320 ANIMAL FOOD EESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



prized at table, but the flesb is softer than that of th& 

 surf smelt and oulachan. Anchovies are only second tO' 

 the oulachans in abundance, and may be taken with 

 great ease during the autumn. 



Carp. — The family of the Cyprinidse is so large that 

 it embraces nearly half of all the fishes of Europe. It 

 consists of more than fifty genera; but there are not 

 more than a dozen of any real importance. 



The carp may be considered the head of this large 

 family. Dr. Horach possesses in Bohemia carp ponds 

 covering more than 100 hectares (about 2-50 acres). He 

 finds that between April and September the fish increase 

 10 per cent, in weight. 



The carp, after the Scihno hucho, is one of the largest 

 producers of flesh, for it is gluttonous and feeds on every- 

 thing, and is a great purifier of the waters.. Its colour 

 varies with age, season, and the chemical composition of 

 the water in which it lives. 



The weight of the carp from Upper and North 

 Lusatia, represented at Cottbus by their breeders, is. 

 8,000 to 10,000 cwt., and every year on the first Monday 

 of the Cottbus fall market, there is a so-called carp ex- 

 change for selling the fish, which are mostly sent to 

 Berlin by water. The carp in beer is a favourite dish 

 there, and about 500,000 lbs. are annually consumed in 

 that city. 



Eecently three species of carp have been introduced 

 into the United States, the mirror carp, the scale carp, 

 and the leather carp. 



In a recent communication Professor Baird expresses 

 great faith in the future of this new fish. He is satis- 

 fied that within ten years it will constitute a very pro- 

 minent portion of the animal food of the North American 

 continent. Although scarcely known in the United 

 States, and but little more, as an article of extended 

 application, in England and France, the carp is in Ger- 

 many and Austria cultivated to the highest degree, so as 

 to constitute a notable article of the market supply. 



The carp will have 100,000 eggs per pound weight of 



