Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1883-10-04
CARP
Results of a Hasty Experimentation
That Thrive in Muddy Ponds.

That Thrive In Muddy Ponds.
Especial Correspondence of Baltimore SUM
CENTREvILLE, Nd, Sept. 20.-Some
wonderful stories have been told of
the results of experiments in different
states i'll raising German carp in
ponds, but my own experience has
been so strongly confrmatory of the
remarkable vitality and astonishing
ly rapid growth of this fish that ]
am scarcely prepared to reject altos
gether even those YARNS" which
make the heaviest demands on ones
credulity. Even the statement tele-
graphed over the country last spring
that in a pond down in Tenn., they
multiplied SO rapidly that in a ou-
Pile of years they smothered one
another may not be SO improbable as
it seems. My attention was first at
tracted to the fish at the hatchings
house in Druid Hill Park. The fish
commissioners introduced the culture
OF German Carp some years ago and
afterwards of the leather carp, and L
believe the experience of those who
obtained these fish for the purpose of
stocking their ponds has been gen
orally satisfactory. l purpose here,
however, to speak only of facts
which have come under my W OBJ
%servation.
Having heard that Mr.. Richard
Rollyday, Of this county, had been
| very successful in the propagation
cf carp. | determined to visit that
gentleman and learn from his W
lips the facts Of his experiments.
A short distance south of the house
is a little ravine, in which. are the
two carp ponds which Mr.. Hollyday
has constructed, and which are fed
by a spring. The outlets are S % ar
ranged that the ponds can be drained
ut pleasure without permitting the
fish to escape. One pond IS devoted
to the German or scale carp and the
other to propogating The leather carp.
! Mr.. Hollyday Informed me that he
fed the fish occasionally with bread
they prefer corn bread, | believe
aud that they had become so accus,
toned to being fed that they would
come quite close to him. When he
1 wished to catch them he used a small
seine, or If he desired to take out n
large number, drained off the water
until only a small pool was left at
TIC lowest point in the pond and then
dIoed them out. He had found that
he fish multiplied and grew very
rapidly, end that they were remark
ably tenacious of life. Although he
stocked his pond only a few years
ago, he was enabled last fall to furn-
,sh the fish commission with many
thousand young carp.
procured che hundred carp from
Nh. Uollyday and placed them Il pond
about 60 by 80 feet, hastily constructs
ed and without any proper appliance
Tor dram ny. The pond was formed
by throwing a dam across q ravlne
| through which flowed Il tiny stream,
but as my time and attention were
absorbed lay other matters. the en-
baukmcnt was never completed. 1t
soon sprung Il leak, and though &C.
casiunaily repaired, provided only a
partial obstruction to the flow OF wa>
fer. Consequently during the drouth
OF this summer, the pond became
little none than ad;teh As some ct
the carp had been found in the stream
below the dam, | concluded that
most If not all of them had escaped.
and gave little more thought to the
matter. Several times Lwls-in>
formed that tish Of FROM four to six
inches long had been seen In the
stream. but as nobody had been able
| to catch them, | came to the conclu-
son that they werr creatures OF the
imagination only. Judge of my sur
prise, however, when, n morning,
a few weeks ago, Oh my return from
a visit to Baltimore | was Informed
that a negro hand on the farm, who
was an expert fishman, had caught
five carp eight or nine inches long
Several days he caught four more.
They were plump and semarkally
pretty fish of silyery color. We
found them excellent eating. When
placed in the pond, about ten months
before, these fish had not been more
than an inch or an inch and a half
Iong--they were, in fact, merely
mmnows.-
My own experience was confrmt=
tory of that of Mr.. Samuel L. Earle:
u well-known gentleman of this
county, who Informed me that be had
placed carp in n very small pond, and
that they seemed to be thriving, In
fact, the cost Of making a pond Is a
mere trife, and when it has been
stocked the owner may look forward
With practical certainty to having a
good supply of fish in the not distant
future. The cary, which by the way,
IS a kin to the gold fish, was intfo>
duced into England about three hun
dred years ago, and has thrived there
in ponds ever since. l can see no
reason why they should rot become
quite as common IN this country
fhey pre- remarkably hardy, and will
live a long time, especially in winter.
They prefer quiet water. and for that
reason are best adapted to ponds with
soft, muddy bottoms and plenty of
vegetation. They feed on insects,
worms, plants, etc., and if there are
plenty Of these, require NO o.her food.
The carp whose Tepid growth ! have
mentioned were fed With bread only
at very rare and irregular intervals
during the winter, and more recently
not mt all The greatest depth Of the
pond need be only about FIVE or SIX
feet, so as to afford them refuge du-
ring tha extreme cold in winter. Their
size varies from SID TO eight inches to
two feet or two and a-haif feet and
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