[95] 



CARP-CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 753 



Food.— I have fed the carp on corn, oats, wheat, screenings, and boiled potatoes- 

 but since I enlarged the ponds the carp root for a living, staying at the bottom! 

 They refuse to come to the surface for the most tempting morsel. Last year I could 

 bring them to the surface by food floating on the water. Tliis year nothing will 

 bring them up. When I feed them, oats and millet seem to be their choice. 



Growth and habits.— To the best of my knowledge there are 8 or 10 of the 

 original number, and I feel sure they were all well a year ago. Tlio old ones are 

 over 3 feet long, I think. For days, and sometimes weeks, the water is still and 

 comparatively clear ; you would think no living thing was in it; then all at onco 

 there is a bubbling, then wave after wave appears and the water fairly boils and 

 foams, bemg moved by the tish below. Murky clouds rise to the surface, and soon 

 the whole pond is like as if a hog had wallowed there. Then comes the calm, and 

 the water becomes clear again. Such are the carp. They stay either in some clear, 

 shady spot or in the muddy water, leaving us to imagine their size and numbers. 



Reproduction. — How many young have they produced ? Oh, heavens ! How many 

 sands are there on the sea-shore f They breed from early spring to late fall— millions 

 of them. They first spawned when two years old and were 27 inches long, weighing 

 15 pounds. It is just impossible to catch the old ones with the seines, and we have 

 no hook that will hold them. The young weigh from a mite up to 15 pounds. I stocked 

 a new pond one year ago, and the young averaged a pound at least last spring. We 

 caught 61 at one draw, I suppose they were last fall's hatch. When very young they 

 may be seen upon the margin of the pond in shallow water by thousands, acting very 

 much like any other little tish. By the time they are an inch'long they disappear and 

 another lot of small fry takes their places. When they have gone to the bottom it is 

 seldom that they reappear unless brought out by violence or starvation. 



Sales. — I have sold lots of the young for stocking other men's ponds. They come 

 200 miles to get them. I have sold none for food, as they are hard to catch. When I 

 have finished making my ponds and put the fish on the market I expect to make more 

 money than cau be made by a farm of 400 acres of the best land in Missouri. 



Edible qualities. — Have we eaten any carp ? Yes, we used them all last summer 

 and gave a mess to all our friends and neighbors. All with one voice' say they are 

 the best fish they ever did eat, and so say I. We cook them as you please. They are 

 good any way. 



Fungus and other difficulties.— Last spring I saw a few little ones having a 

 scurf or a growth of some kind extending from the nose back until the whole body 

 appeared swollen or musty-looking. They became sick and swam near the top. All 



1 saw, which were 6 or 8, died. I do not know what was the matter or the cause of 

 it. The most serious difBculty has been to keep down their many enemies. When I 

 drain the ponds I will make clean work of it, and not till then can I make a full and 

 fair statement of my success in raising carp. But as it is I am well satisfied and the 

 whole country is surprised. 



435. Statement of J. C. KeUhley, ShacUeford, Saline Co., Mo., Aug. 20, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received 4 mirror carp June 24, 1880. Eight 

 were allotted to me, but 4 I gave in payment for their transportation. I afterwards 

 received 10 scale carp. I have kept them in a ijond which covers f of an acre, is from 



2 to 6 feet deep, and has partly clay and partly rich soil for a bottom. It is fed by a 

 perennial spring flowing at the rate of 2 gallons per minute. The temperature of the 

 water at the spring is 54° Fahr. 



Plants and enemies. — It contains water-cresses, flags, water grasses, &c. There 

 are no fi.^h in it besides the carp. Water-frogs and toads spawn in it in the spring of 

 the year. 



Food. — I give them no food at present, but will give cabbage, crushed com, and 

 wheat screenings to them when the pond is well filled. 



Growth. — I have 3 of ray original carp left. I lost one soon after putting them in 

 the pond. They now weigh about 8 or 10 pounds. When I last weighed them, 

 which was at the end of the first year, they weighed 2|- pounds. 



Reproduction.— I am not able to say how many young have been produced, as the 

 water is too muddy to count them. They are from 8 to iO inches long. I think they 

 were spawned last year. My first 3 carp were all males. We have not used any of 

 the young ones, but will commence eating them next year. 



Miscellaneous.— This fall I expect to make a pond of 3 acres, which I should like 

 to stock with leather carp exclusively, if you can furnish them to me when it is 

 ready. It will bo on black alluvial soil, where grasses and water-cresses will grow 

 luxuriantly, and it will be fed by three good permanent springs. 



Success of others in raising carp.— I believe that Mr. McClelland and I were 

 the first to receive carp in this part of the State. Mr. McClelland has succeeded be- 

 yond all expectations. He has sent numbers to other States and counties for breeding 



H. Mis. 08 48 



