FOXES AND FOX-FARMING = 213 
But expanding civilization is steadily diminish- 
ing the supply of furs, and the animals which 
bear them are proportionately decreasing, es- 
pecially those whose coats are of high quality. 
The growing demand may be met partly by 
stricter enforcement of the game laws, but it 
is evident that it is becoming necessary to 
propagate fur-bearers in confinement, and by 
this means an important and new industry will 
presently be developed. This has already been 
the subject of no little thought and experiment, 
but mainly in reference to the smaller and less 
valuable animals, such as skunks and minks, as 
we shall see. Results of considerable impor- 
tance have been obtained recently with Alaskan 
blue foxes, and a good deal has been done 
quietly in experimental cultivation of the Cana- 
dian silver fox. _ 
This last industry has recently been made 
the subject of official investigation by Mr. W. 
H. Osgood, of the United States Department of 
Agriculture, from whose report the present 
article is mainly compiled. More persons have 
engaged in it than the public generally is aware 
of, for they have been disposed to keep their 
