THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 633 
As regards the culture of the carp in this country, we find that, 
although there was for a few years an enormous demand for the young 
fish—hundreds of thousands of which were yearly distributed free by 
the United States Fish Commission and by many of the state com- 
missions—their culture was soon abandoned in nearly all cases and 
the fish allowed to escape into the open waters of the vicinity. There 
are a number of reasons to account for this. People were expecting 
too much. They rushed into carp culture in entire ignorance of the 
conditions requisite for its successful operation, and, such being the 
case, it is no wonder that they were disappointed in the results and 
that their attempts were failures. In the second place, there was also 
a general disappointment in the qualities of the carp asa table fish. 
Undoubtedly, as in the case of its culture, too much had been 
expected, though perhaps not without some justification. Still, the 
bulletins that had been published and distributed made frequent men- 
tion of the muddy flavor of the carp when grown under unfavorable 
conditions, and emphasized the necessity of keeping such fish for a 
time in clear water before killing them. Then, too, the fish were 
often eaten at the wrong season, during the spring and summer 
months, when their flesh is admittedly poorer in quality than in the 
falland winter. This is true of most fish that live in rather shallow 
and sluggish waters, and even black bass are seldom caught and eaten 
at these seasons. Perhaps even more important was the matter of 
cooking. As has been mentioned in the body of the report, it is gen- 
erally conceded that carp should be cooked in special ways, and the 
Germans especially have many elaborate dishes which they prepare 
from its flesh. Most of those who tried the fish here cooked it as 
they were accustomed to cook our native fishes, and decided that it did 
not compare favorably with these, though, according to the statements 
published by Smiley (1886), many appeared to be very enthusiastic 
about it. Finally, another important factor which probably led to the 
abandonment of pond culture in many cases was the increasing abun- 
dance of carp in the rivers and other open waters. It was found that 
what fish were wanted could be obtained with less trouble from the 
open waters than they could be raised. 
The whole question was admirably summed up in the Report of the 
Michigan Fish Commissioners for 1884-1886 (Michigan, 1887, pp. 41, 
42). This report not only contained much cool-headed advice to those 
who were contemplating launching into carp culture, but was almost a 
prophecy of the outcome of the introduction of carp into the country. 
After insisting that the carp will not be a success unless properly cared 
for, the report continues: 
From the fact that carp could be successfully grown in warm and muddy waters, it 
was inferred that they would be just the fish to plant in our comparatively shallow 
lakes throughout the State, and from the published accounts of their amazing fertil- 
