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YEARBOOK, 1937 



prime-fur cycles, for, with dependable data at hand, trapping may be 

 confined to the time when a given fur has its maximum value. At 

 present this is rather vaguely considered to be the period of cold 

 weather. 



This kind of knowledge is fragmentary in comparison with what 

 has been developed in the case of the domestic animals, which have 



Figure 1. — The marten, one of our most valuable fur animals, 

 is now in danger of extinction. 



been under close observation over long periods of time. The place 

 to begin, however, is at the beginning, no matter how elementary it 



may seem. 



RAISING FUR ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 



Raising animals in captivity as a means of supplying the need for 

 furs is an industry that is both new and not new. The Chinese have 

 for centuries bred sheep, goats, and dogs for their pelts. The out- 

 standing example of a domesticated animal bred specifically for this 

 purpose is the Karakul sheep, which has long been produced for lamb- 

 skins on the uplands of Bokhara in central Asia. Afghanistan is 

 now perhaps the most important center of this industry, and the 

 annual production of lambskins there is (1936-37) 1,200,000; the 



