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CARP-CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. 349 



carp caught yesterday weighed 14 ounces and was 12 inches long. This remarkahle crowth 

 has been attained during one summer. The 35 fish which were translerred from the ice 

 pond to the new pond were from 12 to 13 inches long and weighed about a pomid each 



How TO CATCH CAEP.— I concluded to try the eating qualities of one, and with a small 



fly-hook," with a piece ot bread, soon caught one of the yearlings hatched iu 1881 I 



avoided the large ones by drawing out the hook when any of these approached as I 



wished to save all these for breeders this year. The cariJ caught weighed l of a pound 



and was 12 inches long — the growth of one summer. 



Edible QUALITIES.— We had it fried for breakfast and 7 persons tasted it • all pro- 

 nounced it excellent. The flesh is quite linn and white, and had no taste 'of mud 

 It reminded me in appearance and flavor of the "New River cat," which is geuerally 

 considered a very good fish. It has but few bones. One, a lemale full of roe, was fried 

 and eaten and was pronounced by all the family as very good fish. 



When cakp are not fit to eat.— That carp caught in July are soft in flesh and 

 muddy in taste is not surprising, and I would inquire what fresh-water fish, except 

 brook trout (which will not live in water over 70°) and perhaps black bass, are fit to eat 

 in the ' ' dog days. ' ' 



The shad. — The shad leaves salt water in early spring and comes into fresh water to 

 spav/n. These fish are very much improved by a run in fresh water, and are very fine 

 in April and the early part of May. But suppose they were taken in July and August 

 after they were ' ' spent, ' ' are they not utterly worthless as food ? Now the same thing, no 

 doubt, is true of carp. They spawn in May and June, and a carp of 5 or (5 pounds weight 

 will deposit from 300,000 to 500,000 eggs, and could not possibly be fit lor food earlier 

 than the middle of October or first of November. 



865. Statement of Richard T. W. Duke, Charlottesville, Albemarle Co.,Va., Juli/ 23, 1S83. 



Disposition of caep received. — My pond has a loamy bottom, water from 1 inch 

 to 9 feet deep, and covers 3 acres. The stream which enters it would fill a 3-inch pipe, 

 and is not very cold. 



Enemies. — The pond contains no plants; but some minnows and frogs. I kill the 

 frogs when I can. I have seen one turtle, but hope I have killed him. 1 have killed a 

 great many enemies, such as frogs, turtle, and snakes. This spring 1 have killed 8 blue 

 kingfishers and a large fish-hawk. The kingfishers destroy a great many small fish. 

 The fish-hawk takes the large ones. 



Food. — I feed a little corn-bread and a little loaf-bread every evening at 6 o'clock. 



Growth. — The largest of the old ones would weigh from 6 to 8 pounds. The young 

 ones would measure from J an inch to 5 inches. 



Reproduction. — I have about 200 of the original fish, and think they produced no 

 young la«st year, but a great many this j'ear. 



Miscellaneous. — I regard carp culture as a great success. In the F'orty-first Con- 

 gress I voted for a Fish Commission appropriation, and think that the b&st vote I gave 

 while in Congress. 



866. Statement of Richard T. W. Duke, CJMrl.ottesmlle, Albemarle Co., Va., Mar. 18, 1884. 



Food. — I feed my carp a little; they come up and take food like pigs. The ice left 

 my pond early in February, and the carp began to move about the middle of February. 



Growth. — Last November I caught a carp which weighed 4 pounds, and 2 that 

 weighed IJ pounds each. 



Edible qualities. — I tried the eating qualities of the carp again last November. A 

 4-pound carp was boiled, and the 8 persons, my neighbors and my family, who ate of 

 it considered it very good, as good as rock. The 2 small fish weighing h pound were 

 fried, and the opinion as to its merits equally di\ided. About one-half considered them 

 very good, the others detected a strong taste. I have no doubt salt water would re- 

 move this. 



How to catch caep.^ — Yesterday evening, with the aid of a hook and line, my son 

 caught 5 carp in a fe^' minutes, but put them back, as they were small — evidently the 

 fry of my originial carp. 



Vitality. — On Saturday evening I caught with a hook a carp which would weigh 

 about 4 pounds. I put it in my bath-tub filled with water. Yesterday, about 8 o'clock 

 a. m., I put the carp in a small box, surrounding it with wet moss, and forwarded it to 

 Lynchburg by express. It reached there about 4 p. m., and I learned this morning from 

 my friend to whom it was sent that when taken out and placed in a tub it was as lively 

 as could be. 



H. Mis. 68 -54 



