FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 23 
at any time a red fox may appear among the other silvers in a litter. 
Few cases of red or cross pups among litters of silver pups were re- 
corded, and no absolutely reliable evidence that any were found was 
submitted; but the general opinion seemed to favour the statement that 
an occasional red pup appeared. Any breeder of silvers who had such 
impure foxes in his pens would be likely to conceal the fact by killing 
or removing the red pups. Silver foxes can be produced of good silver 
colour by top-crossing cross foxes with silver for several generations 
_and, if the silver foxes used in the crossing had ancestors of cross foxes, 
the probability is that a proportion of red, bastard, and cross foxes 
would appear among their offspring. All evidence tends to show, how- 
ever, that very few, if any, with red colour on them are produced, and 
it is clearly demonstrated that the blackness of foxes can be made prac- 
tically permanent by top-crossing to silvers. After mixing up red, cross 
and silver foxes for several generations, it is practically impossible to 
estimate the kind of pups that will come. Litters were seen that had 
red pups, cross pups and silver pups in them. 
Beyond a doubt, the finest foxes in captivity are the 
The Best descendants of foxes captured in Prince Edward Island. 
Furred Foxes 2 
The best foxes, therefore, belong to the geographical 
species, vulpes rubricosa; or, what is affirmed—and is not impossible— 
the Prince Edward Island fox, because it has been cut off from the 
mainland, is a distinct sub-species or geographical race. No cranial 
and other measurements have yet been secured. If scientists admit the 
fact of its difference from the mainland species, a new name, vulpes 
abegweit, could be chosen—Abegweit being the Micmac Indian name for 
Prince Edward Island. 
As London sales show that silver and red foxes from Prince Ed- 
ward Island have been sold for the highest prices, the evidence seems to 
bear out the assumption of its superiority. Red foxes have, in some 
cases, sold for 80 shillings. Twenty-three red fox skins from Prince 
Edward Island, marketed in London in 1910, by one man, were sold 
for £68 sterling, or an average of $14.39 each. Other vendors claimed 
to have received as much as 88 shillings each, but no documentary proo 
was produced. 
When black colour phases of such animals are captured, they are 
usually of excellent quality in fineness and colour of coat. The ancestors 
of the highest priced foxes were dug out of dens, as a general rule 
situated on Prince Edward Island. 
One instance of the capturing of wild foxes may be quoted, as the 
ailver blood procured on this occasion flows strong in the highest priced 
snimals of the present time. Two residents of Bedeque, P.E.I., had 
