FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 



Eeliable furriers, however, do not use the deceptive namea 

 Frauds in mentioned above. Many of the smaller furriers are, 



doubtless, ignorant of the real names of their stock but 

 cheap advertisers are frequently guilty of misnaming. Many advertisers 

 giving private addresses mislead the public ; when a lady who is ' going 

 South ^ offers her new $150 Russian lynx set for $25, the conclusion 

 may readily be reached that it is ' doctored ' rabbit. However, the enter- 

 prise of furriers should not be wholly discouraged, as, otherwise, owing 

 to the scarcity of really good fur, many ladies would have to appear in 

 worsted scarfs and mitts for six months of the year. The pride they 

 take in their * ermines ', ' foxes ', and ' chinchillas ' and in their bargain 

 * fishers ' and black * marten ' would probably be diminished if they 

 knew they were only ' doctored ' rabbit, opossum and wallaby. 



All these artifices of the fur dresser and the fur dealer 

 Hunter-Trapper j^^yg failed, however, to compensate for the decreasing 



supply of fur of good quality. One fact stands out 

 prominently: the hunting and trapping of wild fur-bearing animals 

 must give place to their domestication if the demand for furs is to be 

 satisfied. 



The hunter-trapper age hag passed its zenith. With the demand 

 exceeding the possible supply, more economical methods must be intro- 

 duced and the supply must be increased. The tearing up of trapped 

 animals by carnivorous mammals before the trapper can reach the traps 

 is common and represents a great loss. The killing of animals whose 

 pelts are not in prime condition represents a large annual loss of 

 valuable fur. These and other wastes are eliminated when fur-bearers 

 are domesticated. 



The first step towards raising animals for their fur was 

 Fur- Bearers ^''^ken years ago when karakule sheep — a domestic animal 



from which the Persian lamb and broadtail are obtained — 

 began to be bred for its pelt. Up to recent years this animal was the 

 only example of a valuable fur-bearer in captivity. It is a domestic 

 animal merely, but, because of the difficulties in travelling, in language, 

 in knowledge of good stock, in quarantine laws and in remoteness of 

 the district in which they flourish, it would be very difiicult to secure 

 specimens for breeding purposes. Latterly, exceedingly optimistic 

 reports of successes in karakule * crosses ' in Germany and the United 

 States have been reported. If the Persian lamb can be produced in 



