Marten 9'^ 5 



About the first of January it is well to look for signs of the breed- 

 females coming in heat. These, according to A. H. Cocks, in 

 the articles cited, are usually two or three short straws laid 

 across each other in various parts of the cage. They are 

 mouthed and slobbered over by the female, but apparently 

 are not musked. These, he believes, are left about to attract 

 the attention of a possible mate. 



The male should now be introduced and left for a week or 

 ten days. This is the critical time, as for slight cause he may 

 kill his partner. Such reprobates should be blacklisted, if 

 possible, and never again used. Selections of the gentler 

 males would in time produce a less murderous race. It is a 

 good plan to make the mating cage of extra size, with many 

 dens and corners, so that the female may have every chance to 

 escape if the male should have one of his murderous impulses. 

 She should be left alone again and always as quiet as possible. 



In about three months the young arrive and should not be young 

 disturbed. When nine or ten weeks old they begin to appear 

 outside the nest; at four months they may be weaned; at six 

 months they are fully grown and should be put into separate 

 cages. They will be ready to breed at nine months. Castra- 

 tion of the surplus males would doubtless improve their size 

 and coat; probably the second or third year will prove best for 

 marketing the fur, and it is at its best between November and 

 Christmas. It is barely possible that skilful breeding may 

 produce a race that would have progeny twice a year, and thus 

 the returns would be doubled. 



Although a Marten's pelt does not fetch more than a tenth fur 

 of what a Silver-fox's does, there are several offsets. The 

 Marten can do with a tenth of the space, a quarter of the food, 

 and is much easier to keep clean, so that the labour of running 

 a Marten ranch is comparatively slight, and many more indi- 

 viduals can be handled by one person. If Russian Sables 

 (which are Siberian Martens) can be got for stock, the returns 

 for the same labour may at once be multiplied by three. 



