PRACTICAL CARP CULTURE. 115 



grown faster than I could have expected. Last fall I caught some 18 inches 

 long that weighed 3% pounds. I had three kinds of carp. The scale carp 

 increased the most and made the biggest growth, and they are good enough 

 fish for me to eat. J. V. HOAKISON. 



HUDSON, N. M., October 15, 1887. 



My carp are a success, and are doing well. I think I have some that 

 are three years old, and will weigh from 9 to 10 pounds. 



R. H. HUDSON. 



SHINEBSVILLE, Pa., December 18, 1887. 



My four-year old carp weigh ten pounds each, and my three-year-old 

 ones weigh six pounds. I will fatten 1,500 for the market the coming sum- 

 mer and show the people how big a carp can be raised in one summer from 

 three-inch long fry if put in a warm pond about April 1st. 



D. N. KERN. 



Much has been written and said upon the rapid growth of carp, their 

 age, their measurement and their weight has been given, and while the 

 figures have been readily accepted as correct by the great majority of carp 

 growers, there are others who doubt the statements, because they do not 

 tally with their experience. The parent stock, the character of the water, 

 the food supplied and the climate, each make a great difference in the 

 development of this rapid growing fish. The greatest divergence of differ- 

 ence will, of course, be found where all these conditions are on the one 

 hand favorable, and on the other hand unfavorable, and as these condi- 

 tions approach each other, so will the growth of the fish. From Vol. VI. 

 of the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, page 457,, we clip 

 the following statement and measurements : 



GROWTH OF CARP. 



On December '2, 1885, the size and weight of two young carp which 

 were just 5> months old, and they were reared at the carp ponds m 

 Washington, were as follows, as reported by Dr. Hessel: 



The eggs were obtained by methods which fixed exactly the day of 

 impregnation, which in this case took place on June 15, 1885. 



This is an official statement, and is specific, and from an official and 

 reliable source. It is well established that with equally favorable condi- 

 tions, the second season's growth is in a constantly increasing ratio to 

 that of the first season's. Had this pair of carp stopped growing for the 



