A. P. Butler, Commissioner of Agriculture, and ex officio of

No appointment since the death of Prof. J. L. Barfoot in

Dr. M. C. Barkwell, Chairman and Superintendent...........Cheyenne.

GENERAL REMARKS.

I have abstained from giving any personal experiences. This much I may say without incurring any risk of misleading beginners: Act boldly within the instructions of those who represent the practical experience of years of careful study and experiment. Especially have respect for the teachings of centuries as to the treatment of the German carp. It is impossible to know how far this fish has departed from the normal standard during the thousand years and more of its domestication. Institute a parallel between our barn yard fowl and its progenitor, the jungle fowl; between the PolandChina hog of Western corn fields and the wild boar everywhere.

To the oft repeated question, "Will the carp become a good river fish?" I answer that notwithstanding its timidity and its tempting, toothsome qualities to the predaceous fishes of our streams and lakes, the evidence accumulates and the belief grows that it will take its place ultimately in the list of fishes constant in all the waters of Indiana. And why not? Others as defenseless survive all accidents. The appearance of carp in White river has been reported to me by reliable authority. This has been made possible from the fact that many dams have given away, from various causes, that confined carp in ponds, and of course they went into the river with the freed waters of the ponds. So soon as the stock can be sufficiently increased a trial will be made, in suitable localities, to more satisfactorily establish the fact we seek.

To compensate for the poverty of our State in large lakes and rivers, we have in addition to the resources recited in my report, unusual facilities for making artificial lakes and ponds unsurpassed anywhere. The character of our soil and the system of natural and artificial drainage, as well as the multitude and general distribution of springs, and the moderate but frequent rainfall, all favor such of our citizens as aspire to success in the line of fish culture. At the present time the stock-pond is called upon to serve a double purpose-and the time is at hand when most farmers will have at home

better fish than they are able to obtain elsewhere, and thus vary the too restricted diet of country life.

During the past year over two thousand ponds have been reported to me as having been perfected or contemplated. Great interest must naturally attach to the results of the efforts put forth to secure a supply of food of a kind for which the family of man has ever shown great partiality, whether from pond, lake, sea or river. Time and interchange of views will enable us to come to correct conclusions as to the varieties we should cultivate.

It is proper to remark in this connection that I have heard more people express disappointment after eating the brook trout than approbation. I have eaten every variety of trout the world around, and there are many fishes I prefer to any trout. I sometimes think the great men that New England has sent out to be Senators and Governors in our land, have not only impressed us with the many good and grand ideas which they inherited, but that the recollections of hungry childhood, weary limbs and a pan full of brook trout at the end of a day's struggle up mountain streams in a contest of skill with the desired prey, have in poetic form contributed to mislead us, and make better fish at home take second places. We have many springs capable of sustaining trout-ponds-especially the California trout-and some now exist in the State. The cost of production, however, is to be considered. The most successful troutraiser I ever knew said it cost one dollar per pound to get them to marketable size. It costs as much care and time to raise a squirrel weighing two pounds as it does to raise a hog weighing two hundred pounds. The same space and labor required to afford two pounds of Delaware grapes will yield fifty pounds of Concords. It takes a season to raise a bantam, and the same time perfects a turkey. In each case there is a conceded difference in quality in favor of the smaller product; but pork, Concord grapes and turkey are approved by most persons. The variety of food possessed, and the capability of a fish to assimilate it, must always be considered by the fish culturist. Such matters can only be thoroughly understood when intelligent experimenters and practical producers come together to deliberate upon this specialty, and interchange views and experiences, as do the admirers of the horse, the cattle-raisers, the swine breeders, the wool-growers, the poultry fanciers, the dairymen, the manu