THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 589 



more than mudholes. That this fish burrows in tlie mud there is no question. The 

 beds of the waters are not unhke a sieve in appearance, with holes, round in form, 

 ranging from one-half inch to 3 inches in diameter. The banks of the ponds and 

 sloughs are quite like the bottoms. The fish have burrowed to the depth of a foot in 

 many places, and it can be readily seen that it has been done for the purpose of get- 

 ting at the roots of the vegetable growth. 



That the fish which caused these disturbances were carp Mr. Wilson 

 determined by sending- specimens to Dr. David S. Jordan. 



The testimony of Mr. John P. Babcock, at that time chief deputy 

 of the California Fish Commission, is very similar. He is quoted 

 as follows (Smith, 1896, p. 399): 



The carp have destroyed almost all the wild celery of the lower Sacramento and 

 Suisun Marshes. They reach all the ponds during high water, and, as soon as celery 

 comes up, they eat the shoots, and, in many of the best ponds on the shooting pre- 

 serves, have taken roots and all of the celery. They have not destroyed the tule 

 grass to any noticeable extent, if at all. The damage has been to the better grasses. 

 Many of the clubs planted wild celery in 1891, 1892, and 1893, but the carp destroyed 

 it all, and it is claimed by observing men that the celery is entirely destroyed. The 

 clubs resort every season to baiting their ponds with grain, and in these ponds the 

 carp move in droves that W. P. Whittier tells me look like a tidal wave, as they move 

 from one side to the other. 



The most extravagant charge as to the damage done to vegetation by 

 carp which I have seen is given by Prof. E. E. Prince, commissioner 

 of fisheries for Canada, in a paper discussing ''The Place of Carp in 

 Fish-culture" (Prince, 1897). He says (p. 33): 



In connection with this charge, a western United States paper tells of a rancher's 

 visit to Portland, Oreg., to sue for damages he had sustained from the introduction 

 of carp. He wished to find out whether he had recourse against the United States 

 Fish Commission for the introduction of carp into the rivers of this section. He says 

 these fish are destroying his meadows by eating his grass and gruV>bing up the roots. 

 As the water overflows his meadow the carp follow it up in thousands, the small 

 ones weighing about 3 laounds j^ushing their way up where tlie water is only 3 inches 

 or so in depth and clearing off all vegetation, so that when the water recedes he will 

 have mud flats in the place of meadows. 



This statement appears the more credible, however, in view of some 

 remarks made b}^ Doctor Hutchinson, stationed at Portland, Oreg., in 

 a letter discussing the value of the carp as an eradicator of the fluke 

 disease of sheep. Doctor Hutchinson says (Stiles, 1902, p. 221): 



All the l)ottom lands of this river [the Columbia] are subject to annual overflow, 

 and at this time the carp clean the meadows as thoroughly as a fire. Every spear 

 of grass, up to the very water's edge, will be eaten by them. They also have a 

 habit of rooting all around the edge of this overflow as it gradually recedes. 



Mr. Hessel, in reply to the letter from Mr. Wilson regarding the 

 damage caused by carp in the Suisun Marshes (Smith, 1890, p. 400), 

 states it as his opinion that the carp are in search of worms, Crustacea, 

 larv», etc., when they dig about the roots of the plants, and that the 

 uprooting of the plants themselves is merely incidental. According 



