FUR FARMING TO SUPPLY WORLD DEMAND 59 



the best imitation of beaver on the market, with twice the durability 

 of beaver. In the old North-west days, I have seen buffalo coats 

 dressed solely by the Indians and a local taxidermist, which required 

 two looks to distinguish them from beaver. They are a darker 

 brown and a more yellow brown. The hair has less wave to it 

 and more curl, less down and more pelage thick as horse hair; but 

 it lacked gloss under the old treatment. The trouble to-day is 

 the trade does not know buffalo well enough to create a demand for 

 it ; and that demand will probably have to be created by some 

 enterprising dressing firm ; and this cannot be done till more hides 

 come on the market. 



The skunk farm must be isolated owing to the odor. So must 

 the fox farm with the added need for entire seclusion from prying 

 visitors, who alarm the timid fox. Persian lamb and karakul 

 and krimmer sheep farming has not been tried long enough in America 

 to set down many findings as facts, except that up to the present, 

 the skins coming from the Texas farms and California — where the 

 climate more closely resembles Bokhara — are superior to the skins 

 coming from the Northern experiments in sheep farming. "We 

 could not tell the Texas skins from the best Bokharas that came 

 on the market this spring," said a foremost New York dresser to 

 me. 



Fox ranches need woodland for shade and screens to hide. 

 The ground must be well drained and dry. The climate must be 

 cold enough to produce a heavy pelage. The ranch must have 

 access to good food and must be located where foundation stock 

 can be increased by new blood, wherever perfect specimens are 

 obtainable. 



Subsoil of all burrows must go to hard pan, down to which the 

 fencing must be buried. Always the under surface fencing must 

 be wire. Sometimes the wire is reenforced with sheet iron, some- 

 times with cement. The top of the fence must hang over inside to 

 prevent climbing up inside. Trees should not be close enough to 

 the fence to permit a climb and a jump ; but grape vines up the 



