FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 87 



in the business. To make a success, a man should have at least $2,500 

 to start with. At least one acre of ground should be enclosed with a 

 3-foot concrete wall in the ground, and about a 6-foot board fence on 

 top. This would probably cost $1,500. One should then secure at least 

 100 females and 25 males. These would probably cost $300. The 

 remaining $700 would be needed to pay for feed aud for a man to take 

 care of them. 



•' The necessar}' attention would be to feed and water them, and, in 

 the season of maternity, to see that the females do not steal one another's 

 young and crowd one another in the boxes. Tlie males and females 

 should, of course, be separated. With good tare 90 per cent, of the 

 young should be raised. 



" Thirty years ago black skunk pelts sold at from 50 to 75 cents. 

 To-day they are one of the leading furs on the market, although they 

 are not known by their own names, but by various assumed ones. At the 

 present time, it is profitable to raise skunks for their fur. The demand 

 is now greater than the supply and is increasing because of the heaviness 

 of the fur, its fine texture, its good wearing qualities and strength. On 

 the other hand, the supply is decreasing for various reasons. The 

 large forest and prairie fires, devasting large sections so that neither 

 bud, snake, nor fur-bearing animal can exist, and the high price wliich 

 spurs every hunter and trapper to his utmost effort, are the principal 

 leasons. Then coon hunters coming from the city with a pack of 

 hounds to hunt for sport, destroy a good many. In fact, they usually 

 get one coon and kill six or eight skunks. You can follow their trail by 

 the smell and the dead bodies of skunks which they have wantonly 

 destroyed. 



'' Skunks can be raised as easily as house cats, provided you have 

 an enclosure where they cannot dig out or climb over. For every hun- 

 dred mature skunks, you should have an acre of ground enclosed. 



" I experimented for three years on a small scale. The first year I 

 had one male and three females. They brought forth fifteen young. 

 One of the young ones died, leaving eighteen — eleven females and seven 

 males. Five of the young graded as No. 2, the balance star black. 



" The second year I started with twelve femalesi and two males, 

 which brought forth forty-three young. Three of the young ones died, 

 80 I had fifty-four in all — fourteen old ones and forty young ones. I 

 disposed of seventeen males and five No. 2 females, leaving a balance 

 of thirty-two black ones. 



" The third year the females had from three to six young. Unfor- 

 tunately, I could not attend them myself and had to entrust them to 

 a man who had no interest in them except the pay he received from rae 



