THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 607 
sold in the round, those of 3 to 5 pounds’ weight being considered best 
for cooking, and it seems that smoking should be an important way 
to utilize the less desirable size. J am unable to give even approxi- 
mate figures of the amount or value of this particular product at this 
time, but it seems to be an industry which is capable of being devel- 
oped upon a paying basis to a much greater extent than at present. 
Wholesale dealers who have tried the experiment of salting carp 
down, as is done with the herring, and thus holding them over to a 
season when they would demand a higher price, inform me that the 
experiment was not a success. This is probably due largely to the 
fact that the Jewish people are by far the largest consumers of carp 
in this country, and they want the fish as fresh as possible. It was 
also the opinion that the salting had a deteriorating effect upon the 
quality of the flesh. It is a common practice in most of the large fish 
houses, however, to freeze large quantities of carp when the supply is 
greatly in excess of the demand at the time and to hold them over in 
this condition until there is a market for them. 
The scarcity of sturgeon and the high price brought by caviar 
naturally suggested to many the possibility of using the roe of the 
carp for their purpose. While the eggs are small, a single large 
female often contains a large quantity of them (see p. 574), and during 
the breeding season carp roe could be obtained in abundance. But 
those on the Great Lakes who have attempted to manufacture caviar 
from the roe of the carp have all reported a failure, complaining that 
in the process the eggs turn pink or red. . Inquiries have been made 
as to whether this could be avoided. This change of color is probably 
always characteristic of caviar made from carp eggs, as is evidenced 
by the following quotation from Walton (1901 ed., p. 116): 
But it is not to be doubted but that in Italy they make great profit of the spawn of 
Carps, by selling it to the Jews, who make it into red caviare, the Jews not being by 
their law admitted to eat of caviare made of the Sturgeon, that being a fish that wants 
scales, and, as may appear in Leviticus xi, by them reputed to be unclean. 
It is possible that similar caviar made in this country would find a 
ready sale in the large cities, such as New York and Boston, where 
there are large settlements of Jews. 
It is said eee in some parts of Europe ‘* ge palate, commonly termed 
the * tongue,’ is considered a great delicacy 
In common with numerous other eee certain parts of the carp 
were formerly considered to be of great medicinal value. Thus Walton, 
on the page quoted above, says that *‘ physicians make the galls and 
stones in the heads of Carps to be very medicinable.” 
Besides being of value as an article of food there are a number of 
other ways in which carp may prove to be most useful. Perhaps the 
most important of these is in helping to keep in check the increase of 
noxious insects which pass their larval stages in the water, and especially 
