740 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



though smaller, have escaped all diseases because, he says, each 

 year he digs over the soil to sweeten it. The pens must have 

 shady places and sunny places for the varying weather. It is 

 well also to caution the beginners against giving the Foxes a 

 pile of new earth to dig in. This is sure to cave in and cause 

 trouble. 



Fur is prime in November, but should be left until late 

 December, as it continues to get fuller, and the fading process 

 does not set in until the end of winter. The fur is improved 

 by cold weather and by plenty of food in the fall, especially 

 oily foods, such as fish heads, etc., and oil cake might prove 

 effectual. Castration, to make a larger, finer robe, has not 

 been tried. 



COST OF In getting stock the fox-farmer must remember that the 



STOCK farther north it comes from the better, and that the Gray-fox 



of Virginia and the South is not wanted at any price. The 



best way to get Foxes is by digging out the young in May and 



June. 



Wild Red-foxes can often be bought for one or two dollars 

 each. The breeder gets $8 to $15 a pair for good cage-reared 

 seasoned specimens of the common Red-fox. But we wish to 

 raise Silver-foxes, not common Reds. As already stated, the 

 Silver, Black, and Cross-foxes are mere colour freaks of the 

 Red-fox. They are found wild in every shade and inter- 

 grade. The ideal and inimitable Silver-fox is glossy jet 

 black with a silvery tip to each of the long hairs, giving a 

 frosted finish of exquisite beauty. A pair of Silver-foxes 

 may produce a litter of Red-fox young. But these things 

 run in families and a pair of Silvers or Blacks are almost 

 sure to produce some of their own colour. By selecting the 

 dark ones for breeding, the desired type can soon be fixed. 

 In five generations, that is, five years, Norton tells me he 

 found it possible to breed out all the 'Red' and have a strain 

 of pure 'Silver-foxes.' From a pair of fairly good Blacks, 

 valued at $50 each as pelts, he last year raised 7 perfect 

 Silvers worth ;^200 each. 



