THE GERMAN CARP IN THE UNITED STATES. 607 



sold in the round, those of 3 to 5 pounds' weight being- considered best 

 for cooking, and it seems that smoking shonld be an important v^ay 

 to utilize the less desirable size. 1 am unable to give even approxi- 

 mate figures of the amount or value of this particular product at this 

 time, but it seems to be an industr}^ which is capable of being devel- 

 oped upon a paying basis to a much greater extent than at present. 



Wholesale dealers who have tried the experiment of salting carp 

 down, as is done with the herring, and thus holding them over to a 

 season when thej' would demand a higher price, inform me that the 

 experiment was not a success. This is probably due largely to the 

 fact that the Jewish people are by far the largest consumers of carp 

 in this country, and they want the fish as fresh as possible. It was 

 also the opinion that the salting had a deteriorating effect upon the 

 quality of the flesh. It is a common practice in most of the large fish 

 houses, however, to freeze large quantities of carp when the supply is 

 greatly in excess of the demand at the time and to hold them over in 

 this condition until there is a market for them. 



The scarcity of sturgeon and the high price brought by caviar 

 naturally suggested to many the possibility of using the roe of the 

 carp for their purpose. While the eggs are small, a single large 

 female often contains a large quantity of them (see p. 574), and during 

 the breeding season carp roe could be obtained in abundance. But 

 those on the Great Lakes who have attempted to manufacture caviar 

 from the roe of the carp have all reported a failure, complaining that 

 in the process the eggs turn pink or red. Inquiries have been made 

 as to whether this could be avoided. This change of color is probably 

 always characteristic of caviar made from carp eggs, as is evidenced 

 by the following quotation from Walton (1901 ed., p. 116): 



But it is not to be doubted but that in Italy they make great profit of the spawn of 

 Carps, by selling it to the Jews, who make it into red caviare, the Jews not being by 

 their law admitted to eat of caviare made of the Sturgeon, that being a fish that wants 

 scales, and, as may appear in Leviticus xi, by them reputed to be unclean. 



It is possible that similar caviar made in this country would find a 

 ready sale in the large cities, such as New York and Boston, where 

 there are large settlements of Jews. 



It is said that in some parts of Europe *■' the palate, commonly termed 

 the ' tongue,' is considered a great delicacy." 



In common with numerous other fishes certain parts of the carp 

 were formerly considered to be of great medicinal value. Thus Walton, 

 on the page quoted above, sa3^s that "phj^sicians make, the galls and 

 stones in the heads of Carps to be very medicinable." 



Besides being of value as an article of food there are a number of 

 other ways in which carp may prove to be most useful. Perhaps the 

 most important of these is in helping to keep in check the increase of 

 noxious insects which pass their larval stages in the water, and especially 



