GAME AND WILD-FUR PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION 53 



in 1939. It is probable that more than a million silver-fox pelts 

 enter the world-trade channels annually. 



The production of fur in pens requires skill and hi<>:lily technical 

 training. As the animals are particularly difficult to handle, subject 

 to disease, and sensitive to diet, fur farming is not considered an 

 occupation suitable for the inexperienced. 



The possibilities in this field are apparently somewhat limited, but 

 the exploitative characteristic of this enterprise a few years ago has 

 abated, so the industry is stabilizing and is now having a somewhat 

 slower but decidedly healthier growth. The products of fur farms 

 supply a luxury demand and are therefore subject to extreme price 

 fluctuation. It has been estimated that pen-reared fur supplies 20 

 percent of the present market. The quantity of wild-trapped fur 

 is said to be diminishing, but the 80 percent of fur sales that it has 

 represented is not all potential market for pen-reai-ed fur because 

 of the nature of the product and of the species involved. 



Game Farms 



Game farms are maintained principally to produce game birds and 

 animals for restocking. Mature birds so produced usually sell for 

 $2 to $2.50 each, but the market is limited. Many game species do 

 not reproduce satisfactorily in confinement. The principal market 

 for birds or animals of this kind is with the State game depart- 

 ments, and as most of these have found it more satisfactory to oper- 

 ate their own farms, this opportunity for the agriculturist to develop 

 a supplementary income is limited. 



Successful operation of game farms requires specialized skill and 

 experience which the average farmer does not possess, hence it is not 

 considered to be an occupation for the untrained. 



ENCOURAGING GAME AND WILD-FUR PRODUCTION 

 AND UTILIZATION ON AGRICULTURAL LANDS 



Attitudes of Interested Parties 



The study revealed that most farmers and others who are pri- 

 marily interested in agriculture have given no serious consideration 

 to increasing wildlife in the past, and that hunters, trappers, and 

 others most interested in game and fur animals have given little 

 thought to agriculture or to the farmers and their rights. This lack 

 of common interest has frequently brought such bitterness between 

 the farmer and hunter or trapper that the farmer has purposely 

 destroyed food, cover, and wildlife in order to discourage hunting 

 and trapping. But it was found that agricultural leaders and con- 

 servation leaders were ready to cooperate under Federal leadership 

 in attempting to solve the many problems involved in the inter- 

 relations of agriculture and wildlife production and utilization. 



Those interested in agriculture seemed to view the problem from 

 the standpoint of protecting the farmers from losses and imposi- 

 tions rather than of assuring them an income from wildlife, or of 

 increasing the game supply. On the other hand, those interested 

 in wildlife seemed to be inclined to cooperate with agriculture for 

 the purpose of increasing or maintaining tl^e supply of game and 



