

The Fur Animals of Louisiana 349 



recognized that this is a phase of the fur business that has 

 not been followed to any extent in Louisiana and it appears 

 that there is a fertile field here for such experimentation, 

 if not the establishment of commercial farms on a parity 

 with those already in business in the north and east. What 

 has been done by the Mount Forest Fur Farm has been 

 detailed because of the position this concern holds, and its 

 executives have been very obliging and free with a number 

 of matters of their business that are usually religiously 

 guarded as "trade secrets. 



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Pen Breeding 



Very little experimentation has been done in Louisiana 

 with the breeding of muskrats in pens: in this regard we 

 are far behind states in the north and in many localities 

 in Canada. For this reason we are very deficient in the 

 knowledge we should have of this chief fur producer. To- 

 day, however, there is a pronounced awakening of the value 

 of such experiments and many projects are under way to 

 build up a breeding stock of Louisiana muskrats for sale. 



E. A. Arpin, of Gueydan, Vermilion parish, has been 

 experimenting with these animals in pens for some time, 

 but he had his first success in having the animals breed 

 in captivity in the early summer of 1928. He reports that 

 he has fourteen pairs of Louisiana muskrats and one pair 

 of Colorado 'rats in captivity. 



In his experiments Mr. Arpin has followed the pair 

 mating system and has not experimented with polygamous 

 breeding. According to his method, he believes he will be 

 better able to build up his strain "by taking only the best 

 and breeding them to the best of the opposite strain, li 

 this way the poor breeders can be more quickly eliminated.' 



His females dropped their young during the latter part 

 of April and the first of May, when the animals were 

 paired he did not state, with the following results : 



Female, about 6 or 7 months old 1 young 



Female, young 4 young 



Female, young 4 young 



Female, old 5 young 



Female, old 5 young 



