well 

 authenticated accounts of carp in European ponds, covering from 10 to 2,000 acres, 

 living to a great age aud attaining a weight of from GO to 80 pounds, aud raised for 

 marl\et like other products of the farm. 



How TO catch carp. — With the proi)er kind of bait, and in the hands of an expert, 

 carp is readily taken, aud is as gamy a fish as I ever caught with tly or bait. I re- 

 cently caught one, a fair sample of the lot, with a barbless hook. 



Miscellaneous. — That carp will pay well without labor or capital expended, I am 

 fully satisfied. Any one who has an ice pond may in 2 or 3 years have an abumlant 

 supply of fresh fish for the table, not to speak of the good sjjort which they may enjoy. 

 The carp appears to be exactly suited to our ice ponds, where the water becomes 

 very warm in summer and wherc^ in winter they can seek protection by hibernating 

 in the mud at the bottom. 



