1931 — BIENNIAL REPORT — 1932 



Thirteen 



By M, M. Afwater of Basin, Secretary Montana Fox and Fur Breeders Association 



ONTANA'S fur farming 

 is a recent addition to 

 the state's oldest indus- 

 try, the fur trade. Rec- 

 ords of the State Fish 

 and Game Department 

 list approximately 100 

 licensed fur farms for 

 1032. This represents a decline in num- 

 bers from former years, a decline trace- 

 able to business conditions. 



In common with all other forms of 

 business, fur farming has suffered from 

 the depression, yet it has shown re- 

 markable vitality and there has not 

 been a time when the fur farmer couUl 

 not sell his product for cash and at ;t 

 price which allows the more efficient 

 operators to maintain themselves. This 

 is a record which few businesses can 

 match at the present time. 



Montana is an ideal fur farming state. 

 Much has been said of the advantages 

 of climate, but there are other advan- 

 tages less often mentioned but even 

 more important. Some of these are low 

 cost of land, low taxes and cheap food 

 supply. The authorities which regulate 

 fur farming are sympathetic with its 

 aims and realize possibilities of this 

 new industry which provides employ- 

 ment, attracts capital, utilizes waste 

 land and increases the taxable value of 

 property. 



Authorities and fur farmers are co- 

 operating on a friendly basis to de- 

 velop the industry in a conservative and 

 businesslike manner. 

 The product of fur farms is an im- 



Tagging Beaver 



portant factor in the fur trade and is 

 becoming more important year by year. 

 It is no idle prophecy to say that fur 

 farm production will soon exceed wild 

 fur production. 



At the present time all silver fox 

 pelts are domestic. The number of 

 ranch-raised mink pelts is gaining on 

 the number wild-caught and as more 

 and more fur-bearing species, threat- 

 ened with extinction, are put on the 

 protected list, the production of fur 

 farms of various types is increasing in 

 significance. Montana has a logical 

 place in this development. 



Fox and mink farms, as elsewhere, 

 are dominant elements in Montana fur 

 farming. However, many farmers are 

 experimenting with marten and this 

 fur bearer shows great promise due to 

 the high value of the pelt and its in- 

 creasing scarcity in the wild. 



Quite recently a new kind of fur 

 farming has emerged from the experi- 

 mental stage: namely, the raising 



ii-captivity 



ited for en- 

 ;e it has a 

 lese animals 



beaver and muskrat in 

 on large fenced areas. 



Montana is peculiarly 

 terprises of this type s 

 large natural supply of 

 as well as much suitable acreage. Since 

 a good deal of this acreage is included 

 in the National Forests, the Forest 

 Service has become interested in the 

 possibilities and is co-operating with 

 both state and individual farmers to ex- 

 plore them. 



The Montana Fox and Fur Breeders 

 Association has been in existence for 

 five years and is affiliated with the 

 American National Fox and Fur Breed- 

 ers Association. The state association 

 represents the fur farmers of Montana 

 in matters of legislation and policy, and 

 acts as an agency for disseminating in- 

 formation and new developments among 

 its members. 



Fur farming in Montana is a young 

 and growing industry which has dem- 

 onstrated its ability to weather hard 

 times, which has benefited the state in 

 tlio past and will benefit it still mort' 

 in tho future. 



Quick Growing Trees 



Although many valuable trees are 

 comparatively slow growers, some of 

 the best kinds develop to merchantable 

 sizes with sui prising rapidity, says the 

 Forest Service, United States Depart- 

 mtnt ot Agiiculture. Douglas fir in the 

 Pdcitic Noithwest will grow in dense 

 setdluig stands, in some cases reach 90 

 teet in height in 30 years. At 50 years 

 It will pioduce 1 to 3 cords of wood per 

 acre per year. In a dense stand the 

 trees produce a high proportion of clean 

 lumber. 



Southern pines are among the quick- 

 est growing trees, saplings 20 years old 

 often attaining a height of 40 feet. The 

 annual yield in good second-growth 

 stands may by this time reach 1 to 3 

 cords per acre. 



Spruce and fir seedlings in the North- 

 east are often held back for 15 to 40 

 years by competition, but they never 

 grow up quickly when the old trees are 

 removed. The advance reproduction, as 

 such a stand of little trees is called, 

 when freed by the harvesting of the ma- 

 ture crop, in about 40 years develops 

 into a new pulpwood forest producing 

 acre. 



Hardwoods are generally slower grow- 

 1 or more cords of wood annually per 

 ing than the pine family. However, the 

 yellow popular, or tulip tree, in second- 

 growth stands reaches heights of 50 to 

 100 feet in 30 to 50 years. 



