8 



buyers, it is learned that many silyer fox skins of high quality are 

 secured from Newfoundland and from the Height of Land, between 

 Quebec and the peninsula of Labrador. Considerable numbers come 

 also from Alaska and the Canadian Northwest. 



It is, of course, w^ell know^n that pelts of all fur-bearing animals are 

 more yaluable when produced in northern localities. Furriers learn 

 from experience that certain localities are not too far south to produce 

 yaluable furs, but the conclusions they are able to form are only of 

 very general application. The ordinary indiyidual, howeyer, is sel- 

 dom able to profit by the experience of furriers and, especially if he 

 chances to liye in a region from which fur-bearing animals haye been 

 extirpated, he is unable to judge whether or not his own locality is 



Fig. 1. — Map of life zones in which fox farming is feasible in the United States, showing 

 the Canadian zone where conditions are excellent, and the Transition zone, in parts of 

 which conditions are favorable. 



fayorably situated for producing foxes with yaluable pelts. Fortu- 

 nately, a reliable guide to all such matters is furnished by the maps of 

 the life zones of the United States. These zones are transcontinental 

 belts, throughout wdiich the animal and plant life are relatiyely uni- 

 form in character. To determine the areas suitable for fox farming, 

 therefore, it is necessary only to learn which zones include localities 

 where foxes are known to produce superior fur. The records of the 

 Biological Suryey shoAV that such localities occur onl}^ north of the 

 southern boundary of the Canadian zone. This boundary, as shown 

 on accompanying map (fig. 1), crosses the States of Maine, New 

 Hampshire, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North 



328 



