THK DOMESTICATED SILVER FOX. 



27 



corporated remains to be determined. As with poultry, horses, and 

 other farm animals, so it is with foxes. Each breeder should strive 

 to perfect his animals according to some standard. Eventually there 

 may be several standards based upon varied uses or requirements. 



The process of developing improved strains can undoubtedly be 

 shortened by taking advantage of local variations in foxes. One of 

 the lines of investigation conducted by the Biological Survey includes 

 the geographic variations of North American mammals, and from 

 this it is possible to say not only where silvers and crosses occur most 

 frequently, but where the largest and the best-furred foxes are found. 

 Upward of 20 species or subspecies of red foxes have been named in 

 the United States and Canada. The medium-sized foxes along the 

 North Atlantic coast are notable for their fine silky hair. The 

 largest foxes are in Alaska and on the Plains northward from Minne- 

 sota and North Dakota. The large size of Alaskan coast foxes is 

 offset by long, coarse pelage, which is decidedly longer on the shoulders 

 and back of the neck than on the back and hips. It remains to be 

 seen whether in crossing them with the smaller, finer-haired animals 

 the progeny will be large or small, coarse-haired or fine, or inter- 

 mediates. There can be little doubt, however, that in the long run 

 such a cross will result in larger fine-haired foxes than any now exist- 

 ing. The northern part of the red fox's range has, as a rule, a larger 

 proportion of silvers than has the southern. An exception is found 

 in the Cascade Mountains in Washington, Oregon, and California, 

 where, judging from specimens in the National Museum, the per- 

 centage of melanistic specimens is very large. They have little to 

 recommend them besides color, however, as they are small and have 

 rather coarse fur. 



Black and silver foxes are found in North America practically 

 throughout the range of the red fox. The best-furred animals do not 

 occur, however, throughout this range, but are obtained mainly in 

 restricted areas. For instance, skins from the Tanana River district 

 in Alaska and the adjacent part of Yukon Territory, from certain 

 other parts of northern Canada, and from the North Atlantic coast 

 from Maine to Labrador, including Prince Edward and other islands, 

 are of about the same grade. This is recognized by the leading 

 London furriers, who report that " in our opinion fox skins from 

 Labrador. Newfoundland, or Alaska are equal in quality to those 

 from Prince Edward Island." 



It is not known that any particular geographic race of foxes 

 is especially characterized by fecundity or docility. These qualities 

 are probably individual, occurring in about the same proportion 

 everywhere, and while of secondary importance, in the long run 

 they are sure to be favorable to success in fox farming. Already 

 prolific pairs bring much higher prices than those which have thrown 



