The Harrison times., 1915-11-13

a favorable location, a love for an.
mails, and an ordinary degree of pru
dence, one may engage in black IT
silver fox farming with good pros
pect of satisfactory returns, provided
of course, a high price for pelts is
sustained Values of animals and
pelts were very high a few years ago,
when the industry was being
launched, but are now on much low
er basis Those who contemplate 60
ing actively into the business or in
vesting their money in corporations
or companies organized for fox farm
ing should investigate thoroughly all
phases of the business.
The records show that 1873 silver
fox skins of all grades offered in 1914
at a London auction sale realized
an average value of only $11S each.
How to Get "Slvers."
The silver fox is simply color
phase of the common red fox. The
name Silver fox" as commonly used
by furriers includes the dark phases Of
the ordinary red fox variously called
silver, silver gray, silver black, or
black, and is not to be confused with
the gray, or tree fox, the fur of which
is of comparatively little value. The
red, the typical cross fox, the silver,
and the black fox all interbreed and
when one occurs occasional examples
of the others may be expected. This
fact can be used, as the bulletin points
out. to develop silvers by cross mat
ing, and selective breeding is impor-
tant to produce silver progeny. Breed
ing to produce less nervous animals,
as well as to produce fine pelts, must
be considered.
The most valuable skins are those
in which the entire pelage is dark at
the base and overlaid with grayish
white. The black skins recently have
fallen below silvers because furriers
find they can dye red skins black.
Silver foxes can be raised wherever
the red foxes live in the wild state
brt will produce superior fur only n
regions where the fox naturally pro-
duces a superior fur. Records of the
biological survey show that such lo-
calities occur only north of the south
ern boundary OF the Canadian zone.
This boundary, as shown by a map
in the bulletin, crosses the states OF
Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and
South Dakota, and extends southwark
along the mountains in New York,
Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and IN
all the states Of the Rocky mountain
region and westward. South Of the
forested regions of the northern tier
of states and western Oregon, how
ever, the Canadan zone, although suf-
tciently cold, is too dry and sunny
for the production Of first.class fur.
In the transition zone, a region less
cold, foxes having fair quality Of
fur may be raised, but the best are
obtained only in more north, lati-
tudes.
How to start Farm.
To raise silver foxes calls for a pair
Of foxes, which will cost from $3.50 to
$3.50 each for the common sllvers, up
to several thousand dollars each for
the best sllvers. The yards in which
they are kept must have high and
strong wire-net or board fences with
an overhang at the top to prevent the
foxes from crawling over. These
fences either have to be sunk In the
ground or the fence wire has to be
extended as a mat on the ground to
prevent the animals from digging I'M
der. The cost of yards rln from 500
to $50 each, which in1ludes the max.
ing OF the special dens needed for
tho animals. The equipment Is de.
scrbed in detail In the bulletin. The
chief requirements for fox farm are
weldrained, wooded land In 80.
cluded section where the foxes, which
are inclined to be nervous, will not
be subject to outside disturbance. The
fox ranch must have good drainage
and must be partially shaded by
Young growth Of deciduous trees. Each
pair of foxes should have runway
OF about $500 square eet and provi
sion should be made for separating
them. One reason for properly equip
ping the yards and locating them away
from outside interference Is the fact
that the vixen is very nervous about
her cubs and frequently mishandles
and kills them In attempts to hide
them from imaginary dangers, Al
tendance Is an important feature be-
cause foxes do not tame readily and |
rarely become friendly. Constant |