FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 



The growing use of the automobile and the more general habit of 

 living out-of-doors have made furs almost a necessity. In America 

 alone, the valuation of automobiles is now over 1,500 million dollars, and 

 a proper equipment for the luxurious vehicles and their occupants neces- 

 sitates the use of many millions of dollars worth of furs and leather. 

 Better roads, more extensive travel, and cheaper automobiles are im- 

 portant factors in determining the growing demands for fur and pelts 

 generally. 



Instruments Some kinds of animals must soon be exterminated 



of Destruction ^^ the keenness of the hunt for them is maintained. 

 When dead-falls, snares and the bow and arrow were 

 used in hunting there was a chance for the game to escape, but with 

 piodern guns, smokeless powder, improved traps, and the most alluring 

 baits and scents that modern chemists can compound and trappers 

 invent, there are fewer opportunities. Coupled with increased efficiency 

 of destructive gear is the general diffusion by railroads, steamship lines 

 and hunting and trapping magazines, of knowledge respecting game 

 resorts and the hunter's art. 



Improvement of Eailroads and steamship lines are tapping new 



Travelling Facilities territory, corps of guides are organized, canned 



food and better camping equipment make the 

 hunter's life more enjoyable, and the result is that the uttermost sanc- 

 tuaries of the fur-bearers are invaded. Their last retreats have been 

 made and they must now slowly diminish in numbers year by year. 

 The musk-ox, for instance, has figured in the London sales only for the 

 past forty years because, before that time, Arctic hunters were unable 

 to reach its habitat. Continued invasion of its territory may lead to 

 its extinction. 



Close '^^^^ usual methods employed to prevent the complete extinc- 



Seasons ^^0^ of a species is to establish a close season. Recently, a 



close season of three years was declared for the Eussian sable 



to allow it to recuperate in numbers in Siberia. The chinchilla has 



similar protection in Bolivia, and the Canadian beaver is frequently 



protected in a similar way. A close season of five years is also provided 



for the Alaska seal. The general decrease in the numbers of fur-bearers 



during the past twenty years indicates how inefficient are the preventive 



methods employed. 



p. . .. The ever-expanding areas of human settlements have 



Uestruction '■ " 



of Haunts causcd some kinds of fur-bearers to retreat farther into 



the woods. The clearing away of the forests and the 



grazing of the natural covers by domestic animals have destroyed their 



haunts and exposed them to their enemies. Draining swampy areas has 



