American Fi^lieries Society 91 



taste ; but you have to put it in elear water and keep it there alive 

 for some weeks and then the muddy taste disappears, and it is 

 just as good a fish as any other. The same holds true of a lot of 

 other fishes ; if you take them directly from muddy water they 

 have a muddy taste. That is the only explanation I can give why 

 the carp are so disliked here in America. 



Mr. Charles CI. Atkins, East Orland, Me. : Let me suggest 

 that carp is prohably condemned in Ainerica without a fair trial ; 

 that of ten thousand who condemn the carp probably not more 

 than two or three have ever tasted one. People make up their 

 minds without trial, or knowing what the truth is. 



Let me make another suggestion, whether the carp is not real- 

 ly good enough to be considered as a fish worth growing for its 

 own sake instead of merely to feed other fishes, and whether it 

 would not be worth while to try to start with the production of 

 carp and not use carp up in the feeding of other fishes that in 

 the end are no better. Rather than use ten pounds of carp to 

 produce one pound of bass, would it not be better to utilize the 

 ten pounds of carp, and then we would have ten pounds of good 

 fish instead of one })ound ? I ask whether it would not be better 

 for us to abstain from so much cultivation of the predaceous 

 fisJR'- at the expense of the more peaceful fishes like the carp? 



President : We ha\e heard from northern Europe through 

 Dr. Nordquist ; we would like to hear from southern Europe 

 through Dr. Yinciguerra. 



Dr. Decio Vinciguerra, Rome, Italy : In Italy the carp is 

 little appreciated and is not cultivated. A certain Austrian 

 gentleman tried to cultivate carp in northern Italy, and though 

 he met with success in the culture he failed in the trade of the 

 fish, because the fish was too expensive for the common people ; 

 and he could not sell in Germany because the distance was too 

 great : I think he gave up his ponds. 



