LXVII 



The Caep. 



The supply of German Carj) for 1879, derived from the 

 increase of those which had been deposited with us by 

 the United States Commissioner, enabled us to distrib- 

 ute during that year 6,135 young fish; which 

 were given to such persons only as had ponds suitably 

 prepared for their reception. The extraordinary success 

 which had attended the cultivation of those pre- 

 viously issued having aroused a lively demand for these 

 fish, the few hundred that were on hand at the opening 

 of the year were all distributed by the middle of Janu- 

 ary — to the great disappointment of a large number of 

 applicants, whose orders we were necessarily compelled 

 to leave unfilled. 



The Carp distributed throughout the State of Mary- 

 land are mostly of the two kinds known as the "Scale, '^ 

 and the "Leather" (or scaleless) varieties— the latter 

 being the result of careful selection and breeding are 

 held in somewhat higher esteem. 



The Scale Carp, however, from which 'all our stock is 

 derived, were imported by Professor Baird, some 

 years ago, from the best ponds in Europe. They were so 

 carefully selected by his agents, with reference to purity 

 of stock, that they often produce individuals of the 

 ' 'imx^roved, ' ' or ' 'Leather, ' ' variety — young fish almost 

 entirely destitute of scales being frequently found in the 

 same brood with those holding more closely to the origi- 

 nal type. 



It is of interest, in this connection, to record the fact 

 that the fish which have been distributed in the United 

 States, as well as those retained in the breeding ponds 

 at Druid Hill Park, and in the government ponds at 

 Washington, have shown a most remarkable annual 

 growth — greatly in excess indeed of what has ever been 

 observed, for a corresponding length of time, in the case 

 of those bred in their native waters. 



This phenomenal development may be readily account- 



