548 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



there directly by the government and state comnjissions. There was at 

 this time a fever of enthusiasm for carp culture throughout all parts 

 of the United States. From the time of the proposed introduction 

 the Fish Commission had published many papers, including a number 

 of translations of German articles, giving much information on the 

 habits of the carp and its desirable qualities, and explicit directions as 

 to the methods in vogue in raising carp in German}^, where this indus- 

 try is most important. The newspapers took the matter up and were 

 loud in its praises, but neglected to give so large a share of attention 

 to the practical side of the question — to the care and attention the 

 fish should have in order to make the venture a success. Most men 

 are interested at once when they think there is a chance of getting 

 something for nothing, and here seemed to be an opportunity to have 

 a perpetual suppl}^ of fresh fish for anyone who had land with any 

 kind of a mud hole on it that would hold a few bucketfuls of water. 

 Accordingly applications for carp piled in, and were filled as soon as 

 possible. As a result of ignorance and neglect, a large proportion of 

 these fish or their offspring were soon undoubted!}^ in the public 

 waters — largely from the breaking of dams of improperly constructed 

 ponds, and two years later (in 1883) came reports of their being taken 

 in considerable numbers by fishermen in the rivers and lakes. 



Besides the stocking of the public waters which occurred accident- 

 ally, many fish were also purposely planted in them. In 1881 the Ohio 

 State Fish Commission put 40 carp into the Maumee I'iver (Ohio Fish 

 Commission Report, 1882, p. 1435), and in May of the same year some 

 were planted in Ten Mile Creek. These were 2^ inches long when 

 liberated, and it is reported that in the following September and 

 October a number were caught which would weigh 4:1 to 5 pounds, 

 while one had a weigjit of 8 pounds. In the same report we read that 

 12 carp were given to Mr. Charles Carpenter, of Kelleys Island, which 

 is in the very midst of the breeding grounds of the white-fish, and 17 

 to Mr. Edward Lock wood, on the (Catawba) Peninsula. Both of these 

 lots doubtless contributed sooner or later to stock the lake. Indeed, 

 one of the first lots of carp sent out from ^¥ashington was in Novem- 

 ber, 1879, to Mr. Lewis Leppelman, Fremont, Ohio (Smile}", 1886, 

 p. 792), which is on the Sandusky liiver, and probably there is no 

 place in the United States to day where carp are much more abundant 

 than in the waters of Sandusky River and Bay. In July, 1883, how- 

 ever, Mr. I>(eppclman thought he still had all his fish, so they could 

 not have contributed to the first stocking oi the river and lake. 



One of the earliest records I find of the taking of carp in Lake Erie, 

 where they are now so abundant, is given in a compilation by Mr. 

 C. W. Smile}^ (1886, p. 738) among the statements of those who 

 received carp of the Fish Commission. This is the statement of J. C. 

 Staling, of Monroe, Mich., December 10, 1883, that one of the 



