586 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
be the probabilities in favor of the harmlessness of the carp; but it 
seems to me that in most of these charges of destructiveness the burden 
of proof must rest with those that make the charges. If, however, in 
the case supposed above, the watcher should see a carp come near and 
be driven away by the bass, this would be good direct evidence in the 
carp’s favor. All this serves to emphasize the importance of taking 
advantage of whatever opportunity chance may offer to throw light on 
these questions. 
The principal charges that have been preferred against the carp have 
been enumerated in a preliminary statement of the present investiga- 
tion (U. S. Fish Commission Report, 1908, p, 129) as follows: 
(1) That the carp thrashes about and stirs up the mud, so that the breeding grounds 
of other fish are spoiled; (2) that the carp roots up the vegetation, destroying the 
wild rice, ete., and thus ruining good duck-shooting grounds; (3) that the carp eats 
the spawn of other fish; (4) that the carp eats the young of other fish; (5) that the 
carp is of no value as a food fish; (6) that the carp is of no value as a game fish. 
To the first of the above might be added the charge that in stirring 
up the mud of supply reservoirs of water that is used for drinking 
purposes the water is made unfit for use. The first four of the charges 
will be considered here, the fifth and sixth will be discussed in connec- 
tion with the food value and uses of the carp. 
RELATION OF THE CARP TO VEGETATION. 
The principal complaint against the carp on account of its destruc- 
tiveness to aquatic vegetation comes from sportsmen, especially the 
duck hunters. They are almost unanimous in their condemnation of 
the carp on this account, but conversation with a number of them soon 
makes it apparent that while some are speaking from personal experi- 
ence, and the opinions given are their own, many are merely repeat- 
ing statements which they have heard, and which have become so 
stereotyped that they are easily recognizable to one who is investiga- 
ting the subject. Itso happens that the St. Clair Flats, and more espe- 
cially the marshes bordering Lake Erie, are among the most famous 
duck-shooting localities in the Middle West, so that in this connection 
I shall confine myself for the most part to inquiries made there. 
The most definite information I obtained as to the changes that have 
taken place in the aquatic vegetation in the last decade or so was near 
the mouth of the Sandusky River, where it opens into the bay of the 
same name. Mr. Fitzgerald, the keeper at the Winnows Point Club, 
who has lived in the region all his life, not only told me of the changes 
in the conditions as he could remember them, but allowed me to exam- 
ine the records of theclub in further substantiation of his observations. 
It appears that the first carp were brought to that immediate vicinity 
in 1883 by D. W. Cross and Colonel Scovill, of Cleveland. A small 
pond was prepared near the clubhouse and, according to the records, 
