Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1916-11-05

some not for from Prince William sound
There is one at Copper Center on the trail
between Fairbanks and Valdez which is
said to have 200 foxes and to have sold three
live ones not long ago for just about $4,000
There is farm at Baker Hot Springs which
has paid as high as $500 apiece to the In
dams for black fox pups, and one near here
which has interested eastern capital to the
amount of $300,OOO Judge Moran, mem
Der of the Alaska legislature, has established
fox farm at Shuffknak on the Kobuk river
in arctic Alaska. He is raising white foxes
as well as blacks, reds and crosses and says
that these animals can be reared Just as cas-
lily as cattle and hogs
During my stay in the Klondike had a
talk with Albert f. Lamb about the fox
farms at White Horse and. Dawson Mr..
Lamb is the registrar of Yukon territory
and secretary of one of the >fox-farning
companies. He says there are four fox
farms in that vicinity, and that the furs they
produce are far superior to those of eastern
Canada and Prince Edward Island Alaska
and Yukon furs of all kinds are quoted by
fur houses at 20 per cent higher than those
of eastern America, and fox skins from this
region are worth 40 per cent more than
those caught around Hudson bay. Indeed
the best furs of the world come from the
very cold climates, such as Siberia and Alas
ka, and the day will come when the fur
farming industry OF these ATTITUDES will be
one OF the great clothing industries of the
world
HE buSIneSS Of FIR hao 1,x,
the Canadians about Is years ago. The first
fox ranches were on Prince Edward Island,
and that little island today has the largest
and most profitable farms in the world.
There are 210 different companies engaged
in the business, and their capitalization is
about $30,OO0O0O The most of the COM
panies are paying dividends, and their net
profits in 1913 were over $4,OOOOOO The
island has about 900 fox ranches and the
business has spread to other parts of Can
ada Over 400 companies are engaged in it
in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New
Brunswick, and farms have been started also
in Quebec, Ontario and western Canada
There are several fox farms in New Eng
land, some in New York state and a number
in the far northwestern part of the continent.
The chief originator of fox farming was
Charles Dalton, who is now millionaire
member of parliament He was born in
Canada and started life as fur trader and
trapper. He realized the value of fox skins
and concluded to see if he could not. raise
foxes in captivity. He started with red
foxes, but about 20 years ago was able to
get two pairs of silvers, which he bred on his
farm on one of the islands. He succeeded
and kept on buying wild animals and breed
ing tame ones. He was known to have MANY
fine skins, but no one knew of the wealth he
was making until the small banks of the
neighborhood refused to take any more of
his cash for deposit. 1t then leaked out that
he was selling skins produced on his ranch
for prices which averaged hundreds of dol
lars per skin, and that he was fast growing
rich. have before me record of 203 skins
sold by him from his farm on Prince Edward
Island. The sales cover period of Is years.
In that time he sold 203 fox skins, which
brought him in just about $158,OOO or on
the average $778.28 per skin. Dalton also
sold foxes for breeding. When he sold his
ranch it had 20 pair of silver foxes upon it.
He got 100000 for it, or an average of
$4,000 per pair
In the meantime the news of Daltpn's
success had spread over the world. Other
fox farms were established and were capital
lied at large sums, according to the number