Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-05-28
FARMERS FIND FISH
A PROFITABLE CROP
FOLLOWING FLOODS
Water Covered Marshes Provided
Them With Plentiful Sup
ply OF Carp.
WELL PAID FOR THEIR WORK


Delaware City. May es.--It Is not
often that farmers fish on their many
acres land derive greater profit from
fish than from other crops, but this
condition Is an actual fact i'm this sec
ton. where some of the farmers report
very large catches of carp on their
flooded farm land One farmer reported
a catch of about 81 900 worth OF the
fish for four weeks work. lie said that
this Is almost as much as he got Off
the flooded acreage before 1t was IN
undated with water.
Several years ago, the river bank be-
tween here and Port Penn broke dur
ing a heavy storm and flooded Thousands
of acres of very valuable farm land, the
flooded area extending back into the
country a distance OF ten miles and
actually forcing some of the farmers
to give up their farms and move clse-
where.
With the flooding of this farm land,
thousands of carp entered the flooded
section and since that time thousands
of dollars worth of the fsh have been
caught all over the flooded area. not
only in the marshes between here and
Port Penn, but on the flooded lands on
the road from here to St Georges The
farmers complained of their flooded
lands and sought means to secure the
immediate repair OF the banks, but
now that they have realized the value
of the fish ON their flooded farm land,
they are busy reaping the benefit of
their earlier misfortunes. az several of
the farmers were unable to use a single
acre of their farmland for agricultural
purposes and this OF course was a heavy
loss To them.
For short time, some of the farmers
rented out their marshes TO the fisher
men. but since they have seen what
large catches have been made by the
fishermen. a number of the farmers
have decided that they can make a
greater profit by fishing the section
themselves Three farmers on the road
from here to Port Penn are now de-
voting the greater portion of their time
to fishing and are not worrying about
whether or not they will plant tomatoes
this season or what price they will re-
ceive for wheat
During the past winter, the fisher
men OF this section made small fortunes
from their carp catches. One crew
caught $500 worth of the fish In two
days. while several of the crews made
several thousand dollars apiece dur
ing the cold winter months, when
most streams were covered With ice and
il was necessary for the fishermen to
work through the ice to land the
valuable fish. These first are shipped
to the Philadelphia and New York mar
kats. where good prices are paid for
them
Hook and line fishermen have been
enjoying fine sport in the Chesapeake
and Delaware canal. The carp fishing
is providing the anglers with the, finest
kind of game fishing.
Frank Rhein and William Press land
ed buck sturgeon. yesterday. the fish
being their eighteenth for the season.
These two fishermen lead the local
fishing crews. with Robert Durham and
Rufus Yearsley q close second with
fourteen OF the hdg fish. Durham and
Ycarsley on Tuesday landed two Of the
fish, which netted 81 pounds Of roe.
Rhein and Press landed four this week.
All arrangements have been com
pleted fer the Memorial Day exercises
10 be held at this place Monday. c. w.
Metzger viii be chief marshal OF the
affair. The graves viii be marked with
small American flags, distributed by
members of the local troop OF Boy
Scouts, under the supervision of Ben
janin Dougherty. Mrs. FARRELL and
James p Muiligan.
The parade to be held viii form at the
foot of Clinton street and viii be led
by the band and troops from Fort du
Pont, under Captain King. c. A. c.
The local fraternal organiza tions. Red
Cross, Boy Scouts. Girls Community
Club, Mayor and City Council. Board of
Education and school children viii take
part In the parade. which will march
TO the Union Cemetery, where an APP
-propriate program will be rendered.
The improvements on williams street
are rapidly nearing completion. The
completion Of this work viii make big
Improvement In the condition of that
street, as IT has given much trouble
during past winters and at times.
vehicles have become mired tn 1t up
to the hubs.
Large quantities Of lumber TO be
used in canal construction work are
passing through the locks here bound
for Chesapeake City. Nd
Captain Lawrence Of the Wilmington
U. s. Engineer Office was visitor
here, yesterday afternoon. on an In
spection trip.
More Fun Than q Circus