i" "new sores on

couuecrcp WITH Silver Fox Farming

TOPICS

- l’ da we have a visit Mmgbtfelllocwyfoxyrancher and the 1mm 51g“ usually turns on plat- dmus What do we know about l!‘ m‘ platinum, oody or Buffalo W" laflmnng, Corbin platinums {fat-met platinums. but most- we think oi Ncrwezilll going to take our views.

zanfl

ih t do “finalise? so We "e gfeiv minuies to 59MB

n werth are American “Emilia: griginated on the run- ‘mé pox Ranch oi Guy Corbin at flow. HOYBD. Wisconsin, in roar m iiutant was named i-Illlcrest c”; 8M was alive at last re- ; In 1930 he was mated to . .1 r sister oi his sire named "tub. and two platinum and two Fm; naps were born. One oi’ the slatlnum males was named Sta e- inns, The iollowing year. i039 l-I li- .. r5; chief was mated olysflmllll-l- $.10 lire Corbin femaes and one nut-r fcmalc- belonging to the Cap- m] poi.- and Fur Farm of Madison, w“ Owned by Mr. John Werth. In mfg“ year Stagehand was mat- M 1° g silver litter mate and to I pflnitol silver female. “mung; produced an aggregate o! p nialinums. 14 males and 8 fe- malts. and 15 silver pups. Six of 4m platinums were from the two _cap1to]1e1nal€s and this ranch also bought four of the other platinum

malts

.___

mm this beginning developed an» corbin and Werth strains oi platinunis which have become so W11 and favorably known in the United Slates. Recent auctions ihave shown that foxes from these ‘strains where crossed wth ttrains oi sill/em have l suited in m, offspring when pelted bringing -- non figures at auctions m New lyon; and elsewhere. One oi the Weilli males has been brought tn (nu province and is at a ranch near Charlottetown. It differs from the lal-‘orest. and other types but has the usual platinum char- arlcrls . Two Corbin foxes have "been brought here but we have no ‘particulars as to how they have ‘produced

' The Buffalo Bill strain oi plat- Inuit; was we understand develop- froni lrnncrlations oi Colpitts foxes. They have. had a big vogue in the linitrd States and lwo of tliesc ‘animals are now owned on Island ranches. Most of the Buffalo Blll tend to become very light in color, ll least the illustrations show them that ircy.

" Norvrc, i platliiunis. Some weeks [g0 wc g c a vcry full history oi gtiic (‘crclorimeiit of the Norwcgia pla .n fox. the original of thes nets to n ke the limelight so it ‘ ls not ca v to go over the m"t- lei- aza , ffice to say that. the article ias been widely published -in fur Journals and has resulted in -~| great deal more interest, being taken in that strain. There is no doubt that the high duality Nor- .».wegian types are valuable. per- haus we might say tho most valu- "ahlc. and it is particularly pleas- ing to us to know that this prov- ' fair to become the out- ". Canadian prc-‘"""" o‘ Norwegian plutinums. While we ~havc no agurcgep. iigures as r0 the number of males imported 11TH‘ fhc last two seasons, yet we vonld say on ii rough guess that flier» nuist bc over 20 and these arr beinc used to capacity sn that We can link forward to sccimz in Ellie ircighborliood of 200 or more Norwegian platinums in ranchcs hm i\f‘.\'i mu ‘hey differ a bit ‘from tho LaForest. in that they have da or markings extending m ihc 7105c of the head down ‘the rrtvzcn or centre of thn hack Jud this we think makes for more character. The true Norwegian ‘nbo has a verv nice bluish cast lo unricrlur. Somctlmcs there are‘ ...oifsctting disadvantages.

. LaForcst nlntinums were dc- ."'~“-“""" Irma a "iW-itlon which appeared in a small ranch oper-

Med by a French Canadian in thr- ."'“'¢ - or nuehen. n.-_ YnFgfeyzf, ~i~~~i u.» ear-whorls; ,-r v-u- “mic

irox aiaoaras

Frulh Frozen (anlln at 2h’. crnis * ililllllrl- Delltercd any Station. FREEMAN POPE. HQHL Sourls, R. R. 2. \q;: .

for use in his ranch and developed the strain which bears his name and which is now so widely dis- tributed. The orlglnal owner of the mutant also bred quite a num- bcr oi platinums and we under- stand is still in business. Ani- mals irom both ranches are equ- ally desirable and have left thcir mark in no uncertain way in this province. Raoul Raymond was an importer of a LaForest in 1940 and be quickly developed a splendid herd from that sire.

The some fall George A. Call- beck brought in a LaForest and Stewart 6c Lewis brought in a platinum from the original Que- bec breeder. These foxes crossed with excellent silvers owned by he two outstanding ranchers improved on the originals and that s also true 1n the case of Mr. ‘Raymond. As a matter of fact there has been a progressive im- prcvement in platlnurns here with each generation and the way we account for it is that the silvers with which they are crossed were of better character than thc or- iginal strain of silver from which 21,0 original platinums wen- deriv-

A few days ago we were shown a sale report from a Bummer "' rancher who consigned l0 LaFor- est type platinum pups to the Canadian National. These were sold in January and brought from $105.00 to $120 00, averaging ovrr $100 00. Another rancher" thatwe know sent 12 pelts, platinum typc.

the sams sale and received from the same source an average of $163.00. Three of these were Norwegians. They brought from $160.00 to $17500 each and the top prices were 6190.00 each for two LaForest.

'I‘be above‘ figures are not the best by any means received by Is- land ranchers. No doubt li we could look at George Callbeckb returns there would be some very close to the $300 00 mark. as he had a magnificent line at the show in which was quite a number of adults -—very large skins and very full furred. One was a Cody. or Buffalo Bill as it is Plllllllllfly known. Sometime perhaps we may persuade Georsll to 8W6 lli the record oi that bunch

The above lust goes to show that there is somethlnz 1° "ll-i "platinum craze" as some people call it. and while we must not go all out or neglect other types. yet it would be well to develop some in every ranch because each rancher has a type of silver that perhaps may give a better result with platinums than with white faces

Radium foxes . . This is a two lthat was developed in Wisconsin. We“ do not know very much about it but from the photos would say

that they differ from other plat- lnums in that tlicy have black cars and the underiur is slate col- ored, but the exterior character- istics resemblc platiiiums cxccpt that they did not show anv ring necks or much white. Tlic New York Auction Company. whose sales we follow very , carefully. show Radiums as bringlfl! $19999 while Platlnums brought up

$275.00. This may be a case vlierc the Radlums were not of the ucsl quality or it may be that the)‘ have not caught the public fancy sufficiently to bring the high dol-

lar

It should be remembered in passing that not. every freak or new typa is going to make n hit For instance. a breeder in On- tario in collaboration with breeder in the United spent a great deal oi timv- in dc- veloping black marked white mink. A number of thesc were placed on sale -in New York rccentlv and af- Lcr a few bids were withdrawn. Then again a yell‘ e80 "W 0111"‘ ehilla breeders. who had Weill years in gel-tlug together e of’; iiicent number of chlncllla 11.11.» to make ‘up some garments. od- yet-used a sale and marked their pelts at fixed prices ll lll'°"d_ i complete flon. The markct was not. ready for ibis type 0f 1W" l“ the prices asked.

Better luck attended (lic Silver- Blu mink breeders. ivlzw silent ll

rotor money in boosting their pro-

THE CHARLOTTETOWN

Ii

2E5 1

v * . ._ ~_ ‘ “QAM

Giant portrait of il ex-Duce. rc- movcd from Fascist headquar- tcrs in Anzio. Italy. to the side- walk. mode a SWO“ target for passing Allied soldiers. Abovc one of thcm locks over mussed-up Mussv.__

duct for months prior to the sale and really went to town when the auction took place as the trade publlcaions slate. the pelts aver- aged $150 00 each. This reminds one oi the promotional activities which attended the sale of Nor- wegian platinums which was stag- ed by Omar Brager-Larsen in New York in i940. On that auc- tlon I J. Fox reputedly paid $5,000.00 for one pelt. but the average of lhc consignment was in the neighborhood oi between $300 00 and $400.00.

Anent the desire to develop something new in furs and the rush to get on the band wagon when a new type appears, we quote from the port Pope: "Be not the first by whom the new is tried, not yet the last to lay the old a- side." Sn don't iorget that the foundation oi all these types rests on silvers and keep at least the nucleus of the best. of your silvers so that if the new types should become less popular" you can get right back imp the production of silvers

Ollie McNeill. Fort Qu'Appelle, Sask., pioneer breeder of whitc faces, whose strain of foxes has been shipped to Europe and all parts of the United States and Canada, was highly commended by his fellow citizens in Regina. Sash, because of his contribution of $3.000 00 to the anti-T. B. Lea- guo oi‘ that province. This is not the only interest Mr. McNeill has shown in combating tho scourge. but year after year he has been one of the leaders in the fight and now as a result oi the good work of a large body oi citizens, suitable Ircc accommodation has been.pro- vlderl for every case of T. B. i the province oi Saskatchewan.

At the New York Auction Com- pany's saic last ivcek 12.000 “Sil- vcr Moon" ranch mink was 56 per cent sold at a top pricc of $31 50. This was considered about on a par with the prices at tho previ- ous salc. The “Silver Moon" offer- ing of 500 platinum fox was 100 per cent sold. The highest price was $230. 3.000 silver fox from the same company was 90 per cent sold with the top price $125 The market was strong with competi- tion for silver fir: much more

d th l at ‘pylons sales.

I"- The Bray Chick does the nick. Let me show you the proof. Place ggur order here. No writing. No flier. Call or phone.

Charles E. Worth. 142 Great George Street. Charlotte- tCivn.

(chicks on dlsvllyd

Goctli l‘ ru-Lcan. Lot l5. So cst

J, D. McQucrn, Uigg

Er~u~cc Payntcr. R. R. 4. Ken-

, Montague,

l, \Vi1lllf2t Valley

GUARDIAN PAGE NINE

i - NEWSY

NOTES -

Bialk Friday

As I write, it is the anniversary oi "Black Friday" or as scene call- ed it “COld Friday." Few are left- who can recall it since this day is stated to be Eyzbruary 8th, i861, mlfilcti was most certainly a Friday. (There has crept in a little discre- pancy as to the date, but this will be straightened cut nnoni.

In this Province the previous do)’ had been characterised by a terrific rainstorm accompanied with thund- 'er and lightning; the iatlcl" always a bad sign in winter. Then on the Friday the barometer dropped to 29 degrees below zero, a temperature very seldom experienced here. There was however worse in store; the lwlnd rose to a gale variously esti- [matcd at 40 lo ‘l0 miles an hour, and I have been informcd that no- bcdy dared to venture outdoors while this lasted. In Donagh this day was said to be ‘Murnagbarrs Cold Friday," but we are not told ,wl_1o Murnaghan was. nor why he liaid claim lo the visitation. | In New Brunswick the storm {seems to have been worse. The cold was a shade easier to bear for lit was 26 below zero at its worst, .but the wind snapped off big trees "as li they were straws" as it raged on at 70 miles an hour. m Sussex," N.B., liie lumbeimcn inputted see- lng scores of woodpeckers frozen to death in the ivoocis.

The cold and wind moderated on the Saturday. and by the Sunday ‘afternoon. the weather was normal: |il1e storm had “blown itscli out."

From Upper Canada letters came ,through, telling of “Cold Thursday"= but it was not as cold. nor was the wind as strong. as IRE. Island had it on the Friday, Later it was learned that ‘he sweep oi the gale. and the "cold wave" were from the Rockies all the way to Newfound- land, in varying intensity", with mountainous "waves in the Nor-tn Atlantic."

A newspaper clipping. in my scrapbook, gives the date of Black Friday as February 9th. ‘That. data, hoiveyer, when calculated out, was" Saturday.

A Long-range Calendar

When it necessary to find the dav oi the week when the day of the month, the month itself. and the year are ziven, (as 1n the above example) the answer is quickly found by a little Calendar issued by a publishing firm in Racine. vVisconsi . 'I‘ne Calendar consists of four short "tables" from each oi which m number lg select-

twenty-fivc years has been eon- pected with time Division oi Botany- at Ottawa; and who has always with the greatest of coimssy. ulee- ed his knowledge of the Canadian Flora. at the service oi the present writer.

1t is scarcely necessary to remind my readers that weeds can be a great evil, ii they “get the upper hand"; robbing the cultivated crop oi plant food and water. Some oi them, even on this Island. are harmful, if not poisonous, to stock. And they can all travel long d15- tances from the spot in which they first appeared. usually iollowing the trail prepared by commerce. All these points are taken up by the Survey. There are, I gather many new weeds finding their way into Canada via British Columbia, and one at least has reached Ottawa.

The genus Achiilaea (Yarrow) is precept in Canada in a surprising number oi species; to my know-l ledge we have but two species here» The genera Cuscuta (Dcdderi and! Asclepias (Milkwcsdi are very pre- valent in other Provinces. but as yet have not, intruded into P. E. Island.

FERTILIZERS

DISTRIBUTORS and FARM {S ATTENTION

om the Fertilizer Administrator are to lhc his supply offertilizei“ for the coming urcc that he obtained it last year and that ihe quantity is controlled by lhc potash content. This can be, but musl, not exceed. 80% of his last seasons purchase. Bonn fide farmers who were not farming last year or who, if farming. did not obtain an equitable share of fertilizers, have the first claim on fertilizers avail- able after the above mentioned quota has been filled, and there should be some available. Anv person who has obtained 0r who has iii-copro- mised more than his equitable share. is i0 report it i0 the Fertilizer" Administrator, Ottawa. by Malch 15‘-

To help those who are distributing andludsinv determine the quantity to which one is entil e . l‘ information:

The latest instructions fr effect that one is to procure Spring Season from the same so

Awe}: "IIIIIDIIIIIIIIIIJ\ or.

Insects I have Collected (l)

The naturalist divides his year. - into two seasons; the warm season. I loosely referred to as summer. when he collects his specimens. and thc ; cold season. when he examines and annotatea what he has collected. In the present series the writer will endeavor to describe some oi the insects ‘he has collected at various times. under their scientific names as well as their local names, if they have any: warning the reader at the same time that the former names are in a continual state oi flux and that if he is to be "up to date" he may have to learn new scientific names every few years. In Britain this changing of names made such headway that one could I not, open n new book on the study of insects without having to dis- card all names previously learned. in favor of new ones just bestowed; and an entcmologdst plainttvely proposed, in view of the confusion that was caused, to throw all the‘ “family names" overboard, and raise the specific names to generic rankl

There is a family group of insects called the Predaceous Diving Beetles or Dytlscldae. There are said to be nearly 300 species of‘ these beetlen native to North America. and hear that the genus Dytiscus is to be revised. hence the warning given above. In the course of the years

g fertilizers to quickly e supply the following

vaxatcixzstwrpilpwlok east-settle .

To determine his quota for this year of hulls 09 like weight of— 2 - l2 l 3 — l5 0 4 - S S .20 4 - l2 6 38 s - 10 - 10 -— 2.00 L33 L00 1.33 .80 1.00 1.06 .80 1.06 .04 1.00 .66 .50 06

the last number of bags by- 1.20 .30 .60

Multiply yfllls

s. 4 ax

bought last ear-

If one Y

2-12-6 or 4-12-6

0Q

I I ._ _a 1 I

onus-oats; - I p.- cremains it I '.»-¢\‘r.~as- -c

l r ,_. —a I r

CILQMIQ I . ti? onoosnm l- l its-moose.»

_j§——-——

>-

,_._i "JIM I

some i300 s5...»

ed. These number added and divid- ed by '7, will give, as remainer. the day of the week. Flor example

the remainder is l. the day reouired is Monday. The Calendar will give

any day of the week for any year

I suppose, a new calendar will be issued The vagaries oi‘ Potato Prices t2) In October 1938 tablestock fetch- ed 50 cents a bushel, just what it cost to grow them according to the experts. But stay. don't iorget tlic truckage, 2 rents a bushel must ccme off for that; because of our distance from ihc loading-point. We held some potatoes till April 103a but only got 55 cents. The farmer wiho holds potatoes over winter is liable to loss from stor-, Bse rots. and (on the North Shore) to loss from frost. and so is justl- flc-d in expecting a belie rice

’ P it , because of his risk. But ho doesn't

always get it, i

In November 1089, I again sold‘ potatoes at 50 cents a bushel, while! Certified Seed was selling at 05 cents.

In November, 1940, Cobblers sold for 24 cents a bushel. and Mount- ains 2'7 ccnls. The newspapers said that Mountains were 28 ccnts, but that must have been scmewhere elsel In February i941. it. was given. out in llle city that. prices were 25-i 28 cents; we sold in l/iay and got? 25 cents, and some in Juno for 40i cents a bushel.

Coming to the harvest of 1041. sales opened at the old price of 50 cents a bushel. with a sharp rise in January 1042. Commencing at Si. they dropped to 85 cents within a week. no doubt with considerable ybenefit tn the consumer?

‘Ilia 1942 crop starved‘ our at '70 cents in Novcmbrr. Rv May 1043, we got $1.20. and cleared the cellar in July at $1.28 cents a bushel. In Nov. 1943 the ncw crop was selling at 85 cents. ‘out. a ceiling had been put on. and prices will not advance as they did last year. is the opinion hcceabouts.

On a snap iunzment 85 cents looks good compared with 24 cents in 1042, but there arc other mat-i tors that take the rilt ofi the gingerbread, as the old saying goes. Pickers asked $3 a day in 1943, andl graders also got more though in] some cases it was possible to ar-‘. range an exchange of labor. 1110' prevalence of severe blight made many take to r-prayin: for it, who had never sprayed before: and the spraying had lo be "cpeatcd as often as the rain washed the chemical ofi. Spraying costr. money both for materiel and machine so there went another slice ofi thc a5 cents. And lastly. trucking charges’ advanced to 3 cents in common‘ with other advances. It aiculd puzzle| a statistician to iinzl out ‘now the farmer stood. under lhesn deduc-i tions.

What ls the intrinsic. worth oi‘ ll~c potato, I wonder? it is, we are told, so per cent water. a very cheap fluid; 18 per rel" stawih, where most of its value lies, while; protein ralbuminl and ce ulose. make up the remaining 2 per cent!

It. is the farmer's intelligence.‘ "foresight and labor that goes into the crop and makes its valuable: he takes lhr risks n! weather. in- sect, and other nests, and his re- ward should be adequate, Onlv loo alien (lg things are. he doesnt get; Canadian Weed Survey

There has lust arrived a copy of- the first Report nf the ‘Canadian’

from A.D. 1 to A D 3.599: when and

,a female. and the females of thcsc