The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-02-17
ANDERSON S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY IT, 1881
RIyERSFUL OF MEAT.

RIvERSFUL OF MEAT.
The Finny.r German Destined to People
tho German. Carp.
atlanta Constitution.
New YORK, January 2G.
Here come, back to carp again. Be.
cause it is and interesting study-because
see in it great probabilities OF progress
and comfort for our people-and because
I met in Washington few days since a
gentleman who knew all about the first
carp establishment in America-that of
Mr.. Pappe in California.
AS typical experiment in this most
important matter, the study of Pappe's
farm and farming will be interesting.
Said my informant:
"Mr. Pappe was German, of intelli-
gence ard wealth, who owned q farm
about six miles from Sonora, in Califor-
MIA. tits composed of about 700 acres,
of which about 250 acres was considered
worthless. 1t was low, swampy land, and
was full of springs that were constant,
rather than bold, and kept the place a
perfect marsh. Dir. Pappe had bought
the farm to use as dairy farm. He put
the arabic land in grasses and grain, and
selected herd of good milk cattle. This
occupied the most of his time until few
years since, be leased it TO a company of
Swiss dairymen. He then determined to
utilize the marsh or "tule" land by fit
ting up for the the culture of carp-the
enormous profits Of which he had seen in
Germany"
"Let US have his process /"
"It was so simple that it could hardly
be called process. He had the fore.
sight to provide his ponds, however, be-
fore he went for his fish. BE laid off the
lowest part of the marsh into an area for
seven ponds. He then dug them out to
the depth of about5 feet, each covering
about 200 feet. The drift dug from the
bottom was used as dam and levee. His
place was called, 'Polpuli Rancho from
the number of springs on it, and the
ponds soon filled up with water that. has
uniform temperature of about 74..de.
grees. The water is allowed to flow
easily through the pond gates at inter-
walls, so as 10 keep it fresh. The ponds
succeed each other in falls Of q few feet.
Besides these ponds he built several
small ponds in which to place the fish
that we're for sale. The making of the
ponds drained the rest of his 250 acres
and made io the richest land on his
place"
"How did be secure his carp?"
"Hc went to Germany for tim. This
shows how important he eon,Adered it.
He travelled 5000 miles across the CONT
nent-then took steamer for England
| and thence to Bremen. He looked up a
certain miller in Reinfeld, who was
reputed to have an excellent quality Of
carp. He purchased SO fish selecting
them in all sizes-from fish more than
Two feet in length-and from that size
down to the length of steel pen. He
then hurried aboard steamer and
started home. He placed the fish in
four buckets, placed one higher than the
other, and arranged it so that the water
would flow from one bucket from the
highest to the lowest bucket and back
again. The supply of ice gave out and
he soon found that he could not keep
the water cool enough. The fish com.
menced dying, the largest one going first.
Mr.. Pappe set up night after night
watching them, but by the time he
reached New York harbor only 20 Of the
SO we're left. Being detained two days
or account of quarantine, twelve more
died before he reached the shore. These
he put at once in small ponds of Croton
water which he had prepared for them.
They were left here for several days to
recuperate and were visited by hundreds
of fish men. Mr.. Pappe made the most
elaborate preparations for their conduct
across the continent taking half Of a spe-
cial car where he could attend to them
all the time. After nine days trip he
reached Sonora valley with FIVE tiny fish,
the five smallest of the original SO.
These were punny, sluggish and almost
dead. They represented however, three
months trip, and over $1,000 in cash, or
about $500 EACH"
"How did they thrive?"
That is the interesting part of it, and
fortunately I have the figures to give
the special information. The FIVE fish
we're scarcely larger than steel pen
when he put them in the pond.
This was in August 1877. In the May
following, nine months after he had put
them in the pond, the original five had
grown to be over sixteen inches in
length, and the number increased to
over 5000. The carp spawn in April
and May, spawning two or three times
instead of continually as other fish do.
After this there was no lack of fish,
although the demand was immense. At
three years old the three remaing fish of
the original five were over two feet long
and weighed abopt fifteen pounds. The
average growth of the carp was about
twelve inches in twelve months after
birth-that is, fish spawned in May will
by the next May weigh from four to six
pounds and measure from nine to twelve
| inches. This is the ascertained result of
Mr.. Pappe's fish. AS one female will
hatch out from 10000 to 10000 under
good conditions, you can see that nu-
merous results are obtainable. There's
no meat-producing record like it. Think
of it. A single pair of carp to produce in
one season 10000 young that by the next
season would yield to the net from 60, 600
to 100000 pounds of the most delicious
meat food, and this, too, without dol.
lars expense for feeding or housing or
attention"
"If the yield of a single pair is from
10000 to 10000 why did Mr.. Pappe's
produce only 5000 the first year,"
"Simply because they had spent the
first three or four months of their lives
in travelling and month, probably, in
recuperating. Their spawn was much
larger than 5000, but the frogs destroyed
large amount of it. The yield was not
as large, however, as it was for the same
five fish the next year"
"You say that it cost nothing for food.