:3u 



transport to the United States, the best varieties, and also 

 arranged M'ith your Commissioners to receive the fish brought 

 out by Mr. Hassel, and breed them in ponds which has been 

 [)repared for tlie purpose in Druid Hill Park. We quote 

 from tlie report of the United States Commissioner, to show 

 his estimation of the importance of their introduction. "Suf- 

 ficient attention has not been paid in the United States to the 

 introduction of the European Carp as a food fish, and yet it 

 is quite safe to say that there is no other species that promises 

 so great a return in limited waters. It has the preeminent 

 advantage over such fish as the black bass, trout, grayling, 

 etc., tliat it is a vegetable feeder, and although not disdaining 

 animal matters, can thrive very Avell upon aquatic vegetation 

 alone. On this account it can be kept in tanks, small ponds, 

 etc., and very much larger weight obtained, without expense, 

 than in the case of tlie other kinds indicated. 



It is on this account that its culture has been continued for 

 centuries. It is also a mistake to compare the flesli with that 

 of the ordinary Cyprinidae of the United States, such as suc- 

 kers, chubs, and the like, the flesh of the genuine Carp {Cy- 

 prinus carpio) being firm, flaky, and in some varieties almost 

 equal to the Eurojiean Trout." 



The Honorable Eoger North says: "This is the most valu- 

 able of all kinds of fish for stocking ])onds, because of its 

 (|uick growth, and great increase. If the feeding and breed- 

 ing of this fish were more understood and practised, the ad- 

 vantages resulting would be very great, and a fish pond 

 would become as valuable an article as a garden. 



Mr. Foster mentions seeing in Prussia, two or three hun- 

 dred Carps, of two and tliree feet in length, and one five feet 

 long, and twent3^-five pounds weight ; it was supposed to be 

 about sixty years old." 



The Carp family are among the least carnivrous fishes, 

 their food being chiefly soft vegetables, or decaying organic 

 matters, and at times worms and insects. They are easily 

 and cheaply kept, finding their food in any pond Avhich has 

 been under water any length of time, and stocked with aqua- 

 tic plants. Another very decided advantage they have over 

 the salmon and herring families, is their capacity of living 

 in warmer and more stagnant water, and in fact their ca- 



