180 EXPERIMEXT STATION RECORD. 



Silver fox farming- in eastern North. America, N. Deabborn (C7. S. Dept. 

 Agr. Bill. 301 {1915), pp. 35 figs. 22). — It is said that the silver fox is a color 

 phase of the common red fox. The beauty and rarity of its pelt have made it 

 the most valuable of fur animals. It was first successfully domesticated in 1894 

 in the Canadian Province of Prince Edward Island. In 1910 pelts from ranch- 

 bred foxes brought higher prices than those from wild foxes, the average value 

 being over $1,300 each. Since that time the demand for breeding stock has been 

 so great that very few domesticated foxes have been slaughtered. Stock com- 

 panies have been organized to engage in the new industry, with the result that 

 a careful study of foxes in domestication has been made which will contribute 

 materially to the permanence of fox farming. 



"A fox ranch should be situated where it will have good drainage and be par- 

 tially shaded by a young growth of deciduous trees. Each pair of foxes should 

 have a runway of about 2,500 sq. ft. They thrive on a varied diet, including 

 meat, fish, bread, mush, milk, and table scraps. The reproductive period is about 

 10 years. The young are born in April or May, the average litter containing four 

 cubs ; but as only about half of the captive females produce young in any given 

 year, the annual increase has not averaged above 100 per cent. 



" Foxes bear captivity well. No widespread disease has appeared among them. 

 Wounds heal readily, and cases of sickness are usually attributable to a lack of 

 proper care. By selective breeding the originators of fox culture produced a 

 superior strain of animals in the cour.se of a few years. This fact is an assur- 

 ance that even greater improvements can be achieved by selecting, from different 

 geographic races, foxes of the largest size and crossing them witli animals having 

 the finest fur." 



Report of the biologist {New Jersey Stas. Rpt. 1914, PP- 253-293. pis. 3).— 

 Data on the climatic conditions as related to oyster propagation, distribution of 

 oyster fry, spawning, and spatting at the Barnegat and Tuckerton stations during 

 the season of 1914 are given. 



DAIRY lARMING— DAIRYINa. 



Report of the dairy husbandman, A. S. Cook {Neic Jersey Stas. Rpt. 1914. 

 pp. 141-169). — In an experiment to determine the feeding value of cured alfalfa 

 hay as compared with green alfalfa fed as a soiling crop for cows producing 

 milk, and to ascertain the physical effect of green alfalfa fed as a soiling crop 

 with silage as compared witli alfalfa hay, two lots of cows were fed by the 

 reversal method during two periods of 40 days each. Both lots received in 

 addition silage, beet pulp, corn meal, gluten, distillers' grains, cotton-secxl meal, 

 and bran. The total average weight of the cows on the alfalfa hay ration was 

 practically the same as of those on the soiling crop ration, and the production 

 of both lots remained remarkably constant during the entire experiment. The 

 average daily milk production was 22.G lbs. per head when alfalfa was fed as 

 compared with 23.1 lbs. on the soiling crop ration. On the alfalfa hay ration 

 358.4 lbs. of milk fat from milk testing 3.27 per cent was producefl, and on the 

 soiling crop ration 3G4.9 lbs. from 3.29 per cent milk. The cost of feed was 

 $153.90 and tlie profit over feed cost $100.91 on the alfalfa hay ration as com- 

 pared with a feed cost of $132.07 and a profit over feed cost of $125.99 on the 

 soiling crop ration. For every pound of alfalfa hay that was fed 1.9 lbs. of 

 milk was produced, while it required 2.68 lbs. of green alfalfa fed in the form 

 of a soiling crop to produce 1.9 lbs. of milk. 



Two lots of three calves and three yearling heifers each were fed by the 

 reversal method a soiling crop ration (mainly green alfalfa) and a corn silage 

 ration. Both lots in addition received skim milk, alfalfa hay, corn meal, bran, 



