76 PRACTICAL CARP CULTURE. 



a little more. A similar mixture of Hour and blood and potatoes, will an- 

 swer the same purpose and may be handled in the same way. 



The home food supply of the carp, like the compost heap, may be 

 greatly increased by economy and thought. In slaughtering cattle, hogs, 

 poultry, etc., never waste the blood and the offal. They are life and flesh 

 for the carp. The scraps from the table are the same. The grass hoppers 

 that scourge the west will make good food for them. In the plowing sea- 

 son a boy following after the plow will pick up gallons of worms and grubs, 

 than which nothing is better for the fish. The excrements of cattle dropped 

 in the pasture dry quickly in the sun and are soon full of insects, maggots 

 and beetles, which are the natural food of the carp. Gather them in a 

 wheelbarrow and throw them into the pond. 



To produce the natural food of the carp Carl Nicklas gives the follow- 

 ing simple method : 



"If there are clover fields or meadows near the ponds, the carp may 

 be supplied with ample natural food by cutting grass, clover, or lucern, 

 during the months between May and August, chopping it fine, pouring 

 water on it, and then distributing it in small stacks in sunny places near 

 the banks of the pond, so that it may be thoroughly warmed. On the fol- 

 lowing morning water should be again poured on these stacks, and, without 

 being disturbed in any way, they should be again exposed to the rays of 

 the sun, which quickly heats them and produces putrefaction. During the 

 following night already numberless beetles and other insects will creap 

 into the steaming stacks and deposit their eggs. After three days the stacks 

 are fairly alive with insects and their larvae, and the stacks are then thrown 

 just as they are, into the water near the banks. The exhalation 

 from the decaying vegetable matter acts like a bait upon the carp. 

 They eagerly seek it, devouring the insects contained in it, and also parti- 

 cles of the decaying matter. The places where the grass has been thrown 

 into the water become gathering places for many other small animals 

 which breed there, and thus supply ample food for the carp. These places 

 should be kept up. As grass can generally be had near the banks of ponds, 

 this food is cheap and can be obtained with very little trouble," 



Where slaughter houses, breweries, distilleries or starch factories are 

 within reach, the refuse matter from these will make a good and cheap 

 food, though care must be exercised to not so overfeed as to have masses 

 of the material collect, decay and poison the water of the ponds. To these 

 may be added any vegetables that are inferior or in which decay has set in. 

 These latter should be boiled and mixed with bran. 



If it is not convenient to chop fine the flesh of dead horses, sheep, or 

 other animals, they should at least be cut in chunks and and distributed 

 over the pond, not the carcass thrown in whole, as poisoning of the water 

 may result from its decomposition. Such chunks of animal matter sus- 

 pended to stakes above the water will produce maggots without number 

 that will in their turn drop off into the water and form a continued sup- 

 ply of food for the fish. 



A few cultnrists in America have been feeding whole wheat, which 



