n6 REPORT OF ALASKA INVESTIGATIONS. 



To undertake the business of fox ranching in Alaska a man must, in the first place, be industrious and 

 willing to endure hardship. In the second place, he must study to some extent the habits of foxes and 

 the kind of country or soil necessary for their welfare. And, third, he must have sufficient capital to buy 

 his first installment of breeding stock, with ample capital in reserve for ordinary losses, and to provide 

 against the fact that it will be necessary to operate the farm for probably four years -without any returns. When 

 he has done these things, the reasons seem remote why he should not succeed. Unfortunately, to date 

 there are very few who have taken hold in the proper manner, yet their misfortune and reverses have 

 enabled others to profit by their experience, and I look for better and more settled conditions relative to 

 the propagation of fur-bearing animals in Alaska. Those who are now beginning realize that it is a business 

 to be worked out practically and scientifically, and that haphazard methods will not suffice. 



ISLAND FOX FARMS. 



By Executive order dated February 2, 1904, authority to lease certain islands in central and western 

 Alaska for the purpose of fox raising was transferred from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Secretary 

 of Commerce. On paper the minimum lease price of $200 per annum for these islands seemed fair, and 

 without any knowledge of what these islands were, assuming that they were adapted to such purposes, 

 the offer made by the Government seemed to be an inducement that should be readily taken up. But as 

 time went on there were only four of them that were actually leased for from $200 to $250 per annum, the 

 leases to run five years. This seemed strange to me, but since my visit to a number of the islands and after 

 looking into other conditions relative to fox farming the atmosphere has cleared and I understand a great 

 many things that I did not know before. Two hundred dollars per annum does not seem much to people 

 when they hear of foxes being sold for from $5,000 to $10,000 a pair; but as I have already stated, these 

 unnatural and artificial prices can not possibly apply to the islands situated in the Pacific Ocean off the 

 coast of Alaska. The quality of the fur from these islands is not as good as that from inland areas farther 

 north. The man who goes out to that isolated country to carry on this work alone has a hard row to hoe. 

 With a capital of, say, $3,000, he must lay aside $800 to pay for his lease for the first four years, as he must 

 not expect any return from his initial stock before the end of that time. Then he has to buy his foxes for 

 a starter, and supposing he bought half a dozen blue foxes, the cost would be in the neighborhood of $i ,200. 

 There is $2,000 gone already. And the balance will be well utilized in feeding himself and his stock and in 

 paying other expenses. 



In figuring this, I have not allowed anything for corrals, for in most cases on these islands the foxes do 

 better to run at large ; but it must be understood that on many of the islands in western Alaska, including 

 some of those offered by the Government for leasing, there is not enough natural food to take care of what 

 would ordinarily constitute a fair number of foxes for such an area. Therefore, a man must provide food at 

 more or less cost the year round. If he does his own work he has no income for the first four years. If he 

 is fortunate enough to have a good position and still more fortunate in securing a reliable man to look 

 after things for these four years, the chances are that matters will be in pretty good shape at the expira- 

 tion of his lease. Then what is going to happen? Some other man may outbid him, and his time, labor, 

 and buildings are all gone. 



The Government, if opening a reservation in one of our Western States, would permit the land to be 

 acquired free, under certain restrictions; and I can not understand just why any man who is reliable and 

 industrious and willing to go out and help to develop that far-away frontier country of Alaska should not be 

 encouraged by the same privileges instead of being hampered and disheartened at the start. If it seems 

 wise to lease these islands for $200 per annum, or thereabouts, I should certainly be in favor of arranging 

 it so that after the first five years a man would either receive a rebate of perhaps half of the leasing price 

 paid by him when he has proved his good faith ; or I would suggest a sliding scale for leasing these islands 

 at $50, for example, for the first five years, and then a stationary price for the next ten years with the 

 privilege of renewal, if desired, for another ten years, and so on. Under the present leasing system, at the 

 end of five years a man may lose the island where his money and efforts were spent during the life of the lease. 

 I would suggest that the men who have already leased these islands should be advised at once that the 

 Government extends the right to the leasing of their islands to ten years, with the privilege of renewal 

 for ten more. This would be highly satisfactory, and would create confidence and satisfaction, which 

 does not exist to-day among those who have leased islands or are contemplating such a step. 



