Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1884 — Carp in Tennessee. [ARTICLE]

Carp in Tennessee.

A farmer in Lincoln County, Tennessee, gives his experience with these fish as follows: “I had been in the fish business about five years trying to accomplish something in that line, but without success, with the common fish of our country, when my attention was drawn to carp, and I obtained from the Commissioner at Washington six mirror carp and placed them in my poods Dec. 1, 1880, the fish being about five inches In length. I drained my ponds Sept. 10, 1881, caught the fish, and found them eighteen inches long and weighing four pounds each, accidentally killing two of them. In the spring of 1882 they commenced spawning, beginning in April, and spawning once a month for five or six montlis. In November, 1882, I .again drained my ponds and found I had about 2,000 young fish of five or six sizes. I reserved 600 of the largest, and sold the rest to parties for

stock fish. My old ones then weighed eight pounds each, and were over two feet long. Again, on Nor. 1, 18S3, X drained my ponds, and I had about 4,000 young fish, 500 yearling fish, and a surplus of 2,500 of both ages. My old fish now weigh ten or twelve pounds each, the two sexes being different in size. The young fish are all uniform in size. I had several of them on the table in the spring, and. in my opinion, they can not be excelled for eating in the winter and spring. In the summer, like other fish, they are not good, the water becoming impure, and they lose their flavor, but continue to grow with plenty of water and room. They are not expensive to raise, are vegetable feeders, and will thrive on anything a pig will do well on. They need attention, of course.