634 EEPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



ity, and rapid growth, it was confidently expected that in a very short time a large 

 food supply would be furnished. 



While we l)eiieve that the carp will eventually prove a valuable addition to our 

 food fishes, and especially fill a want amongst the rural population, still we would cau- 

 tion those desiring to engage in this industry to go slow, io test its value for food in 

 comparison with our native varieties; to see whether they like carp to eat before they 

 spend any considerable sums of money in the construction of ponds, etc. 



Nothing so much injures any enterprise as overestimating its importance. Esti- 

 mates are atill wanting as to the cost per pound for raishig carp, and the fact that 

 they can be so readily procured must in a short time make them so plentiful in the 

 markets as to bring the price below the cost of production, if one-half of those design- 

 ing to engage in their culture should realize their expectations. 



There can be no doubt that the carp is a nutritious and healthy food fish, but there 

 is a doubt whether they will please the taste of the general public who have been 

 accustomed to the taste of our native fish. In the trial made by the Commission and 

 their friends, when direct comparison has been made with our native fish by cook- 

 ing them in the same manner and at the same time, the decision was that they seemed 

 inferior to the fish with which they were compared, namely, the black bass and the 

 wall-eyed pike. But in the regions where fish, even poor ones, are a luxury they 

 will provide a great boon. In a State so exceptionally well supplied, however, Avith 

 the finest fresh-water fish in the world, as our State is, it is doul)tful if the carp will 

 become either a favorite food or a source of profit for many years to come. 



Although the carp did not fulfill expectations in the matter of pond 

 culture, it has more than done so in the way it has adapted itself to 

 conditions found in this country and the rapidity with which it has 

 multiplied in our waters; and we find now that, instead of being gen- 

 erally used throughout the country and especially in those sections 

 where it was thought it would be most appreciated on account of the 

 poverty of the streams or the poor quality of their inhabitants, it is 

 being sold almost entirely to the poorer classes of people in our large 

 cities. The Illinois River, together with the other rivers of the Mis- 

 sissippi drainage sj^stem, is one of those localities in which it was 

 thought that carp would be a most valuable accession, and such has 

 turned out to be the case, though not in the exact way originally 

 expected. Although practically not used at all for home consumption, 

 it has nevertheless added very appreciably to the resources of the 

 region. 



With our constant immigration of foreigners and the formation and 

 growth in our large cities of great foreign settlements, the problem of 

 supplying these multitudes with cheap 3'et wholesome food becomes 

 ver}^ great, and anything which helps to meet this demand is of great 

 value to the country. From this point of view there is no doubt of 

 the value of the carp and the benefit to be derived from its introduc- 

 tion. To pervert a common saying, in those places to which it is best 

 suited it has made two fish to grow where but one grew before. 



But now come the sportsman and the commercial fisherman, who 

 maintain that, while all that has been stated may be true, the presence 

 of the carp is entirely supplanting the fish which was there before, 



