The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-06-05
Carp Culture Again.

welcome you home at last.
Carp Culture Again.
A Washington correspondent recently
described an interesting sight that va:
witnessed by many persons when the
water was drawn from one Of the carp
ponds used by the fish commission fol
propagating purposes. The pond from
which the water was exhausted lS IN
sight of the White.House, between that
building and the Potomac River. To-
gether with several other ponds it is in
charge of DR.. Rudolph, superintendent
of Government fish ponds. During the
summer some of the ponds were filled
with rare aquatic plants, and visitors who
saw none of the fish were amply reward
ed for a visit to DR.. Hassel's ponds by
the show of luxuriant plants and brilliant
flowers. The pond emptied covers two
or three acres, perhaps five. 1t is shall.
low, as the carp do not require great
depth of water. When the water was
reduced to narrow stream crossing the
pond the fish were scooped out with nets,
transferred to tubs, and, having been
carefully counted, were ready for ship
ment to such points as Prof. Spencer +.
Baird, the commissioner of fish and fish.
cries, had directed. In this first pond
emptied it was ascertained that, by the
natural process of propagation, the in
crease had been sixty.five thousand in
one year. The fish taken are varied in
size, fromEthe minute specimens half an
inch or less in length to those of two or
three pounds in weight. They were
principally mirror carp, having a few
scales along the back, but there were in
their company not few leath carp and
an occasional hybrid and tench.
Mr.. I. N. Cotton, of Traders Point,
Ind, writes as follows to the Indiana
Times of the ease with which these fish
may be raised: Two years ago last No
vember I received thirty.three mirror
carp, about three inches long, direct
from the United States fish commissioner.
I placed them in my pond, and saw no
more Of them until the following sum-
mer. T saw no young ish the first sum.
mer, but during the second, hundreds of
young fish came to view. took two
with hook and bait in twenty-three
months from the time that 1 put them in.
One measured seventeen, the other nine
teen inches in length, the larger weigh.
ing three pounds and ten ounces; so that
the increase and growth are all that we
could ask for. The quality l am satisfied
will give better satisfaction than the
great majority of fish you can buy on the
market. They have no small bones, and
are very tenacious of life after being
taken from the water, and would keep
longer than most fish without dressing,
though all fish should be beheaded as
soon as taken. Ponds may be made by
leveeipg or excavaling or both. They
need not be fancy, and may be irregular
and in any shape that the locality will
permit. 1t takes but small supply OF
water to keep pond of one'half an acre
full. If the water source is high
enough or the water will rise high
enough, I should prefer leveeing to exca-
vating. Look out for gravel beds or
seams of gravel. There is where you
lose your water-through the gravel. By
cutting trench through the gravel aud
filling with clay you can stop leakage.
You should have from. -four to,-six feet
of water in some part of the pond, but
YOU want more shallow water for feeding
and spawning, with plenty of aquatic
plants for. the fish to feed on. Water
cress is said TO be good. The black
muck bottom, or even clay, is better than
gravel for carp. The greatest difficulty
in making ponds is to get rid of water oi
branches and ravines that are liable to
overflow your ponds in times of heavy
rains. They should be ditcbed around
the pond. There should be place Of
discharge for surplus water little lower
than the top of the levee, we'll protected
from wash by boards or stone. You need
not be much alarmed about carp trying
to get out. They are migratory, and
in time of rain and storm or any distur'
bance of the water they seek the bottom
of the pond.
Make you carp pond, if it is but one
rod wide and three or four long, and you
will be surprised at the amount Of fst
YOU can raise in it by feeding. If YOU
have six sheep on an acre pasture they
grow we'll, but if you put fifty you will
have to feed or they will starve. A linn
tied number of carp will flourish in :
pond without feed, but an overstoch
must be fed. Throw in cabbage leaves
potato peelings, turnips, cucumbers
watermelon rinds, or anything that ,youl
pig will eat, and you will be astonishee
at what good feeders they are and thei
growth. They like wheat bread bette
than anything that I have fed. If yol
will feed at the same place in the ponf
always, your fish will soon learn to come
there for their feed. Throw in tev
pellets of bread that will sink to the bot
tom and then some that will float, ant
your fish will soon learn to come to TIT
surface. I have been unable to keel
entirely clear of excitement when carl
two feet long rises to the surface to TAX
his food and returns lashing the waite
with his tail, even though | have wit
messed it hundreds of times.