NOVEL LIVE STOCK 161 



They breed as well in captivity as in their wild state, 

 usually bringing forth a litter of six or seven in the spring. 

 These breed the following spring and then* fur is ready for 

 market the following December. And now breeders sell 

 fine stock to other breeders who are entering the industry, 

 sometimes getting three to four hundred dollars per pair. 

 Mr. Seton remarks, "I am satisfied that any man who has 

 made a success of hens can make a success of foxes, with 

 this, advantage for the latter a fox requires no more 

 space or care than a hen, but is worth twenty times as 

 much, and so gives a chance for returns twenty times as 

 large." 



This is an infant industry, but if others can get the same 

 results, it will pay handsomely. To get the best furs, 

 however, requires a district where the winters are cold 

 and long. 



There are a few skunk farms in the West. It is said that 

 the scent gland can be taken out, though that is not neces- 

 sary, and that the farms do well. Their oil is also said to be 

 valuable. But while skunks are so common there cannot 

 be much in breeding them. 



If your fancy goes to "critters" rather than crops it is 

 much better to raise game birds. Wild turkeys raised under 

 a hen or in an incubator and made pretty tame (if too tame 

 they do not thrive so well in a small area), "wild" ducks, 

 grouse, partridges, quails, even wood ducks which build 

 their nests in trees are no longer experiments. 



All the common enemies you have to contend against are 

 foxes, dogs, cats, rats, mink, skunks, hawks, owls, crows, 

 frogs, turtles, snakes, poachers, game legislators, and 

 disease. 



It has been calculated that one pair of quails and its 



