548 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
there directly by the government and state commissions. There was at 
this time a fever of enthusiasm for carp culture throughout all parts 
of the United States. From the time of the proposed introduction 
the Fish Commission had published many papers, including a number 
of translations of German articles, giving much information on the 
habits of the carp and its desirable qualities, and explicit directions as 
to the methods in vogue in raising carp in Germany, where this indus- 
try is most important. The newspapers took the matter up and were 
loud in its praises, but neglected to give so large a share of attention 
to the practical side of the question—to the care and attention the 
fish should have in order to make the venture a success. Most men 
are interested at once when they think there is a chance of getting 
something for nothing, and here seemed to be an opportunity to have 
a perpetual supply of fresh fish for anyone who had land with any 
kind of a mud hole on it that would hold a few bucketfuls of water. 
Accordingly applications for carp piled in, and were filled as soon as 
possible. Asa result of ignorance and neglect, a large proportion of 
these fish or their offspring were soon undoubtedly in the public 
waters—largely from the br lide of dams of improperlyeconstructed 
ponds, and two years later (in 1883) came reports of their being taken 
in considerable numbers by fishermen in the rivers and lakes. 
Besides the stocking of the public waters which occurred accident- 
ally, many fish were also purposely planted inthem. In 1881 the Ohio 
State Fish Commission put 40 carp into the Maumee River (Ohio Fish 
Commission Report, 1882, p. 14385), and in May of the same year some 
were planted in Ten Mile Creek. These were 24 inches long when 
liberated, and it is reported that in the following September and 
October a number were caught which would weigh 43 to 5 pounds, 
while one had a weight of 8 pounds. In the same report we read that 
12 carp were given to Mr. Charles Carpenter, of Kelleys Island, which 
is in the very midst of the breeding grounds of the white-fish, and 17 
to Mr. Edward Lockwood, on the (Catawba) Peninsula. Both of these 
lots doubtless contributed sooner or later to stock the lake. Indeed, 
one of the first lots of carp sent out from Washington was in Novem- 
ber, 1879, to Mr. Lewis Leppelman, Fremont, Ohio (Smiley, 1886, 
p. 792), which is on the Sandusky River, and probably there is no 
place in the United States to-day where carp are much more abundant 
than in the waters of Sandusky River and Bay. In July, 1883, how- 
ever, Mr. Leppelman thought he still had all his fish, so they could 
not have contributed to the first stocking of the river and lake. 
One of the earliest records I find of the taking of carp in Lake Erie, 
where they are now so abundant, is given in a compilation by Mr. 
}. W. Smiley (1886, p. 738) among the statements of those who 
received carp of the Fish Commission. This is the statement of J.C. 
Sterling, of Monroe, Mich., December 10, 1883, that one of the 
