﻿LXIII 
  

  

  The 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  fish 
  in 
  botli 
  the 
  Druid 
  Hill 
  and 
  

   Washington 
  Ponds 
  has 
  been 
  very 
  marked, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  

   having 
  attained 
  a 
  length 
  of 
  five 
  to 
  seven 
  inches 
  in 
  one 
  sum- 
  

   mer. 
  This 
  rapidity 
  of 
  growth 
  may 
  be 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  h)nger 
  period 
  

   of 
  warm 
  weather 
  in 
  this 
  latitude, 
  and 
  the 
  consequent 
  exten- 
  

   sion 
  of 
  the 
  feadiug 
  season. 
  If 
  this 
  liypothesis 
  be 
  correct, 
  it 
  is 
  

   probable 
  that 
  a 
  much 
  greater 
  and 
  more 
  rapid 
  growth 
  will 
  be 
  

   attained 
  in 
  the 
  waters 
  farther 
  south. 
  Many 
  Eastern 
  States 
  

   have 
  been 
  supplied 
  by 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Commission. 
  AYe 
  believe 
  

   this 
  fish 
  is 
  destined 
  to 
  become, 
  at 
  no 
  distant 
  day, 
  of 
  the 
  

   greatest 
  importance 
  to 
  both 
  the 
  i)isciculturist 
  and 
  agricultur- 
  

   ist 
  and, 
  therefore, 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  of 
  acquainting 
  our 
  citizens 
  

   with 
  its 
  history 
  and 
  qualities 
  we 
  make 
  the 
  following 
  extract 
  

   from 
  a 
  letter 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Commissioner 
  on 
  the 
  subject: 
  

  

  Hon. 
  James 
  B. 
  Beck. 
  

  

  Sir 
  : 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  «- 
  

  

  ** 
  -x- 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  -x-* 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  great 
  faith 
  in 
  the 
  future 
  of 
  this 
  new 
  fish, 
  and 
  am 
  quite 
  

   well 
  satisfied 
  that 
  within 
  ten 
  years 
  it 
  will 
  constitute 
  a 
  very 
  

   prominent 
  element 
  in 
  the 
  food 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  Al- 
  

   though 
  scarcely 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  and 
  but 
  little 
  

   more 
  as 
  an 
  article 
  of 
  extended 
  application 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  

   France, 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  Germany 
  and 
  Austria 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  cultivated 
  in 
  

   the 
  highest 
  degree, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  constitute 
  a 
  notable 
  article 
  of 
  mar- 
  

   ket 
  supply. 
  The 
  fish 
  itself 
  is 
  probably 
  of 
  Asiatic 
  origin, 
  and 
  

   has 
  been 
  domesticated 
  in 
  China 
  for 
  thousands 
  of 
  years. 
  It 
  

   has, 
  however, 
  been 
  so 
  extensively 
  distributed 
  in 
  Europe 
  as 
  to 
  

   have 
  become, 
  in 
  a 
  measure, 
  a 
  native 
  fish, 
  occurring 
  in 
  public 
  

   waters 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  in 
  private 
  enclosures. 
  It 
  is 
  emphatically 
  

   a 
  farmer's 
  fish, 
  and 
  may 
  safely 
  be 
  claimed 
  to 
  be 
  among 
  fishes 
  

   what 
  chickens 
  are 
  among 
  birds, 
  and 
  pigs 
  and 
  ruminants 
  among 
  

   mammals. 
  Its 
  special 
  merit 
  lies 
  in 
  the 
  ftict 
  of 
  its 
  sluggish- 
  

   ness 
  and 
  the 
  ease 
  with 
  wliich 
  it 
  is 
  kept 
  in 
  very 
  limited 
  en- 
  

   closures, 
  its 
  being 
  a 
  vegetable 
  feeder 
  and 
  its 
  general 
  inoflen- 
  

   siveness. 
  Whereas 
  trout 
  and 
  black 
  bass 
  require 
  a 
  supply 
  of 
  

   animal 
  food 
  for 
  their 
  sustenance 
  and 
  growth, 
  the 
  carp, 
  while 
  

   not 
  disdaining 
  flies, 
  worms, 
  larvae, 
  etc., 
  lives 
  on 
  the 
  succulent 
  

  

  