FUR-FARMING INCANADA 17 



Oiilton pursued his work on Savage Cherry island, or as it is com- 

 monly called, Oulton island, of which he was the sole inhabitant. He 

 managed to impress the public with the necessity of keeping away 

 from his ranch, and his pens, constructed within an outside enclosure 

 a quarter acre in area, were the models for the present system of ranch- 

 ing. Dalton joined interests with Oulton in 1896 or thereabouts, and, 

 together, they used the present forms of wire enclosures which were 

 first constructed by Oulton. In 1898, Dalton built a ranch at Tignish, 

 still retaining a half interest in the Oulton ranch. He bought and sold 

 skins and generally conducted the fur sales for the district. All Oulton's 

 foxes were sold in Dalton's name. Dalton also conducted a general 

 correspondence with the fur trade, and imported stock which proved 

 of value for crossing. 



Up to this time — 1898 — ^no very high prices were realized for skins. 

 The prices paid for silver f 3X were not as high as at the present time 

 and probably did not average more than thirty or forty per cent of 

 present day prices. Moreover, the foxes of those days had not the 

 advantage of good breeding and selection like the foxes of the present 

 time. They were simply captured wild foxes or else, probably, not 

 more than one or two generations removed from the wild state. The 

 first high prices recorded were in London in the year 1899 or 1900— 

 when it is said about $1,800.00 were paid for a silver fox skin. This 

 price of course gave a new vision to Messrs. Oulton and Dalton who 

 up to this time had been operating with but meagre capital, and the 

 expectation of only moderate prices for their skins. 



The neighbours of Dalton and Oulton, who were their companions 

 on hunting expeditions in Cascumpeque bay, naturally chafed at 

 not being able to participate in this profitable but carefully 

 guarded fox-farming business. One of the most alert, Captain James 

 Gordon, was able to purchase from Mr. Oulton, in 1898, a pair of silver 

 foxes, which he ranched at the remote and secluded farm of his friend, 

 Robert Tuplin, of Black Banks. It is said that this pair were pur- 

 chased for $340, which demonstrates the value of the fur at that date. 

 In the following spring, high prices were received at the London sales, 

 and Dalton and Oulton attempted to buy back their former stock at 

 a price $100.00 higher, but Gordon and Tuplin would not sell. For 

 several years Gordon and Tuplin lost their litters on account of not 

 providing small well-insulated nests for the young, but they finally 

 achieved success with a nest constructed of small barrels within larger 

 ones, the intervening space between being packed with dry, insulating 

 material. To Captain Gordon must be given the credit of inventing the 

 modern form of nest, while Oulton must be credited with designing 

 the form of pen. Frank Tuplin of Summerside obtained the foundation 



