734 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [76] 



Reproduction. — There must have been several thousaud youug ones. After they 

 get to be from 5 to 6 inches in length we cannot see them any more, I have never 

 weighed any of them. 



DiP^ncuLTiES. — My pond is surrounded by low lands which once a year, or oftener 

 when there arc very heavy rains, get flooded over to the dej^th of 18 inches or more; 

 consequentlj^, the fish can be, and I have no doubt are, carried to the Antietam Creek, 

 and are lost to me. 



344. Statement of II. C. Loose, Hageratown, Washington Co., Md., Sept. 6, 1883. 



Disposition of cakp received. — May 13, 1881, I received 50 scale carp, but the 

 weather was so verv warm that only 34 were living. I received 99 more, December 

 5, 1881, all living. 



I have kept them in a pond J of an acre in extent, with a depth of from an inch to 

 4 or 4^ feet, sloping to the under drain corner, after Rudolph Hessel. It has a marly 

 bottom, with no rock. The amount of water flowing through it is usually about an 

 inch, but I can run from i an inch to 10 inches of it through the sieves in a trough 14 

 inches wide. The water is slightly cooler than river or creek water, coming from a 

 stream fed by s]nings, of which the most remote is 10 miles away, and the nearest is 

 within half a mile. 



Plants. — The pond contains no water plants nor grasses, except one Avater-lily, 

 Nvtumhimn specioaum. Other Njimplicea were planted, but failed to grow. 



Enemies. — It contains some suckers, who.se eggs must have washed through the 

 screens ; also a few " skill-x)ots," and, possibly, a few frogs. I am troubled with musk- 

 rats, and, occasionally, a lurge fish-hawk. I don't know whether "skill-pots" hurt, 

 but try to kill all I can. There are no snajiping-turtles. 



Food. — We feed the carp about twice a week during the growing season, say from 

 May to November; principally with cracked corn, unsifted, but also with stale bread 

 and any vegetables that are left over from the table, such as green corn, cabbage, 

 potatoes, &.C. Occasionally we give them screenings. 



Growth. — I have '23 that I know of left from the first lot ; the largest are 19 

 inches loug and 11 inches iu girth, and weigh 2 pounds and 13 ounces; some are 18^ 

 inches long, 11^ inches in girth, and 2 pounds and 13 ounces in weight; and others 

 weigh 2 pounds and 12 ounces. I can't say how many of the second lot I have, but a 

 goodly number. Some of these are 12J inches loug, and weigh 1 pound ; some are 11^ 

 inches long, and weigh 11 ounces ; and some measure 11:^^ inches, and weigh 11 ounces. 

 The young ones are from 2 to 7 inches loug. My large carp do not weigh I ounce 

 more than they did July 26, 1882, and are only half an inch longer. The second lot 

 are larger than in July, 1882, but not very much; I did not measure them then, so I 

 can't tell exactly. Only the smaller ones (my own hatching) ajjpear to grow. Are 

 they only rapid growers when small? 



Reproduction. — Last year some few were spawned by the first lot, and this season 

 boih lots spawned. I have liundreds of .voung ones now ; it is impossible to number 

 them ; would guess that there are from 200 to 400 or 500. 



Edible qualities. — I have just given away 3 of the first lot (not the largest) and 

 3 of the second. These were all used for the table, and, together with several eaten 

 in my own family, were pronounced by all to be very fine eating. 



HoAV to catch carp. — One time I kept the water supply out of the pond for some 

 days, getting it quite low (without opening my underdrain). I then put iu 2 good- 

 sized stir- nets, but could not catch a fish. - Then I tried a dip-net, but still could not 

 catch any. I did not like to use hook and line, as I did not wish to injure any, and 

 might possibly catch one I did not want. So any one having a pond which he is not 

 able to drain may have plenty of carp, although he finds it almost impossible to catch 

 any. 



The day I inspected the pond I put into it, near the shore, in order to avoid the 

 above d]fticulty,a live-box, 12 feet Jong, 2.^ feet wide, and 2| feet high, substantially 

 framed Avith 4 by 4 white oak, and stout slats li inches by IJ, having a board bottom 

 and slat sides and ends, and being ])rovided with two slat lids, both of which I have 

 under lock and key. I sunk the box in the mud below the 4 by 4 cross sills, and also 

 put some 3 or 4 inches of mud on the board bottom. Into this pen I put 3 carp of the 

 first lot (not the very largest) and 9 of the second lot, so that I shall be able to get 

 them with a scoop-net when wanted either for the table or to satisfy visitors' curiosity 



345. Statement of Jonas Bell, iriUiamsport, Washington Co., Md., Avg. 4, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received 40 carp a year ago last fall. I have a 

 large spring, and I put them in a store-box through which the water passed. Last 

 August I gave them green corn. The ducks got in and eat all of them. When they 

 were killed they were 3 inches long. Will try again. 



