[117] 



CARP-CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 775 



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Food. ^ lu tho first part. <>f the summer I gave them wheat, corn, and potatoes twice 



week, but later not so often. 



Growth.— I still have about all of them, and they weigh from 6 to 8 pounds. 



Reproduction —In 1881 there were several thousand young; since that not iuany 

 The 1881 brood would now weigh 3 to 5 pounds each. I have supplied about 600 carp 

 to stock neighboring ponds. 



Edible qualities.— I have eaten one carp which was half baked and half fried and 

 think them very good, very much like bluefish. ' 



Difficulties.— The most .^erious difficulty has been the eels and frogs. The carp 

 do not seem to thrive real well, but I have not determined the trouble. 



529. Statement of George W. Ropkim, Mount Sinai, Suffolk Co., X. Y., Oct. 10, 1880. 



Growth. — The carp received through Mr. E. G. Blackford were about 3 inches in 

 length, but by October 1, 1880, measured from 12 to 14 inches each. 



530. Statement of Edicard Thompson, Saitit Johnland, Suffolk Co., N. Y., Aug. 6, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received.— The 25 carp received November 6, 1880, 1 put in 

 a poud covering about 10 square rods, from 1 to 4 i'eet deep, having a muddy bottom. 

 The water, of which very little flows out of the pond, is quite warm in summer, though 

 it freezes over in winter. 



Plants. — Flags and rushes grow in the pond. 



Enemies. — Bull-frogs and plenty of common frogs and small water-turtles infest the 

 pond. 



Food. — I have given the carp cabbage, clams, lettuce, and bread. They are very 

 fond (if minnows when scaled, and, in fact, eat almost anything given them. 



Growth — The 22 original carp remaining vary in weight from 3 to 6 pounds, and 

 1 of them would, perhaps, weigh 8 pounds. 



Kepkoduction. — There are nmny young in the poud, and also quite a number of 

 yeiirlii.g, which vary in weight from 8 to 16 ounces. 



Edible qualities. — It would be an utter impossibility to take any fish out of a 

 muddy hole and expect it to taste like a fish out of a pond with pure, clear water 

 such as you could stoop down and drink our of. One tact which cannot be got over 

 is that (iill'erent food and water will make either animal, fowl, or lish taste diliereutly, 

 no matter where they come from or what their names are. 1 once sent Mr. Eugene 

 G. Blackford two broolc trout, about i pound each, and asked him his opinion as to 

 flavor, and he pronounced them as good, if not better, than any he had ever eaten. 

 Why? Because they were fed on the natural food for ti-out. Again, I have eaten 

 trout that tasted very distinctly of liver. Why? Because they weie led on livi-r. 

 It is the food and water which makes the carp have so many ditiennt tastes. 



I might ask one moie question. Can you find two ev(u in Ciue lamily to whom 

 things taste alike ? It is not so in mine. I would venture to s-ay it would be the 

 same with beef, pork, or any other fish, no matter where it eanie from. 



The. carp is the best fish I know of for workiugmeu and mecbanics, who rarely 

 lack an appetite, and who will always consider the fish good when they can get it. 

 My personal opinion is that it is a very superior fish, and I will even go so far as to 

 say that 1 prefer it to trout. 



Miscellaneous. — 1 expect to have a poud covering about 5 acres, and at all sea- 

 sons of the year a depth of w-ater varying from 1 to 10 feet. 



531. Stalement of J. B. Huwxiiurtil, Eomoivatk, Ulster Co., N. Y., July 26, 1883. 



Disposition of carp received.— The 20 carp received in May, 1881,1 jmt in a 

 pond 24<i feet iu circumference, with a muddy bottom. A small vein of moderately 

 cool spring water feeds tht; pond. Plants do not grow in the poud. 



Enemies.— Shiners inhabit the pond. 



Pood.— Occasionally I give the carj) potatoes, bread, and other food. 



Growth.— Yesterday I caught a car]) that measured 15 inches in length. Had I 

 fed them well I think ibliey would have been double their pres<'nt size. 



Reproduction. — The young in the pond average from 3 to 4 inches in length. 



532. Statement of William E. Sill, Sodus Point, Wayne Co,, N. ¥., July 26, 1863. 



Disposition of carp received. — The 10 carp received in May, 1881, Ipnt in aj-acre 

 pon.l, witli an average depth of 1 foot, and a muddy bottom. A varying supply ot 

 surface water feeds the pond. 



The pond dried iij) in the fall of 1881, and all the carp perished. 



