THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 619 
1902, p. 150). In 1899 the catch for these streams was 11,869,840 
pounds, valued at $289,258. In a letter dated October 19, 1903, Dr. 
S. P. Bartlett states that the value of the output in 1901 from the 
Illinois River was nearly two-thirds of a million dollars, 17,000,000 
pounds being the output; 7 and in a previous letter— 
I am safe in saying that of all the fish produced in our inland waters and rivers the 
carp will bring the fishermen more money than all their other catch. 
ANGLING. 
The anglers for trout and bass naturally look upon the carp with 
great contempt. Nevertheless there are those who are ready to cham- 
pion the foreigner, and some would even rank him as a game fish. In 
Germany, angling for carp in the open waters has afforded recreation, 
and has been a not unimportant factor in the food supply of the peo- 
ple; and in England carp have been sought by the angler since their 
earliest introduction into that country. They are mentioned among 
the fishes included in the treatise on angling in the ‘‘ Boke of St. 
Albans,” first published in 1486, and consisting of a number of com- 
pilations often attributed to Dame Juliana Barnes (or Berners), though 
the section on angling was probably not written by her. This account 
is interesting as being probably the earliest record we have of the 
earp in the English language; and being brief, may well be quoted 
here: 
The carpe is a deyntous fysshe: but there ben but fewe in Englonde. And there- 
fore I wryte the lasse of hym. He is an euyll fysshe to take. For he is soo stronge 
enarmyd in the mouthe that there maye noo weke harnays holde hym. And as 
touchynge his baytes I haue but lytyll knowlege of it. And me were loth to wryte 
more than I knowe & haue prouyd. But well I wote that the redde worme & the 
menow ben good baytys for hym at all tymes as I haue herde safe of persones cred- 
yble & also found wryten in bokes of credence. ? 
In the later English writings on fishing, the carp is accorded a 
prominent place, and Izaak Walton (1901 ed.) devotes a chapter to its 
natural history and the modes of capture. He styles it ‘‘the queen of 
rivers; a stately, a good, and a very subtile fish,” and says (p. 17): 
And my first direction is, that if you will fish for a Carp, you must put ona very 
large measure of patience, especially to fish for a River Carp: I have known a very 
good fisher angle diligently four or six hours in a day, for three or four days 
together, for a River Carp, and not have a bite. 
aIt would seem that Doctor Bartlett has put the valuation rather high. Two-thirds of a million 
dollars for 17,000,000 pounds of fish would mean a value of slightly over 3.8 cents per pound. At the 
ssme rate used in estimating the value of the Lake Erie catch above (14 cents) the Illinois River 
eatch for 1901 would be worth $255,000. If we estimate the Lake Erie catch for 1901 on the basis of 
the catch of 1900 over that of 1899 (an increase of nearly a third) it would amount to approximately 
5,800,000 pounds, with a value of $87,000, making a total of 22,800,000 pounds, worth $342,000 for the 
two regions. There are no data at hand for estimating the amount of carp caught in other parts of 
the United States, but it is probably comparatively small in proportion to that for the regions given. 
b From a reprint of the Wynkyn de Worde edition of 1496 (London, 1810, treatise of ‘‘ Fysshynge 
with an angle,”’ signature ij). 
