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iin-ivuaiggv__g_s, 394s _ _

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nMlEiv notes 0s ronics ‘CONNECTED WITH

Silver Fox Farming

This wcrrk- has been b‘ox Pelt Show Week at Suinmcrsidc. Judg- ing started on Wednesday morn. ing and is still continuing as these notes are being written, but is ex- pected to be completed Friday or at latest today. The 94'; entries probably constitute a world’: rec- ord and they certainly gave-Judge Douglas Bell a tremendous task. The collection is an excellent one and will be marketed by the Can- adian National Silver Fox Bveed- ers‘ Association at forthcoming auctions.

We have received No. 1, Vol. l nf the Scandinavian Fur dated November, 1945. It is in English and is printed in Sweden. It. is be- ing sent to fur auction companies, furriors and others. interested in furs in Canada, tho Unitcd- States

and Great "ilain. It gives a‘ lot of particulars regarding' production in the Scandinavian countrlcs nnil

shows that they are very wide a- wake and taking a great interest in fur farming with the idea of developing it as extensively as they did in pre-wai- years.

In a-rcrcntly puhtislicd annual Friwfi 051110 Swedish Flu" Farm- ers’ ASSOCIHUUII which appears in the above publication‘ the advis- ai-y_ veterinary surgeon states that 111F111]! the year the health amc-no,

thc fox animal population has been comparatively good. , Thc heaviest direct losses have bcen mused by food poisoning in a number of_ mink farms. The

question of the wide spread sgck. ness among platinum cubs ,:ind whltc foxes has been carefullv in- vcstigated but these serious prob- lems have not yet been satisfact- orily solved. There are still many cases of B-vltaminosis. Fur defects have been prevalent during the season and an unusual amount of fur biting has been reported a- mong the foxes. The result of the breeding season this year was somewhat below the average and the death rate of cubs was rather high. For the most part thecause of death among the cubs was anemia and amongst the adult foxes debiiity accompanied by ul- cerated paws.

New fur farms established in Fliiland...Thcrc are many new farms especially mink farms at present springing up in Finland. h particular the fis ermen in the rostal districts in East Bathnia have started mink breeding on a very large scale. This year's crop amounts to about 25,000 pclts. Ti re is every indication that th autumn of 1046 Finish skin production will be as large as it was in the years before the war. It may he mentioned that in I939 tho production of farm skins was about 60.000.

Several mink caiastrophics oc- curred in Scandinavia durint the lummei‘. one of the heaviest losses was suffered by a fill‘ farmer in the southwest or Sweden who lost almost. his cntirc mink stock-a- bout 1.300 animals. The vaiuc of thn animals lost i: estimated 1t 100,000 Swedish crowns. The catastrophies were mostly caused by food poisoning.

A successful English experiment has been conducted with the ob- ject oi‘ causing thc growth of‘ hair after potting. It is a known fact that when death is entered into thc central organs of a human or an animal body the hair keeps on

rowing until thc supply of nour- shment to the roots has ceased. At an English rescarph institute remarkable results havc been ‘a- chieved on the basis of these on- servatlons. A number of sheep were killed and stripped and out of the skins a ribbon several yards in length was sewn. At_iix- ed intervals this ribbon was 2W6" nourishment by bcingslowly and continually immersed in‘ a liquid. thc chemical composition of\vliich ll similar to tlic one deliverc-i _by flu-n blood of thc living organisim to promote the growth of the hair- Lalcr on these shecp skins turned out to be considerably l'lCl’iF‘l‘ than thosr- of thc living sheep. By vuljy" lng thc composition of thc nutrit- lvo liquid a growth of wool uD i" six times as ricii as that of the living sheep was _ach_ieved. Also by changing the nutritive liquid. fibres of wool which could ‘be compared in thickness to Dir!- bristlcs, were produced. It. 3'50 produced hair of thc finest silk.

f tlic cost of production of this process can bc brought down f0 rcasonalilc lovcls there appears t0 bc a great future for it

_____ a

A rcporl. on iilf‘ iiuulily _0[ _i-h" Swedish fox and mink sk-ns ap- pours in Scandinavia as follows:- "The ciuality of farm skins has improved for thc reason that WhP-n it was necessary to reduce thc Iirccding stock during thc war_ it ivns obviously tlic animals with poorer furs which were iicltcd. As ii result of this thc Iluflml’ "i m" present. stock is‘ hiizlicr than ht‘- forc thetwar and this t5 true up‘;

in~

silver as well asrhof blligifhy o! . e platinum foxes we" m,

breeding stock of this animal was actually increased during thewar years. Swedish furs are generally 9x13911611 in the raw state though ilccflsimlfllly buyers in smaller mlmlfles Drefer dressed skins. The consumption of furs i_n Swed- 13 1501151811113’ 0n_ the increase.

iom being an article for well. to-do persons furs have been llruught within the reach of the whole people and this la an im. Dortant matter in our climate. During the war when it was al- mQ-‘li lmllossible to import foreign fuis there was a considerable in- giease in consumption of Swedish tilS on the home market."

We have gone to some len th to’ Publish the above excerptsgfrom ‘he Scandinavian Fur as we be- lieve l1 Wxood business for us to i??? b" (‘Y0 0n our competitors in illvllP- This we will endeavor 1p do and to furnish our readers of these notes with our observations iom time to time. Apparently they have determined not only in Sweden but in'Norway, Depmark and Finland to go in for fur farm- los In a his way, but no doubt they have difficulties greater than we have, the principal one being the obtaining of sufficient food suPPiles- Prfitbflbly b)’ now. how- ever, whaling fleets are on the move and if whales can be killed off that; will help largely in solv. lng the food problem as the Nor. WBRians. are great believers in the value of whale‘ meat. A few even. ings ago we were talking to our friend William Agnew, our nods mlssioner for Newfoundland, who isi interesting himkelf in the whale meat situation and he in- formed us that he expected any time to have a visit from parties connected wlh whale meat dis- tribution.

Ranch mink i| going stron er, than ever. Two days before Chr st- mas the nited _Mink Breeders" Association offering of mink was! sold by the New York, Auctionl Company of New York and prices‘ soared beyond expectationl, roach- ing an all time record of $58.00. for several lots of Yukon malesq This shattered a nine year record.‘ Morris Cantor, President of the auction company, said, however, that better breeding technique, had improved mink qualities con-- siderable. Of the approximatelyi 80, skins 96% wal sold.

‘ Following the excitment during the morning session a small, poor offering of approximately 1,000 silver fox including some mutat- ions were put on the block and were 80% sold. Buyers stated that price: were firm within guar- anteed levels and the company rc- ported a 25% advance over its September sale. Top price for platinums was $130.00 and top price for standards $8.00. Manu- facturers id most of the buying on both k and slivers. Note: Top price at the Montreal auction the week previously for platinums was $135.00. Top price for stand- ards was $70,000. Top platinum price was for_an Island pelt.

George Simon of New York, has been in Paris m six months to study the chances of recovery for the French fur industry. Inter- viewed recently he said it might not be more than a matter of weeks before the French fu‘: trade will be able to enter the internat- ional market. At present practic- ally the only fur being used is domestic rabbit plus domestic squirrels. stone marten and black fitch. Prices for these furs are still very high, he says, and he he-

licves that before very long the -

French will take on the Iona-hair- ed furs that are neglected in this country following Englands ex- ample. Note: That will be the best kind of news for us as silver fox is tops among the tom-haired furs. Short haired furs as repre- sented by mink have bad the limelight now for about tVx-c years. It is time they took a hack scat. Here's cheers to the French if they can bring this much-to-bc- desired happening about.

The American National _F‘ox and Fur Breeders‘ Association will conduct their first co-onerativc fur sale in Milwaukee January 22nd to 24th. They expect to cata- logue 15.000 silvers and M000 mink. Previously this orsaqilfltiml which has as its memberslull ful‘ farmers throughout the United States. sold their product mainly with Lampoon, Fraser and Hath in New York.

David Borenstein, Manaqins Director Montreal Fur Sales. 1116-. has recontiv completed a fur farm survey of Western Canada and he has this to say...."'I‘he standards of the herds both in fox and minkl in western Canada show a steady improvement. There is a marked improvement in the 0f‘ silver foxes and mink from lastl year which showed an improve- ment, over the previous Y?!“ TM‘

o i av- erage quality. Interest in mutat- ion types of both foxes and mlflk continues t0 8f"! l" "m."

mint; toohas improved t

0

returns. ~

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i! lllffflfihtllli,

chip} tlic

it.

I Brio}; than in at in»:

Attention jiiox IRIanchers ~

1 T’ Our receiving station at F. R. McLainds is now fiijl for the season. We are receiving furs for ship- but to the leading markets.

'/ Ten years of successful se Rancher! iii the Maritime; is

W’ believe the Fur Market is going to be strong the season so this should be a good Y!" W

fliiiiiiiiiiia Pilii root, tin.

A ‘ K "neat Rdpnloutativc I istrlitiisicmriin-im sign.‘

5

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5

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is i

r. Mal-Alum. »_ - i

crop will therefore bu f hiszi i

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lliiig and marketing for your assurance of good I

I

in: Cl-IARLUAII

A - NEWSY NOTES —

D AOIIOOIA

Some Llchonlof P. E. 1. (in

Llchens are so common and ap- parently so insignificant. that they are raielv given more than a passiii glance. Yet they have a "distln and important place in the economy of nature. I recall the immense heaps of scoria which disfigured the North ‘of England. in the vicinity of the iron furn- aces. For a couple of years or so, the heaps would lie stark. black, and ugly. The rain and the snow got in their work, wash- ing deleterious chemicals from the crude mass. till, at last, it was fitted foi- the suppoit of plant life. Now, unnoticed and almost unknown, the lichens began the good work, encrusting the slag with sombre tints of brown, grey, and’ sometimes yellow. Year after year they flourished, died, and de- camped, till at last they had form- cd a sparse sol) in which grasses and higher plants might get a foothold. This process goes on also in the Alps and in other high mountain ranges the world over. wherever the igneous rocks come to the surface. On P. E. Island one finds tracts of "barrens" cov-

cred with the hardy “Reindeer Moss". a greyish green shrubby lichen which is building up tlic

soil by nature's slow but inesist- ible method.

The greatest explosion in mod- ern times took place in 188i, when a violent eruption of a volcano on thc island of Krakatoa, cover- ed the Whole island with ashes and pumice stone in a layer from 3 to 240 feet thick. All vegetation was scorched or buried, and. noth- ing llvlng survived. Three years later. Dr. Treub, Director of the Botanical Garden. Java, visited Krakatoa and found it covered with ve station right u to the top of he volcano. T e great majority of the plants consisted of ferns. but Dr. Treub noted that these were not; the first living things that grew on the ashes. There had been a thin layer of lichens that had softened the surface and made it capable of retaining water, thus preparing the way for the higher plants. We cannot encaipe the conclusion that the lichens are more inyportant than we supposed.

The lichen mentioned by Mr. F. I-I. MacArthur as “Spanish Moss”. is known to science as Usnca trlchoidea. It clothes old trees and fence-rails with a shaggy, droop- ing mat of long “hair". greenish gray color. These long lax fibrils, circular in section, may be regarded as secondary branches. The apothecia tor sDOre-bearlng structures) are small pale flesh- colnred discs, bearing a few fibrils on their margin.

Usnea barbata the Bearded

Lichen, is very closely related to

Canada according to the survty. Western ranchers have bought improvement stock freely during the past three or four years and the resuts of this are beginning to show." '

Mr. Borcnstcin gives the follow- ing probable production of the Dominion or the season of 104-5 .. iroxes. standard-115.000: new tYDes-ACLOOO; mink natural ~240- 000: new types, 2.500.

Unlike silvcr fox thc mink farm- er has notbeén able to duplicate the quality of the wild mink. Alexander Wciiilg of New Ytork. who L; an authority states: ‘We can sell all the wild mink coats at present high levels, although buy- ers complain about the high uric‘ es. For that. reason we have hcen buying wild mink skins more neavllv than last year The fresh-

ness and sheen of these wild mink coats makes them doubly attract- ive. Unless ranch mink produces a better value than at aresentthc article is bound to take a back seat in the family" A word 0f caution is being thrown out to buvers of mink skins iii the same article. 1t. is: "For old timers it is difficult to get. acclimated to pre- vailing mink prices Prices are double those of 1967 and it is not

healthy." ‘An Italian fur association has been fomicd in Milan. Italy. to

develop the foreign trade of furriei-s. 1t declares that Italy offers a vast market for United States and Canadian exporters of expensive high-class furs. a coni- modity which Italy lacks. The Association membership includes some of tlic most outstanding names in the fur business and ap- parently they have their hands on a large amount of funds available for the‘ industry.

Vince McQuaid. whose foxes are ranchzd with Spillett Fur Farms. West Royalty. received word from Charlottetown I-‘ur Sales. Ltd. that one of his white-mariuizl sil- ver pelts sold for $78.00 in the December auction at. Montreal Congratulations. Vince.

aid and

Drevious sine-lei. "shrubbi"! Denduloul. and inven- ish. The fibrils, howev , radiate so that Ute general effect is that of a paint-Cd beard.‘ The apothecia are somewhat oval. with a pale disc. This lichen grows on trees, living or dead. iOao may get a very 300d collection of lichens by scrutinizing the, logs brought in for fueli.

The thallium is also fructlcose (or shrubby) in the so-called Reindeer Moss, a circumpolar plant folind in P. E. I. This plant, Cladonla ran lfern. grows in great abund- au iii Lapland and forms the sole winter food of the herds of reindeer without which the nat- ives of that barren clime could not exist. "Thus." said. Linnaeus. “things which are often deemed the most: insignificant and con- temptible by ignorant man, are by the good prov deuce of God. made the means of he greatest blessing to His creatures." This Cladonia, then, is shrubby. that is. branch- ed and re-branched; the branches are asliy-whlte to greenish-straw- color. hollow, cylindrical, and up to 1.5 mm. thick; and the whole plant may reach l0 cm high. The whole surface is fibrous and meaty. The apothecia are tiny brown Lnonzs on the tips of special

‘branclias.

Iii the year 19X), at Mount Herbert, I noticed a peculiar growth where some turf-had been taken from the roadside. On the bare raw soil a multitude of bright salmon-colored “beads? about. 3 or 4 mm. in diameter, grew on short stalks, and I supposed them to be an unknown species of fun- gus. To make sure, I sent speci- mens to the Dominion Botaiillt. Ottawa, who informed me that. they were the lichen Baeomycesi roseus. I therefore revisited the spot where I found them, and made these notes:

Baoomycu roams. Common. P. E. 1., 1920. Thallus rose-pink. horizontal, expansive, a mere scurf on the ground, almost evanes- cent; apotliecia convex, brighter‘ salmon-color or rosy, terminal on, podetla and so substipltate. <The| podetia. of lichens are. in effect, fruit-bearing brancha, and sub- stipitate means “shortly stalked”) “L10h9115," I wrote recently. “vary very greatly in appear‘ ance," and it would be hard to find two more diverse than Usnea and Baeouiyoel. Diverslty. 110W- ever, whether of form. structure, or color. is always interesting to. the naturalist.

The Snowbird

This winter visitor was Present in my own district in large flocks. about 20 years ago. In the winter of 1944-5 two or three flocks WW8 observed and it was‘ remarked ihfli? the number of individuals in the flocks were fewer than used to be the case. Neighbors to whom I ilave talked, express the opinion that Snowbirds. have H9891? diminished in numbers in recent Vcars. thus continuing my Own ' This is a cold district.

opinion. tiowevci", and birds tend to shun it; before making up ones mind.

it. will be necessary to know wheth- er the birds are scarce in other parts of the Island. The 113mg “Snowbii-d" prepares us to look for something white. and most. people believe that to be the color of the birds. As will bc secn, there is more coloration than that:

/ Snow Bunting, Snowflake. or locally "Snowbird" (A. O. U. 534i. lload,

Winter plumage seen here. throat. and breast, rusty brown, darker on centre of crown. Back irregularly st/reaked black (from u... black bases showing thwuzh the rusty tips of the fell/hers)- Tail: outer feathers white. inner ones black, all more or less rust)’- Under-pai-ts white. sidas 91115911 rusty, Wings, white, with end halt of primaries and inner sec- ondaries black. In flight the whitt! or the wings is fully displayed- Summer plumage seen only ill the Arctic. During the winter the rusty edges of the feathers wear off. leaving the head. neck. uni)" tail covei-ts and underparts white. and the back black. Tail black and white as above, but not rusty. To sec the Snow Buntings feed was an interesting sight. The rear ranks. having cleaned tread-seeds. flew over. and alight- cd in front of the front ranks. which thus became the rear and

alternating movement they would. field.

Two Good Stories

ing the last three months.

up their

carried on the advance. With this

as it were, roll across the whole, 1f startled they would rise into a picturesque “right wheel’

and swirl sway to parts unknown.

I am an admirer of the writings of Sir Walter Scott and have read several of his historical novels dur- Scott qulte evidently experimented with

a IUWN GUARDIAN’

OR BRiCK i5 CONViNlENT FOR RAiSiNG SASH TO ANY HHGHT NECESSARY.

Working drawing for stand

Every garden should have a cold frame, winich can be used through- out the year, to do things for which nothing else Wall serve as well. 1f you lack one, tihe time to build it is in the winter, so it will be ready to install as soon as the ground thaws out in the spring.

‘the illustration shows in detail how to make a small cold frame of the standard size, 3 by 6 feet. To double it, make the end boards six feet, instead of three, and use two sash, separatd by a bar.

Boards at least, one-inch thick, of cypress, redwood, or me other moistiure resistant woo s

h |used, and the construction should

be used, and the construction mould be 501201. lf you have sash of a dif- ferent; size. it; is all right b0 build the frame to flt the sash. Instead of lass, a glass substitute can be . Those commonly used are composed of wire screens covered with trans rent plastic, or fabrics treated tih wax to make them waterproof and, let light through. They are ligher than glass, and do

his public, and. in some cases. un- successfully: Oiie of his near- failures was “The Monastery", already the subject of a Note in this column. Since then I have read “The Fair Maid of Perth” and "Old Mort/silty," both of which are on a higher plans of place and history, though p810!»- ally I consider them inferior to Scott's “Antiquary?

"The Fair Maid of Perth" car- ries one back to Scotland of the early fifteenth century, when the citizens of Perth held very near- ly the same relationship to the wild Highlanders, as Captain Miles Standish and his colonists did to the Indians, There was a certain amount of intercourse and trade. broken too often by assault and massacre. The folk in Perth were constrained under the cir- cumstances, to accept a feudal Lord as a leader. against their mountain foes, and against the powerful barons who kept Scot- land in an uproar by their dis- orderly acts. Thc fair maid, be- ing of huiubier origin, underwent a great deal of annoyance from the nobles and others, but all comes right in the end which 1| the mark of a good story.