SILVER-FOX FARMING. 
11 
CONSTRUCTION OF PENS. 
SIZE AND SHAPE. 
There are almost as many styles of pens as there are fox ranches. 
They range from very large ones to those so small as to endanger 
the health of the foxes, both in the matter of sanitation and through 
lack of space for exercise. 
The usual procedure has been to construct a pen the inside area 
of which has been inclosed by one roll of wire of 150 linear feet. 
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Fig. 8. — Circular plan of ranch. 
This has been done primarily for convenience, as it obviates the 
necessity of cutting the rolls of wire and lacing the pieces together. 
Conditions of topography may make it necessary to build pens 
long and narrow instead of square, but the number of square feel 
inclosed depends upon the shape of the pen. A 150-foot roll of wire 
will inclose an area 50 by 25 feet (1,250 square feet), or one 30 by 
45 feet (1.350 square feet), or one 37 by 37 feet (1 ? 369 square feet). 
The more nearly uniform are the lengths of the sides, or the more 
nearly a pen approaches a circle, the more square feet can be inclosed 
by a given length of wire. A circular pen, however, is very difficult 
