sf mi-tropic California. 
156 
<garp Cttffittc. 
THE CARP AND ITS CULTURE. 
In the accompanying engraving 
fed on the refuse from the kitchen garden; pond; this also serves the fishes as n resting 
leaves of cabbage, lettuce, turnips, and any place in summer and winter. This cavity 
kind of boiled grain. 111 ‘“"d * “kettle." Front the entrance of 
In this climate this fish spawn* front | the pond to the other end, where the col- 
April to October; they are very prolific, I lector and the outer sluice arc situated, two 
one fish yielding from 400,000 to 500,000 or three ditches, 2 feet in depth and 4 feet 
during a 'single season. The eggs adhere I in length must ho made; these ditches cut 
nd for | the deeper “kettles” transversely »s far a* 
that reason it is very important that a new the collector. These ditches are intended 
pond should be provided with llonting to carry all the fish into the collector when 
Weeds fur such attachment. The eggs j the pond i» being drained. The collector 
hatch out in a few days, and tlio young! >4 nothing but a place from 20 to 40 feet in 
grow verv rapidly. Tln-y feed voraciously ' length and breadth, near the outer sluice, 
carp and the leather carp; the one entirely f| t f,; ,„. oa i|^ frog spittle, the green and is 1 foot deeper than the rest of the 
covered with scales, the other haying few, 5Curo E0 common in frog pond*; conse- bottom of the pond. This collector 
wtni/ari*, so-eftlled 
on account of the large scales which run 
along the sides of the body. This i» one of 
three races of carp recently introduced Into 
this country, the other two being the scale 
or none. 
The carp was lint introduced into this 
country from Germany, where it has been 
cultivated for food for years, and it* value 
has been widely known’ The first experi¬ 
ments with this fish in this country were 
made by our Government, at Washington, 
and its superior worth was soon evident. 
From this quarter the fish lias found its 
into numerous lakes, rivers ami ponds 
throughout the land. Hut our main desire 
in calling attention to it, is to show the feas¬ 
ibility of its culture in small ponds on our 
farms and ranches. Already there urir a 
few carp pond* in this southern country; 
the seed, of course, came to this coast from 
Washington, and are know from this that 
we have the most desirable variety’. Mr. 
Pettit, of Sati Bernardino, 
our pioneer 
carp man in Southern California, ho having 
begun the culture some t wo years ago, and 
is now, wo learn, beginning to market fish 
at good prices. Near Florence we have 
another pond in the willows, a capital place, 
and probably another year will sen some of 
the fish in our city markets. Major Toler, 
some months ago, put five hundred young 
fish into one of our city reservoirs, and 
unless the small boy begins with hook and 
line too soon, we will shortly have a reser¬ 
voir full. We learn that another gentle¬ 
man has recently started a pond juat* short 
distance cast of the city, and flatters him¬ 
self that, in a year or so, he will have a 
bonanza in partially supplying the city 
with a fiiih much superior to that which wc 
generally get from our neighboring waters. 
This fisli is probably of Asiatic origin, 
and has been domesticated in China for 
thousands of years. It i* emphatically a 
farmers fish, and may safely he claimed to 
l.c among fishes, what chickens are among 
bird*. * 
Its special merits lie in its sluggishness 
and the ease with which it m kept in ven 
limited enclosure*, it being a vegetable 
feeder, and its general mnffemsiveii.ws. It 
thriven in shallow ponds, and lives on the 
succulent root* and lea*M«r aquatic plants, 
seeds as they fall into the water, and other 
similar substances, and may n« f,j V rrv 
readily upon corn, grain, bread, root crop 
— raw or boded, and 1 ... . 
" '"ft* ■ lld - ifrtead. 
li't r-fme. The o.rp t|„„, , 
P™' 1 * »i‘l' «.eddv b, 
Bueli *, .bound in mulattos. In 
lay pond, it m,j be nee,.,., rv f ut . 
n»>. eny ,j,ee„l food, bul in 
eloiure, ol leu tfoui ^ 
quently such waters nrt« especially adapted 1 lie cleaned out every year, or the fish will 
to carp. ! become too much soiled by the mud. The 
Ar regards the best plant* for a carp inflow of water into a pond .should never be 
pond, Professor Baird mentions the ordinary | direct, as, for instance, a brook falling into 
pond weeds (Poutrdtrui and Saffit/'ina), it, as this often causes the water to sud 
splatter dock, or pond lily, and, indeed, any denly rise, carrying into the pond injurious 
THE MIRROR CARP. 
leave* f k'ubn !>' unmTtT.i "« „ ! rThe inlet sluices from the stream 
among the number. Those whlebSSum IT™ b * ? f , a * lf0 "K “" d P rnoti - 
-i'I.i-i- ii... wild S ?*>“ •*• bt 
rice arc especially ,j e | vided 
"Oraciously upon * 
sirahle, as the fi>h f L -ed 
them. 
I’onds must not be too dn*p, as the water 
will he too cold, and will harbor fewer in 
sects, larva*, and worms, which form i,art of 
he Carp * food, A depth of A feet 
cient for the center of the pond. Toward 
the outlet sluice it may be from i; to 8 f,. ct 
but only for an area of from 200 to J 000 
square feet In „,o depths of L 'S- 
l “ ™; >1" theft rwlfogpl.Mfo, 
winter, u , „l,o m Bummer whet, the , Tn i ( . p 
be,.,,,,,., too T't.c eutur ,,,,, „f it,,, 
nm.,1 .UM m,t be Jcope, than 1 foot fo, u 
dmtancc of ?0 to 100 feet. 
Toward the center of the pond a cavity 
dug 2 feet d eepcr than the rest of the 
gratings (<• prevent other ft ah 
from intruding. It will also lie fount! very 
lawful to construct a haLching place, on 
*oinn flat and sutiny spot, near the bunk; 
that is, a so-oallod cut in the land, mrnatir- 
ing -ID to 100 feet in length, and from HO to 
M TvC »n breadth, ami having a depth of 
from lH inches to 5 Undies. Tin* cut 
should In* platiti-il with aquatic plants, and 
ought to lie the only place where tin* carp 
can ascend from deep water in order to de¬ 
posit their eggs conveniently on the plants 
aud engage in tl, 0 spawning process. As 
>.uon a* tins has taker, place, tlm entrance 
lo the cut is closed with n net, so that the 
eggs cannot be eaten by the fish. 
The mica laid down hero are, of eutirso, 
not arbitrary, but n r c intended to give the 
