FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 29 



fourteen pups in the years 1910, 1911 and 1912. Seven of the pups 

 are red and seven silver. 



Most of the fox-breeders in other provinces have sold silver and 

 dark silver stock to Prince Edward Island, where the demand has 

 been greatest. Probably in all the dozen or more ranches in Ontario 

 there are not three score sUver foxes. The stock kept is bastard and 

 cross foxes that produce litters with a proportion of silver pups. As 

 their experience in selling fur has not led them to believe the present 

 high prices for breeders in the Maritime Provinces were warranted 

 by the pelt value of the animals, the attitude of Ontario ranchers has, 

 in general, been to sell out at the high prices offered. 



The Best ^^^ experts who have given special study to 



Localities for the fauna of Canada say that the red and silver 

 *°*^ *^ foxes found on the Athabaska river and in 



the Yukon and Alaska are often of great value. These regions should 

 produce a weighty pelt and, if good quality were secured in foundation 

 stock, conditions for fox ranching should be ideal — especially if venison 

 and fish could be easily secured for food. The rapidly rising price 

 of meats may finally necessitate the removal of the fox industry to 

 remote poiats where cheaper meat can be obtained. Newfoundland 

 and Labrador would provide sites where meat and fish could be cheaply 

 secured and preserved for long periods by inexpensive refrigeration. 

 The foxes of these regions are often of considerable value especially 

 in size and strength though the fur is usually coarse. The cost of 

 feeding a pair of foxes on Prince Edward Island, where the price of 

 the offal and cheaper grades of meat has risen, is about $50.00 a year, 

 cash outlay, in addition to considerable labour in collecting the 

 great variety of foods seemingly required. When the industry finally 

 settles down to the production of pelts for fur, it is probable that founda- 

 tion stock for new ranches will be obtained on Prince Edward Island 

 at high prices and that the fur will be produced on ranches situated 

 at distant and remote points. 



On account of a lack of sufficient data it is practically 

 ''F^?e%n"'stock impossible to discuss intelligently the vexed question 

 ■ of the relative merits of "imported" and "domestic" 

 stock. As many animals — ^in fact the large maj ority of the animals caught 

 in the wilds — are of poor quality, they will need to be subjected to methods 

 of rigid selection for many generations to come, if fur of good quality 

 is to be produced. Only a few of the domestic stock are as poorly 

 furred as the average wild stock. The chief deficiency noted in fur 

 quality of the domestic stock was in the thin coat of fur. Among 



