20 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
©• — KAPID GROWTH OF CARP DUE TO ABUNDANCE OF FOOD. 
My JOHN H. BRAKELET. 
The European carp in becoming naturalized in this country has 
changed its habits in several important particulars. Instead of hiber- 
nating for several months with its nose in the mud, as in Europe, here 
it does this for a very short time, if at all, even as far north as the 
Middle States. The eggs hatch here in from four to seven days, accord- 
ing to the temperature of the atmosphere, while in Europe it requires 
from twelve to twenty. Here it readily takes the bait when skillfully 
presented, while it is said not to bite at the hook in its native land. So, 
in becoming Americanized, it has become quite a different fish in habit, 
if not in form. 
The rapidity of growth, too, which characterized many of those dis- 
tributed by the IT. S. Eish Commission during the first four or five years 
seemed to foreshadow another important change of habit. It was sup- 
posed that the waters of this country were more favorable for its devel- 
opment than those of its native land. But in this, I fear, we are doomed 
to disappointment. Further experience has shown that this remarkable 
growth of which we hear so much, and of which there are many ex- 
amples on record, was due to the abundance of food with which the 
carp were supplied, rather than to other causes. The small number 
furnished by the Government to each applicant— usually not over 
twenty— were frequently placed in large ponds, and often at the close 
of the first summer the fish had reached a weight of from 1 to 2 
pounds apiece, and by the end of the second summer from 4 to 5 
pounds, and in some instances their growth far exceeded this. But 
now, since they have multiplied so that we can fully stock our ponds, 
their growth is much less rapid. In the autumn of 1884 the writer 
placed a little over 2,500 carp, then one summer old and much larger 
than their parents when received from the Fish Commission, in a 5-acre 
pond. In the following autumn they were found to average about 
11 ounces each ; and last autumn, being the close of their third sum- 
mer, they fell a little short of a pound apiece, and this, too, with 
the number in the pond reduced about one-fourth. In another pond of 
about half the size the growth was no more rapid. 
The rapidity, however, with which they grow when supplied with an 
abundance of food is truly wonderful. I know of no animal— beast, bird, 
or fish— that will make as large and rapid growth on the same amount 
of food as the carp, especially in its first and second year. This would 
seem to indicate that artificial feeding is the natural remedy for slow 
growth. The few experiments I have made in this direction have yielded 
very satisfactory results, and I propose feeding on a much larger scale 
during the coming season than heretofore. 
Borpentown, K J 9 , February 15, 1887. 
