[141] 



CARP-CtJLTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 799 



the ice was frozen to the thickness of from 2^ or 3 inches on shallow ponds. This is all 

 gone, and for some time past the ponds have been, and are now, free from ice. 



Difficulties. — I have found several of my smallest carp dead and also one of the 

 large ones. I have not lost over 8 or 9. To-day, and for a few days past, I observed 

 the smaller ones swimming near the top of the water with something of a wiggling mo- 

 tion, but they take alarm and shoot down when I approach them. I am sorry to see 

 them acting thus, as I feel certain it is not a healthy sign and bodes a loss of more of 

 them. The large ones which I got in the first lot show themselves much the stronger 

 fish, as I have found but one of them dead and one sick. The latter, which I put in a 

 reservoir in the spring-house cellar, has gotten well. The fish I found dead did not 

 show any outward signs of having been injured, and I am quite at a loss to account for 

 their dying. 



My new pond is now full of water and is an entire success, not leaking a drop. I 

 made it in exact accordance with views acquired by actual experience of over 20 years. 



634. Statement of George Finley, East End, Pittsburgh, Alleylieny Co., Pa., Jan. 10, 1880. 



Disposition op carp received. — I put 10 of my largest carp in a separate pond with 

 a bottom very soft and muddy, and I have not seen any dead ones in it as yet. It had 

 a deep hole in the bottom about the size of a wash tub, over which I stretched a plank 

 so as to come down and close it. I had 50 in the first lot and 117 in the second, so with 

 my losses I still have about 140 fish. I do not think the cold weather has caused the 

 deaths, but as it is very common to find large numbers of dead goldfish floating in the 

 winter and spring, the death-rate may be nothing unusual, they being of the same nature as 

 carp. The bottom of the pond has a large amount of litter, such as leaves and dead 

 grass and muck, so I cannot think the fish sufier for want of cover, and I am hopeful of 

 carrying most of them over the winter safely. 



Difficulties. — One of the largest ones had a wound from which I think it died. I 

 find that moving the sick ones to other water does not do very much good; they die as a 

 general and almost universal rule. I cannot say I am discouraged about some of my 

 carp dying, as the number so far does not amount to more than from 18 to 25, and only 3 

 of them large ones. As they all float when dead, I presume I know the number pretty 

 certain. 



635. Statement of George Finley, East End, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., Pa., Apr. 18, 1880. 



Description of pond. — My fountain pond is paved, and hence no muskrat can find 

 a lodgment there. In the center is a kind of round tower of rustic masonry and an 

 opening inside about 3 feet in diameter, covered with a large stone, and up through the 

 center of this goes the supply pipe which drives the revolving fountain. On the side 

 of this is a manhole, or place for a man to put his head in, in case of need of repair-s — 

 here the carp took up their winter quarters at the base of the pipe. Inside this home 

 is a small opening to drop the water when the fountain is stopped, and out of which 

 spouts a small stream when the fountain is in action. The place is dark and cosy, be- 

 low the general level of the pond bottom, and suitable for a winter home for carp. Had 

 I possessed a grating of iron the proper size, just too small for a muskrat to pass 

 through, and abundantly large enough for the fish, I feel certain I would not have lost 

 a single fish. 



Growth. — I found only 9 live, healthy fish out of the two lots you so kindly sent 

 me, and what astonished me most was that they have grown since putting them in. I 

 measured one, and found it full 7 J inches long. They are in splendid condition. They 

 hid in the mud in the most approved manner. 



Enemies.— The muskrats have almost decimated my carp pond. There is another 

 pond close by that has quite a number of muskrat burrows, and in which we have suc- 

 ceeded in digging out and killing several of the pests. The mild winter favored the 

 raiders, but I have devised a permanent trap lor them, and hope to make them .scarce 

 in the future. 



636. Statement of George Finley, East End, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., Pa., Sept. 10, 1880. 



Disposition of carp received. — Last fall I fortunately put 10 carp into a s7nall 

 pond much isolated from the others, situated at a spring in my orchard, and in the bot- 

 tom of it I sank a bottomless box from 1 foot to 15 inches deep, the top being about on 

 a level with the bottom. Over this I laid a long plank and weighed it down, leaving 

 ample space to allow the fish to go into the box. This pond's bottom was of very deep 

 black muck or greasy mud, in which these 10 fish wintered in safety. The other 8, the 

 only ones that escaped the muskrats, have also a history. In my large new pond there 



