80 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



introduction of this pest from Hawaii into the port of San Francisco 

 would result in serious damage to the fruit crops of the Pacific coast. 

 Funds would not permit of active oiDerationsonthe part of the depart- 

 ment against this pest prior to the close of the fiscal year, but pre- 

 liminary studies were made in anticipation of an appropriation by 

 Congress, which was granted toward the close of the session in 

 August. The results of the work done under this appropriation will 

 be reported next year, but it should be stated at this time that experts 

 have been sent to Hawaii and that all aspects of the threatened danger 

 which seemed to afford a profitable field for investigation are now 

 being carefully studied by competent men, while, with the coperation 

 of the Territorial government and of the State of California, actual 

 exterminative w^ork in the region of Honolulu is being carried on as 

 far as possible. 



BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY. 

 REARING FUR BEARERS. 



There are extensive regions in the United States well adapted to 

 fox farming and kindred industries, and the rearing of fur-bearing 

 animals for their pelts continues to be a subject of much interest, as 

 is shown by the many inquiries from various parts of the country 

 asking for information on the subject. Skunks, muskrats, mink, 

 and foxes are reared in captivity or on preserves under control of 

 breeders. The great demand for breeding animals and the reluc- 

 tance with which successful breeders part with their stock of black 

 foxes have caused large prices to be asked for mature animals, pre- 

 venting the business from becoming general, and confining the indus- 

 try in the hands of a very few. 



Comparatively few attempts to raise mink have been made in the 

 United States, and but little is known on the subject. But at from 

 $3 to $8 for first-class pelts, the present prices, which are not likely 

 to diminish, the raising of these animals should be remunerative, 

 especially in connection with some other established business, such as 

 poultry raising, orcharding, or truck growing; therefore, in coopera- 

 tion with the National Zoological Park, steps have been taken to 

 experiment with these animals with a view to determining the most 

 successful methods of rearing them. 



Muskrat farming is already a prosperous business, and has prob- 

 ably reached its highest point of development on the Eastern Shore 

 of Maryland, although followed in other sections of the country. 

 Muskrat marshes are worth more, measured by the actual income 

 from them, than cultivated farms of like acreage in the same 

 vicinity. The marshes need only to be protected from poaching, as 

 the muskrats feed on the roots of the reeds and marsh grass, and the 



