caught three of these young ones. They made 

 no resistance,— merely warned me to be careful, 

 —and I took them to the house. For several 

 days I fed them fish and fruit until they became 

 so tame that I could handle them without cau- 

 tion. But they were hopelessly dull and uninter- 

 esting pets, never showing the least intelligence, 

 curiosity, or affection. I finally turned them 

 loose among their native rocks, and they strayed 

 off as unconcerned as if they had not spent two 

 weeks away from home, shut up in a soap-box. 



There seems to be little excuse, in this broad 

 land of opportunity, for any one's going into 

 skunk-farming for a business ; but these animals 

 have a good market value, and so, in spite of a 

 big country and rich resources, our hands are so 

 eager for gold that every summer we hear of new 

 skunk farms. Still, why not raise skunks? 

 They are more easily kept than pigs or pigeons ; 

 they multiply rapidly ; their pelts make good ("?) 

 marten-skins ; and I see no reason why any 

 one having a piece of woodland with a stream 

 in it, and a prairie or an ocean on each side of 

 it, could not fence it in, stock it with skunks, and 

 do a profitable and withal an interesting business. 

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