546 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
In the succeeding years the demand for carp steadily increased, and 
the fish were furnished in great numbers by the Fish Commission, 
bemg sent to all parts of the United States, and some shipments | 
being made to other countries. We find in the reports of the Commis- 
sion that in several successive years carp were sent to Canada, and in 
1882” they were also distributed to persons in Ecuador, Costa Rica, 
and the City of Mexico. In 1882 over 7,000 applications for carp 
were filed, and 5,758 applicants were supplied with 15 to 20 carp each, 
143,696 fish being distributed in this way. With an appropriation of 
612,000 made by the Forty-sixth Congress, the breeding ponds were 
extended until there were some 20 acres of ponds devoted to raising 
this fish. 
In this year, also, an attempt was made to bring carp eggs to this 
country. On May 31, Mr. George Eckhardt arrived from Germany 
with two cases of carp eggs, packed after a method that had been 
found successful for transportation for shorter distances; but when 
the eggs were examined here they were found to be dead and covered 
with fungus. The effort had been made only as an experiment, and 
was so far unsuccessful, on account of the long time required for the 
journey, that it was not repeated. Another importation of the adult 
fish, however, is recorded in 1882, when, as a return for favors extended | 
to the Deutsche Fischerei-Verein, Herr von Behr forwarded to the ~ 
Commission a number of the so-called blue carp, ‘‘a variety believed 
to be of particular interest, and which has not been hitherto cultivated 
by the Commission.” When these arrived on January 4, 1882, it was 
found that 19 of them were of ‘‘ pure blood,” while 4 were hybrids. 
The hybrids were destroyed and the others turned into the Govern- 
ment ponds. 
As illustrating how thoroughly carp were disseminated throughout 
the United States in these early years of its introduction, the data for 
1883 furnish an interesting example. In that year carp were sent into 
298 of the 301 Congressional districts, representing 1,478 counties; in 
this way 260,000 carp were distributed, in lots of 20, to 9,872 applicants. 
The distributions continued large until about 1890, when they began 
to diminish, and were finally discontinued in 1897. The following 
table gives the approximate figures for the distribution from 1880 to 
1896: 
«Records taken from United States Fish Commission reports have reference to fiscal years begin- 
ning July 1. Distributions of carp were made in the fall of the calendar year preceding the date 
designating the fiscal year—i. e., distributions in the fiscal year 1882 were made in the fall of the cal- 
endar year 1881. 
