FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 55 
difficult to obtain even two matched skins at one sale. Under the new 
conditions, when thousands of skins may come to the market season 
after season, matching will be easy, and the best fur stores can carry in 
stock enough silver fox to warrant the featuring of the stock. 
An opportunity is now presented to the ranchmen to 
Mae sincere unite into a strong co-operative association to pro- 
tect and promote the industry. Frauds could be ex- 
posed, breeding records kept, thieves arrested and prosecuted, legis- 
lation secured, the product advertised and the whole market situation 
studied. The publication of inexact and fanciful statements by pro- 
moters of stock companies is also injurious to the industry’s future. 
The better protection of the stock from thieves can be achieved 
in two ways. First, the provincial trespass laws could be amended to 
increase the fine for trespassing near fox ranch property.* Second, 
the criminal code could possibly be revised so as to cause the exte- 
rior fence of a fur-farming ranch to be regarded in law similarly to the 
walls of a barn or dwelling, and anyone found inside the fence would 
be guilty of burglary and might be trapped or otherwise captured. 
These amendments, or others of as effective a nature, might be secured 
if representations were properly made to legislative bodies by a strong 
organization. 
Because of the mixing of various strains of foxes, it is difficult to 
secure reliable “performance” records of stock. The only “perform- 
ances” worth noting in foxes are the prices of the pelts of the an- 
cestors, and such features as fecundity, beauty and weight of the pelt 
and size. Well-organized’ provincial associations could keep perform- 
ance records, and the various provincial organizations could co-oper- 
ate with the Federal Department of Agriculture for registration. 
Quarantine is a question that may, at any time, become of prime 
importance. Thus, if disease breaks out in any district, the Fed- 
eral Department of Agriculture, if requested by a strong association of 
breeders, might be induced to undertake a quarantine. 
The whole problem of the protection of wild animals and the pos- 
sibility of propagating them in captivity are broad questions that re- 
quire more attention than has been given them in the past. A Dominion 
Furriers and Fur-Farming Association organized along similar lines 
to the Canadian Forestry Association, and like the latter, publishing its 
own journal, could do much to promote a healthy interest in protecting 
and propagating wild life. The organization of provincial associations 
would be the first logical step in such a movement. To establish a per- 
+See Appendix Vie 
