FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 3 
The growing use of the automobile and the more general habit of 
living out-of-doors have made furs almost a necessity. In America 
alone, the valuation of automobiles is now over 1,500 million dollars, and 
a proper equipment for the luxurious vehicles and their occupants neces- 
sitates the use of many millions of dollars worth of furs and leather. 
Better roads, more extensive travel, and cheaper automobiles are im- 
portant factors in determining the growing demands for fur and pelts 
generally. 
Some kinds of animals must soon be exterminated 
Instruments if the keenness of the hunt for them is maintained. 
of Destruction 
When dead-falls, snares and the bow and arrow were 
used in hunting there was a chance for the game to escape; but with 
modern guns, smokeless powder, improved traps, and the most alluring 
baits and scents that modern chemists can compound and trappers 
invent, there are fewer opportunities. Coupled with increased efficiency 
of destructive gear is the general diffusion by railroads, steamship lines 
and hunting and trapping magazines, of knowledge respecting game 
resorts and the hunter’s art. 
Railroads and steamship lines are tapping new 
tavaline a en territory, corps of guides are organized, canned 
food and better camping equipment make the 
hunter’s life more enjoyable, and the result is that the uttermost sanc- 
tuaries of the fur-bearers are invaded. Their last retreats have been 
made and they must now slowly diminish in numbers year by year. 
The musk-ox, for instance, has figured in the London sales only for the 
past forty years because, before that time, Arctic hunters were unable 
to reach its habitat. Continued invasion of its territory may lead to 
its extinction. 
The usual methods employed to prevent the complete extinc- 
Close tion of a species is to establish a close season. Recently, a 
Seasons : 
close season of three years was declared for the Russian sable 
to allow it to recuperate in numbers in Siberia. The chinchilla has 
similar protection in Bolivia, and the Canadian beaver is frequently 
protected in a similar way. A close season of five years is also provided 
for the Alaska seal. The general decrease in the numbers of fur-bearers 
during the past twenty years indicates how inefficient are the preventive 
methods employed. 
The ever-expanding areas of human settlements have 
Destruction caused some kinds of fur-bearers to retreat farther into 
of Haunts : 
the woods. The clearing away of the forests and the 
grazing of the natural covers by domestic animals have destroyed their 
haunts and exposed them to their enemies. Draining swampy areas has 
