756 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [98] 



444. Statement of D. S. Blackmail, Port Eepuilic, Atlantic Co., N. J., July 27, 1888. 



Disposition of carp received. — My pond is a mill-poud supplied with water from 

 a cedar swamp, and contains pond lilies, and no other fish or reptiles. I got 20 carp 

 in December, 1881, and left them in the can until the pond embankments were fin- 

 ished. I put in some mud for them to imbed themselves in, but they all soon died. 

 A tine lot from Washington, which reached me in the fall of 188'2, I had to keep till 

 December on account of a break in my mill-dam, which supplies water for the carp 

 ponds. The cold set in very suddenly and severely and before I conld again fill 

 the pond with water they, to my sorrow and surprise, were frozen. I had the can 

 warmly kept, too. I shed tears over their loss, and 'last fall I was given a few more 

 very small ones, which also died, in spite of all I could do, seemingly because the can 

 was rusty. 1 do hope you will send me another lot this fall, as I want to give them 

 a fair trial. 



445. Statement of E. MiUer, Mahwah, Bergen Co., N. J., Avg. 20, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received 12 carp 3 years ago last autumn. The 

 pond in which 1 have kept them covers about an acre, is from 5 to 6 feet deep, and 

 hus a clav bottom. Five gallons of water How through it per minute. The tempera- 

 ture is from 80° to 60°. 



Plants. — There are uo plants or grasses growing on the bottom. There is meadow 

 grass around the edges, on which the carp feed at night. 



Enemies. — The poml contains trout and frogs as well as carp. 



Growth. — There are 4 or 5 of the original lot left. They weigh 4 or more pounds. 

 My son was walking on the margin of the lake August 13, 1883, and saw one of the 

 original carp in the ])ond, and captured it by the aid of a scoop-net used in catching 

 frogs. He brought it to the house, a distance of 100 yards, and ascertained its weight 

 to be 5^ pounds and its length 22^ inches. It was a male carp nearly scaleless and 

 very fat. 



Reproduction. — Thousands of young have been produced, which are from 2 to 8 

 Inches long and differ much in shape and color. 



Disposition of young. — We have stocked two ponds for our neighbors with about 

 30 carp each. 



Varieties. — My stock seems to be a mixture of many varieties. They vary in color 

 from yellow to brown, some having a mixture of the two colors. They are unlike, too, 

 in form, and some are wholly and others partly without scales, while others have a 

 compact covering of scales. Some have mouths like the sucker and others like the 

 bass. Some are short and very stout; others are shaped like the codfish and have 

 large and angular heads. The eyes in some seem fixed; in others they turn in their 

 sockets and seem to stare at you. They seem to be a mixture in variety, but all of 

 the sucker (carp) class. I think the full-scaled variety — bass-shaped — are in the ma- 

 jority and will in a short time prevail. 



How to catch carp. — They are difficult to catch; shy of nets, and slow to bite. 

 The best bait for them are large, lively angle worms. The full-scaled variety are the 

 easiest to take with gill-nets. The scaleless are baiters, and are about the only ones 

 to take the hook. 



446. Statement of John H. Brakeley, Bordentown, Burlington Co., N. J., Nov. 27, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — I first received carp in N^ovember, 1880, Init lost 

 that 20 by the breakage of dams. One year ago last October I stocked a pond with 2f> 

 leather carp, the pond consisting of about 3 acres. But little water flows through it, as 

 the streams are led around by canals. These fish had been received in November, 1881, 

 being at that time only about 2 inches long, but which had grown during the year to 

 be from 12 to 14 inches in length, aud attained an average weight of l^ pounds. In 

 another pond, containing | of an acre, I had at the same time (November, 1881) placed 

 14 fish of the same size and age as the 20. The water in the small pond was from 12 

 to 18 inches deep, aud its temperature in summer not below 85°. The bottom is 

 Baud, clay, and peat. 



Plants. — The large pond had been constructed before I placed the carj) in it, aud 

 consequently had a tine growth of aquatic vegetation, and was admirably adai)le(l to 

 carp-culture. The ponds contain the white w ater-lily (Xym2)hwa odorala), the yellow 

 water-lily {Xnpliar adrena), water starwort (CalWriche), water pur.shrne {Ludivigia 

 palu.'itrix), bur-reed {Sparganiiim), bladderwort {Vtricularia gihha), hornwort {Cerasto- 

 phi/llum), &c. 



Enemies. — While I had been careful to exclude all other denizens of the water I 

 possibly could, so as to give the carp undisputed possession, there were aquatic in- 

 truders in hirge numbers, the presence of which I had not suspected. There had been 



