, 1888-10-12
CARP o
They Thrive Wen Enough, but Are Not
Very Good to Eat.

They Thrive Wen Enough, but Are Not
Very Good to Eat.
When the government some years ago
began the introduction of carp into this
country a great deal of interest was mani
tested in the project and all kinds of pre-
dictions were INDUCED in. Carp ponds
were constructed all over the country
and the immigrants took kindly to Amer
lean water. The prediction that the
carp would do well in this country was
soon realized, but there does not seem to
be much prospect of the realization of
the prediction that it will be the future
food fish of this country. At any rate,
Jerseymen are not taking kindly to eat
ing it. An attempt was made to intro
duce it into the market at Paterson and
the price dropped to ten and eight cents
per pound, but the taste of the people was
more favorable to catfish and porgies,
and the carp were driven out of the
market. Those who ate them pro-
nounced them worse than the American
sucker, and nobody seemed anxious for
n second trial. George Jackson, of Lit
tie Falls, was one of the first to catch the
carp fever, and he has several ponds full
of the various kinds. One day he killed
one weighing about four pounds. 1t
was prepared in various different ways,
and was found to be enough for a dozen
families. Carp boiled, stewed, fried and
fixed in different other ways was passed
about the neighborhood, but nobody
called for a second plate. Then some
one suggested that the proper way to eat
it was with port wine sauce. The jury
returned a verdict without leaving their
seats that this was a good way to spoil
port wine.
In the upper part of Passaic county
there were a number of carp ponds. One
night a freshet swept them away and the
carp got into the river. Since that time
they nave multiplied rapidly, and last
year large numbers weighing about a
half to three-quarters of a pound were
caught. This year they are caught in
still larger numbers, and the average
weight has increased to over a pound,
and occasionally one weighing three or
four pounds is caught. They have been
caught weighing SIX or seven pounds,
but carp of this size are scarce.
The Passaic river, from the Morris
county line for several miles either way,
is a sluggish stream, admirably adapted
for the growth of carp. This part of the
river is now literally alive with them,
and it takes but a short time to catch a
ihl6O IlhLlDCls 1ht1 VIII AdhC IL L
like any common fish, but the largest
number are caught on dough mixed with
cotton. Boiled peas make a delicate bait,
and when boiled string beans are pre-
sented to them the carp fairly jump with
delight.
After they are caught they are gener-
ally thrown away, fed to the cats or
used for manure. Very few people I'M
dertake to eat them. In some places the
carp are so thick that they can be seen
at times by the hundred. Then again
they stir up the bottom in search of bait,
and the water presents a muddy appear
ance for q considerable distance around.
In this way the river is kept almost con-
%tinually stirred up, SO that people living
along the banks are complaining of the
quality of the drinking water.
What this marvellous increase in carp
is going to result in ish question that is
troubling some people. Other fish in
PRODUCED into waters where they do not
belong have frequently multiplied SO rap
idly as to die off by the thousands for
want of nourishment, and have thus
caused disease, their rotting carcasses
being exposed to the action of the sun
and the water. If is feared that this will
be the case with the carp, and many of
the residents along the Passaic river are
talking about joining the Knownothing
party and putting nothing but American
fish on guard.
anglers having tried the carp and
found them wanting in gamy qualities,
concluded that their introduction would
be q good thing for the bass and pickerel
who, it was thought, would relish tho
carp to feed upon. But the bass are toe
intensely American to nave a taste for
carp, and they let them severely alone
and look for other food. Fishing for
bass and pickerel is just as good as it has
been for years, and the carp do not seem
to have interfered with the food supply
of other fish. Catching carp is a novelty
to an angler, but he soon tires of it, and
the result is that they are being let alone,
and when caught by accident they are
generally thrown back into the water.
The carp, consequently, have everything
their own way, and are continuing to
multiply until they threaten to take rank
among the fishes which the English sphr-
row occupies among the birds of this
country.-New York Herald.