2 BULLETIN 301, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
to the establishment of fur farming on a small scale as an additional 
source of income on farms in many places along our northern border, 
much as poultry is now raised. When properly conducted, fur f arm- 
ing may become very profitable. It will pay not only in direct 
returns to the producer but, indirectly, the natural and legitimate 
desire for furs can be gratified, the extirpation of the most valuable 
and interesting of our fur bearers can be prevented, and an extensive 
department of manufacture and trade supporting a large population 
can be continued. 
Success in domesticating wild animals, as in other branches of 
husbandry, depends on experience, adaptability, and prudence. Xo 
one should engage in the business unless he enjoys it and is familiar 
with the habits, characteristics, and climatic requirements of the 
animals he intends to propagate. The choice of location is of prime 
importance. The best furs come from cool, moderately humid 
regions. If a locality furnishes native furs of high grade, that locality 
is favorable to the domestication of fur bearers. The climate of the 
Middle and Southern States is not well suited to this industry, as 
shown by the medium or low prices commanded by furs from 
these areas. The ratio of expense to income must be considered 
with care. One can not pay the exorbitant prices animals for stock- 
ing purposes sometimes bring and expect to raise fur at a profit. 
Neither can one expect to raise furs of a fine quality from inferior 
stock. But given a normal market for breeding-stock and pelts, a 
favorable location, a love for animals, and an ordinary degree of 
prudence, one may engage in black or silver fox farming with a good 
prospect of satisfactory returns, provided, of course, a high price 
for pelts is sustained. Values of animals and pelts were very high a 
few years ago, when the industry was being launched, but are now 
on a much lower basis. Persons who contemplate going actively 
into the business or investing their money in corporations or com- 
panies organized for fox farming should thoroughly investigate it in 
all its phases. 
THE SILVER FOX. 
The name "silver fox," as commonly used by furriers, includes the 
dark phases of the ordinary red fox, 1 variously called silver, silver 
gray, silver black, or black. It should not be confused with the 
gray, or tree, fox 2 of the United States, the fur of which is of compara- 
tively little value. The color of the red fox of the Northeastern 
States and of its allies of the colder parts of North America varies 
from red to black, and these extremes, with their gradations, form 
four more or less distinct phasas, known respectively as red, cross 
(or patch), silver, and black. In the red phase the fur is entirely 
i Genus Vulpes. 2 Genus Urocyon. 
