SILVER-FOX FARMING. 3 
pelage being dark at the base and heavily or lightly overlaid with 
the banded guard hairs previously described. Silver foxes vary 
from almost entirely silver to those which are entirely black except 
for a few white-banded guard hairs on the back and rump. Finally, 
in the black fox the white is absent from all parts except the tip of 
the tail, which, as in all phases, is usually white. 
In general, the cross fox is fairly common, the silver very scarce, 
and the pure black exceedingly rare. The prices usually paid for 
the different skins vary according to the relative scarcity of the 
animals and the market demand. Red-fox skins command only a 
moderate price : cross foxes bring somewhat more : and silver foxes 
several times as much. Black foxes are not so popular at present, for 
the reason that dyers can so closely imitate them with a dyed red 
fox that the average person can not tell the natural black fox from 
a dved skin. 
Fig. 1. — White band? on jruard hairs of the silver fox. The extent of the band and 
distance from the end is indicated, as well as the relative lengths of the guard hairs 
and the under fur. 
HISTORY OF FOX FARMING. 
The early history of fox farming is fraught with frenzied finance, 
breeding stock selling as high as $34,000 a pair and individual pelts 
at so. TOO. It reads like a romance. The operations of the breeders 
were cloaked with secrecy, and the public was first skeptical, then 
gullible. 
Before the industry started silver foxes were caught occasionally 
by trappers in the far North and their furs shipped to London, 
where, because of their rarity and attractiveness, they brought excep- 
tionally high prices — in fact, more than any other furs on the market. 
Realizing the scarcity of silver foxes and the possibility of their 
extermination. Charles Dalton. a trapper and fur trader of Prince 
Edward Island, began in 1887 to experiment with the breeding of 
red foxes, with the thought that he might be able to obtain cro-ses 
or silvers through " throwbaeks." About this time he heard of a 
trapper in the Province who had two pairs of silver foxes in cap- 
tivity, and. purchasing these animals, he abandoned the raising of 
the red foxes. Building a special farm at his home in Tignish. he 
installed his purchases and devoted his entire time to his study. 
Meantime, unknown to Dalton. a like experiment was being carried 
on by Robert Oulton, who was more fortunate, in that he obtained 
specimens of silver foxes at the start and devoted his time to these. 
When Dalton heard of the new experiment he paid Oulton a visit. 
