F O X - F A R M I N G IN CANADA 65 



With regard to statements frequently made that silver 

 of silver Fox ^°^ ^^^^ ^® ^^ cheap as rabbit if produced as numerously, 



the point is not worth discussing, since production will 

 not increase beyond the point where a profit can be made. The Lon- 

 don importation of rabbits is now over 80,000,000 skins annually and 

 Australia uses thousands more weekly in her great felting industries. 

 An attempt was made to secure expert opinions from qualified furriers 

 as to the final value of silver fox pelts when they are produced in as large 

 numbers as those of red foxes are now. The concensus of opinion was 

 that, because of its greater beauty and more favoured colour, silver fox 

 fur would be three times as valuable as red fox, natural black furs not 

 occurring commonly in nature. In this connection, it must be remem- 

 bered that all ranch silver foxes are killed when the fur is prime and 

 no injury whatever is done to the pelt, so that their pelts would be worth 

 from $40.00 to $80.00 each for No. 1 skins, at the present valuation of 

 the pelts of red foxes from Northeast Canada. But it wUl be a long time 

 before the production of silver foxes will approach to the number of 

 even high-grade red foxes marketed yearly. The total number of skins, 

 according to the estimates of E. Brass is 1,337,000 yearly for the 

 common fox. Even if the pelts fell to $30.00, foxes could be raised pro- 

 fitably by a farmer who maintained other live stock. In many districts 

 the annual cash outlay per fox for food need not exceed $5.00, and attend- 

 ing to twenty foxes would not involve so much labour as attending to ten 

 cattle. If fox ranch fences cost more, the land and houses cost much 

 less. The fox, moreover, reproduces rapidly and comes to maturity in 

 eight months. 



Because the silver fox has never been produced in considerable 

 numbers, it has been impossible for furriers to carry a stock large 

 enough to warrant advertising it and featuring its sale. It has been 

 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 it. 



An opportunity is now presented to the ranchmen to 

 Among¥roducers ^^^*® ^^*° ^ 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 could be achieved by 

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