764 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [106] 



Plants. — Swamp grass grow.s in the pond. 

 Enkmies. — The pond contains a few frogs. 



Difficulties. — It was very cold when the carp arrived. Only 3 carp appeared 

 after the cold weather was gone, and they, too, soon disappeared. 



474. Statement of Daniel Bidwell, Mellenville, Columbia Co., H. Y., Jan. 10, 1881. 



Disposition of carp received. — I received 13 small carp May 9, 1880, in good 

 order, and immediately deposited them in my pond, which was not quite completed. 

 The bottom of the pond is composed of clay and sand. In the latter part of August, 

 the season being very dry, I had the water drawn and set workmen to finish digging- 

 it out with horses and scrapers. 



Enemies. — Some days after I planted the carp I noticed the pond was full of frogs, 

 some of large size, and as the fish had not been seen I supposed they had destroyed 

 them. 



Growth. — After the men had been at work several days 3 carp were seen, one of 

 which was 10 inches long and weighed over a pound. We then saw 9 more in the 

 water, that was about 12 inches deep, in a small space in the center of the pond. The 

 wonderful growth from May 9 to September 9, 4 months, beat» anything I ever saw, or 

 of which I ever heard. 



475. Statement of P. A. M. Van IVyck, New Hamiurgh, Dutchess Co., JV. Y., July 26, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — The 2 lots of leather carp received 2 years ago I 

 put in a fresh-water creek, full of coves and bays, such as I deem good resorts for 

 carp. 



Gkowth and reproduction. — Last fall I saw a small school of carp which aver- 

 aged from 7 to 8 inches long. I have not seen them since. 



476. Statement of Hiram A. Gates, CoxsacMe, Greene Co., N. Y., July 27, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received. — The 10 carp received in May, 1881, I put in a 

 pond covering about i of an acre, with an average depth of 3 feet, and a muddy bot- 

 tom. The flov. of water is irregular, and is very warm in summer. 



Plants. — Plants indigenous here grow in the pond. 



Enemies. — No fish, but plenty of frogs and turtles inhabit the pond. 



Food. — I do not feed the carj), but there is an abundance of red animalculse in the 

 pond. 



Difficulties. — In the spring of 1882 I found the remains of 2 carp, each about 10 

 inches long, and I judge they would have weighed 2 or 3 pounds. These were frozen 

 in the preceding winter, and I fear the others shared a similar fate. I intend to 

 deepen the pond and try the carp again. 



477. Statement of H. D. McGovern* 288 Fulton St., Brooklyn, N. Y., Mar. 30, 1881. 



Disposition of carp. — I placed 3.5 carp, 18 months old, some of which weighed 2| 

 pounds, in a pond prepared for them. The pond, which was constructed for observa- 

 tion and fed from springs, was 3 feet m depth, there being a bottom of mud or fine 

 loam of 6 inches. 



Food. — I ascertained from experiment that carp disposed of oatmeal dough and a 

 dough of rye meal mixed with chopped cabbage more quickly than any other kind 

 of food given them. If carp are not fed in December, January, and February, they 

 Avill go in the mud where they will be safer than were they regularly fed. 



Method of feeding. — In the early part of January I kept an air hole open in the 

 ice which had accumulated on the pond, and fed the fish by means of a wooden spout, 

 1 foot square and 4 feet long, inclosed in a large sheaf of cat-heads and closed at the 

 opening with a wad of saltgrass to keep the frosty air from entering the tube or shaft. 

 When I wanted to feed my carp I would remove the grass wad and drop my food 

 down the aperture, after which I would obscure the light from the opening by throw- 

 ing a coat over my head, and would then be rewarded by seeing all the fish within 

 range of the opening at the bottom. My shaft worked well until the temperature 

 fell to zero, for then, notwithstanding the covering of reeds or cat-heads, it closed 

 up, and I was compelled to cut holes in the ice and remove all the particles remaining. 



After the opening was cleared 1 would drop in food, and as the fish were not shy 

 they could be seen hovering around the opening after eating. 



Hardihood. — They can stand any amount of handling in moderate weather, and 

 live longer out of water than any fish I have ever handled. I can instance a case 

 where a carp that was wrapped by me in a piece of wet bagging was ke])t out of the 

 water for 2^ hours, when, on ])laciug it in a tank of water, it swam oft" as if it had 

 only been changed from one tank to another. There was no swooning nor cause for 

 resuscitation. 



