r 
NEW YORK, APRIL 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
Vol. LXXII. No. 4198. 
CANADIAN BLACK-FOX FARMING. 
A Craze for Producing Fur. 
Part I. 
FACT AND FAKE.—We always hesitate about 
printing such an article as the one which follows. 
The facts are, we feel sure, correct. They are 
reported by the United States Consul, and we have 
personal reports from reliable men. Yet we know 
how easily facts may be twisted about so as finally 
to stand for fakes. A fact ought not to mix with a 
fake any more than oil mixes with water, yet they 
do get twisted up. Some years ago the writer vis¬ 
ited Geo. Staunton, the original ginseng man. In 
the morning before breakfast, I went into the gar¬ 
den and under Mr. Staunton’s direction picked a 
to the business. This climate giv 
between the intense cold and fog o 
north and the warmer, drier section 'to_ th J e- v south. 
From earliest times the wild fox skins from this 
island have brought a superior price. Again, the 
soil of Prince Edward Island is practically without 
lime. When the fox burrows in a lime soil the lustre 
oil of the fur is burned out. 
GREAT PRICES.—Some tremendous prices have 
been paid for black fox fur. The highest price re¬ 
ceived on the island for a single pelt is $2,628, paid 
in 1910. It is said that even if the black furs should 
become as plentiful as those of red fox they would 
still bring $20 to $100 each. Thus by 1900 the fox 
farmers began to figure things. A single female fox 
will breed eight or 10 times during her lifetime, 
and it is hard to understand the craze for black fox 
breeding which has captured the island. There has 
probably never been anything quite like it before in 
history—this taming a wild animal and speculating in 
the possible production of fur! It is estimated that 
the fox ranches now on the island are worth $4".000,- 
000. So great is the demand for breeders that fox 
men say it is not likely that any good specimen 
will be killed for its fur within five years. ' 
QUESTIONS OF BREEDING.—The breeders 
realize that they must keep up the vitality of their 
stock and maintain the quality of the fur. Can this 
be gone when wild animals are bred through several 
generations in captivity? As for the fur. it is thought 
that this grows softer and more lustrous as the 
result of human care. The chief trouble has been 
THE CRITICAL AGE-WHEN THEY NEED 
GOOD PARENTAGE AND GOOD CARE. 
Fig. 164. 
basketful of the red seed balls. Mr. Staunton said 
the basket contained $150 worth of seeds. This was 
reported, and very soon thereafter a blowhard of a 
ginseng grower had me as authority for the state¬ 
ment that a man can make $150 in less than an hour- 
raising ginseng. 
hOX hARMING.—Nearly 25 years ago certain 
farmers or hunters on Prince Edward Island began 
keeping black foxes as “domestic” animals. Fox 
pups were found in the woods and were put into 
enclosures and kept like dogs or sheep. It was not 
■‘t in st believed that those wild animals would live 
in breed in captivity, but after many trials the earlier 
•reeders learned the habits of the foxes and were 
•ible to domesticate” them. The original stock came 
from the wild foxes on the island, but some blood 
was introduced from Anticosti Island—the object 
being to breed for a peculiar, thick fur. The climate 
and soil of Prince Edward Island are well adapted 
with an average of four in each litter. Thus it was 
figured that a pair of breeding foxes would give dur¬ 
ing their lifetime a fur value of nearly $4,000, with 
possible sales of “young stock.” When such calcu¬ 
lations came to be generally understood there came 
a rage for speculating in breeding stock. The fox 
farmers for a time maintained a “combine” and re¬ 
fused to sell to outside parties. The first break in 
this "combine” came when three pairs of black foxes 
were sold ‘for $15,000! After that few, if any, 
of the better foxes were killed for their fur—since 
the sale of breeding stock brought far more money. 
A few furs from foxes that died accidentally brought 
not far from $500 each in 1911, and of course these 
prices keep the craze for breeders alive. Prices of 
$12,000 and $15,000 for pairs which are proved breeders 
are not uncommon, and one sale of a two-year-old 
pair for $.30,000 is reported. The Canadians are usually 
noted for their hard-headed sense in money matters, 
to prevent too close "inbreeding.” At the start many 
ranchmen were forced to start with brother and 
sister or parent and offspring. It is said that in some 
cases wild stock from Newfoundland is used to 
introduce new and strong blood. Some of the 
farmers who cannot risk large capital cross the black 
fox on the common red, hoping in several genera¬ 
tions to produce an animal which might perhaps be 
compared to a high-grade Jersey cow in its resem¬ 
blance to a pure Jersey. This naturally introduces a 
new side to the industry—a sale of what we may 
call grade furs not equal in value to the royal blacks, 
yet far superior to common red fox. 
“PEDIGREED STOCK.”—At first thought it 
seems absurd to speak of a “herd book” for black 
foxes, yet such a thing is coming. In fact, it will 
be a necessity if the present remarkable prices are 
kept up. It is doubtful if the “pedigree” of a fox 
would amount to much, but a record of its fur value 
