JANUARY 20. 1945"

TIMELY NOTES ON TOPICS CONNECTED WITH

Silver Fox Farming '

The first of the New Year sales s; silver Fbx and mutation type pelts was held by tlhe Montreal (Canada) Fur Sales Ccmpany last week with the following results. Interesting to all of us was the {JPCSCIICCVOI south American dealers who are usually good buyers, but we regret that none from the Ar- gentine were represented. ‘lhese dealers will no doubt be Present next, week when the Canadian Fur sales Company vendu takes Place. Wo also publish the latest from Seattle, Washington. which fur- nishes s good idea of western prices.

Qmrifng of 1,500 silver fox spec- gls particularly platina and w. ‘icfaoes, brought, competition for the New York crowd from an un- oxpectcd quarter. seven South Am- erican dealers, from Peru. Brazil and Urugtuy picking up some of the high priced lots. Plating foxes frcm Ontario ranches ranged from $15 to $140. and from Quebec raiwhel "15. b0 $125 , While West- crn specials d similar type brought

mo. to $115. Pearl pie/tins. ranged s30 to $75 , and wh‘te faces $55 to $68. company reported

s ciuls 60 cw cent sold, at a de- clllie of 25 lo 30 per cent compared with January 1944 sale.

selected full silver was officially reported 60 per cent sold and de- clined 36 per cent from January. only Grade "B" was offered a prices ranged $32. to $50. Ordinary full silvers were of lcieliy 45 per cent sold. with a range of $28. to $40 down 85 per cent compared with January last; selected one-half and tihree- usrtcr silver per con sold, th s Ow 0f $31.. “ " ’ 3o per oem, and inferior- types, ranflillg $15. to $27., were 40 per cent sold, and declined 20 Der cent. Average decline on the total silver fox offering was 28 per cent.

Seattle. Jan. l4 — A good de- mand for white faces. platinum and pearl silver fox was noted at the filial session 0f the Sfiattle Fur Exchange sale on Friday. Prices were on a par with those for sim- ilar good; at last month's sale.

White faces (1.600) were 60 per cent sold bringing $50. to 8W1. depending on color phase. Platinum (500) were 72 per cent sold bring-

iiir: $60 in $157. depending cal color hose.

Pearl". (50) were all sold at $60. in $126.

One indirect result of the epi- demic aiid a much to be regretted oiio, is the closing of the Govern- mciit Fox Stud Farm on the St. Peter's Road, which was managed hl/ Brenton Howatt. It will be remembered that. last fall selec- tions were made of male pup foxes from many of the best breed- ers in thc province and these wcrc placed w.'\h Mr. I-lowatt for care and management. Quite n number of ranchers sent females there to be matcd and some very satisfactor results were obtained. This fall t was considered on ac- count of the prevalence of dis- tcmpcr and the chances of s read- ing it because of various reed- ers patronizing the farni that it would be better to discontinue op- erations. An auction alas adver- tised and held the early part of this week. Cood prices were ob- tained considering the fact that the market hud dropped almost one-third from the previous year when the foxes were bought.

Here are a few of the sales with approximate prices. . . . MciViil. laii 98X, full sliver. good animal. sold fcl" $180.00 to Mrs. Vlilfrcd ltfcCarvillc. Kinkoru. Francis Drake paid $166.00 for another too male and Wilfred Drake $156.00. Both these breeders are from Mlllview. Premier Walter Jones purchased several males and Dr. II. McIntyre of Charlotte- town was obuyer. The above will

cate the success of the sale in view of conditions.

It is a long time since a carload nf live foxes left Prince Edward Island. I believe one would have to go back to records of 1928 or 1929 to find an occurrence of that kind. so it. is iicilrs to learn that a car of livc foxes did actu- nlly leave Charlottetown station some rlays ago. destination being a ranch iii the U. S A. We und- Pfilfilld that thc foxcs came from

M paid for Alaskans. The offe

a branch ofa UltdSta . cern which is cloleaineg GOWIlHOIfOlILQ operations here or else severely vurtaillns them. The foxes from this farm were of good quality and last year brought exceptionally 800d liflc” l3 Delis. No doubt they will contribute to the improve. merit of the home ranch.

Sales of silv f v

are being liblderilllofiV8pnldllfl tinent. At Regina, seek" 1,500 iiiii’ pill. "tfi‘."““i. é‘.."°“.‘.. °°°

. 8 0 61‘ t ough the Saskatchewan Fur Marketing Service recently set up by the C_ C. l". government. was disposed of. Pl I high-oi m, while white- mllkfid Ymlcht a top price of $60. Our opinion of the sale is that the new government agency has not crowned itself with any glory u the prices look low for the quality of foxes we would ex- pect to come from Se “atchewan ranches.

In New Y rk La , Fr d: Ruth's offeling ofnlalilgnfox, 10X. red fox and cross fox drew a light attendance. Approximately 466 blue fox were 61 per cent sold at a 10 per cent advance over the. October auction figures. Top price of 8144 was paid for s. nice lot of platinum typu. Approxim- ately 6.000 red fox was 11 per cent sold and top price of $13.25 ‘was n of crou fox was withdrawn. g

In Toronto the New York Auc- tion Company held its second sale of the season Due to difficult

- blEWSY NOTES -

A Chapter 0n Berries

It may seem odd to be writing on "Berries" while on all sides the country is sleeping under its white blanket; but winter is the time for the naturalist to write of things. as summer is to collect them. If he puts off his writing till the coming of the latter sea- son. it may not be done at all.

In this note the writer defers to the popular acceptance of the term "berry" as that of a small. juicy fruit, sometimes stoneleas sometimes not. As berries have dis- tinctive colors when ripe. this feat- ure may be employed as a means of identification. when the student is not acquainted with the plant on which the berry ls borne. A list of such color-divisions will greatly shorten the time required for looking up the plant in any of the accepted “I-Iandbooks" of botany and the student is urged to cut out and preserve the present at- tempt at such s classification.

is another point in pub- a list of our berries. Chil- dren should be taught to dis- tinguish between the edible and the poisonous species. and cautioned against the latter. I have recent- ly found Sclsnum Dulcamsrs grow- ing wil: its bright red berries look tempting enough but are ex- tremely poisonous.

Whiie Berries: ' White Baneberry (Actoas slba). herb. Poisonous?

Red-Osier Corncl (Cornus sto- ionifera). shrub. Creeping Snowberry (Chicgenes hispidula), creeping shrub. Snowberry isymphcrlcarpoa race- mosus), shrub, ornamental. Yellow or Orange Berries: Cloudberry or Bake-Apple bus Chamsemorus). edible. s

(Ru- low

travel conditions the sale was one 1m, , I d 6 .. .

i’ .. l!

of New York buyers considerably lessened. Ranch mink was 70 per cent sold and brought a toll iii-ice of $26.50. Platinum foxw were 40 per cent sold and had a top of $145. About the same proportion of white-marked foxu was dis- posed of and the peak reached was $76. Standard silver foxes sold as high as $68 with 55 per cent of the offering disposed of. The collection of foxes was a fair one with some fairly good plat- inums.

In New York the M. i M. As- sociation and other shippers full silvers were auctioned by the New York Auction Company and 60 per cent sold. top pricrwas $80. with to price for M. d: M. full silvers High price for throu- quartsr silvers was s36. while a half-silver brought a tcp of $34.

In Women's Wear Daily for Thursday. January llth. appears a quarter page ad as follows: “1,000 Canadian Platinum. Pearl Platinum and White Marked Fox Pelts. on display, January. 18, i945. at the Canadian Fur Auction Sales Company, Ltd, Montreal, Canada. To be sold at public auction January 23, 1945. This offering- contains a very fine collection of Canadian Ranch Raised new type fox its, a large percentage be- ing ight. and Ebrtra Light, large. flashy skins (many ring necks). These high quality new type fox pelts come to us from a number of the best breeders across Can- ada and include the skins from the Ontario Prince Edward Island Pelt Show Collections. 100 per cent Fresh Colic . CANADIAN NAT- IONAL SILVER FOX BREED- ER-S‘ ASSOCIATION. SUMMER- SIDE, PRINCE EDWARD ISL- A

The above ad will appear also in Fur Trade Review and other publications which catch the eye of the best fur buyers of the Uni- ted Statea. Now you will realize why we were so interested and insistent in securing so many ent- ries for the Provincial Pelt Show. knowing as we did that the pelts would appear if o!’ satisfactory quality in the collection which is being advertised. That a collec- tion such as it. is will draw s. large number of buyers is an assured fact. Next year let us make it big- ger and better than ever.

We predict that Platinum. Plat- inum Silvers and White Marked Foxes will take the lead in the rise iii prices which we anticipate in the fox pelt market in the next few months. We have been scan- ning the sales reports very close- lv and find that at the New York

a fox ranch near Charlottetown“ Auction Company's sale ten days

—-

i and meat qualify.

Poultry Services. ern hatchery this year.

i ery season.

i- D Swift's p l. Baby Chicks

Now is the time to order your baby chicks. Our chicks are bred for high egg production Breeder flocks are blood- iested iwich and approved by the Government We have elected a new mod-

most up to date in Eastern Canada, being sn- tirely frec of any contact with poultry or poul- J try products, thus safeguarding our chicks from any source of disease infection. Now is the time to decide how many chicks Y0" "llllln- 0rd" now for delivery at any time during the hatch-

swirrs _ CHICK HATCHERY

ciiaiiiorrerown.

which will be one of tho

Ited or Purple-Red Berries:

Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra)‘. herb. Poisonous? "Indian Pear" or June-Berry

(Amelanchier sppJ, small trees. Red Bearberry (Arctostaphylos

Uva-Ursi), shrub, trailing. Barberry (Berberis vulgaris), shrub, rare. "Indian Turnip" (Arisaema tri- phyllum). acrid herb. Bunch-Berry iCornus caniideri- sis), Herbaceous. low. om, Haivthom (Crataegus Ipp). small trees. Water Arum (Calla palustria).

acrld bog herb.

~Spurge-Laurei (Daphne Mezere vm.), shrub. acrld.

Crowberry (Empctrum rigrum andinum). low evergreen shrub. Strawberry (Fragaria Virginians) er

"Teaberry" (Gaultiicria prccum- hens). creeping evergreen. Winterberry ' (Ilcx verticillata) swamp shrub.

Fly Honeysuckle (Louiccra Can- adcnsis). shrub. moist woods. Mountain Holly iNelnfiiiflfll-lll" mucrcnata). ihrub. swamps.

Wild Red cherry iPrunus Penn- ylvanica). small tree.

vi

Rowanberry tPyrus spp), trees. 2 kinds. '

Red Chokeberry iPyrus arbuii- folial. swamp. low shrub.

Rose lRosa sop), prickly shrubs-

ago 1,600 mutations were B3 per cent sold with $170 paid for some top piatinums.

The Canadian Fur Auction Sales Company, Ltd. sale of gen- eral furs started on Tuesday. January 16th with an offering of lynx, beaver, otter, skunk. badger". white fox and cross fox. On Janu- ary 17th muskrat, fisher. ermine. red fox, wolf and squirrel were listed. On Thursday 5,500 wild mink and 25,000 ranch mink.

Next Monday. Januar 22nd, 1,- 300 Silver Fox, Plat um and Platinum Silvers C.F.A.S. specials and 5,600 Silver Fox first section of catalogue will be offered. On ‘Tuesday. January 23rd, 1,500 Sil-

ver Fox. Special Canadian Nat- ional Silver Fox Breeders‘ As- sociation, Platinum. White Mark-

ed. etc.. and 5,300 Silver Fox sec- ond section will be offered. On Wednesday. January 24th, 635 Sil- ver Fox Western Canada ncw types and 420 Silver Fox, new type show pelts of New Bruns- wick Fur Farmers‘ Association. and 5.800 Silver Fox third section. will be auctioned. On Thursday 1.20;) C. F. A. S. specials. Platinum. Pearl Platinum. etc.. and 5,600 Sil- ver Fox will be sold and on Fri- day. January 26th, 6,700 Silver Fox of the fifth section will complete the catalogue.

The above sale is certainly re- plete with quantities and qualities of fine Canadian furs. probably thc best that the great Dominion can place on show. They have been garnered from tho wastes of the Arctic and from all thc Prov- inces cf Canada, from fur farms stretching from Nova Scctia to British Columbia and from trap lines laid by enterprising youths in creeks and woods as well as by experienced trappers who make their livelihood by that occupa- tion. If you were to drop into the lobby of thc Windsor Hotel at Mount Royal this week or next wcek you would hear a jargon of language you could hardly under- stand, practically everyone would be conversing about fur prices and they would be mostly men of the Jewish race whose temperament naturally gravitates thcm to a more or less speculative business such as fur buylflll 011°"!!-

' We just roughly totalled up the r ortions of new types as com- gal-go with thc old reliable Sliver Fox and find that of the 34,000 skins in the catalogue about 5.000 are Platinums. Platinum Silvers White Faces. Pearl Platinuma and other new types, while 29.000 are Silvers. Very probably this pro- portion would extend itself to the entire continent and if you were to secure the figures of the pelts taken off iii the United States and Canada they would roughly be United Stairs 25.000 new types. 175,000 Silvers; Canada 20.000 new types. 120,000 Silvers. If that pro- portion keeps up the prices the new types will have considerable aqvmgage over Silvers but when the trend starts the other, way

rhea down i108! "l" PT“??- I

Red Currants and Gooseberry

5 ,,.~;.i;.;\‘~'t.ii Zia-l: finch.»

(Ribes spp.), shrubs. often Spinose. Red Raspberry (lubus idaeus van), shrub.

Red Elderberry (Bsmbueus (race- mosa). a b. '

Woody Nightshade (Solarium Dulcamara), straggling shrub. Poisonous!

Yew UPaxus cansdenals), ever- green shrub.

Isa Berries:

Altemate-Leaved wood (Cor- nus Aliemlfolis). ahru. (To Be Continued

Retrospect and Advice

In the good old times, 35 years

ago, when I had p or potatoes for sale, I loaded t em onto n truck wagon and started for town ten miles away. (There were no trucks in those days). As I neared town. on the last stretches of the St. Peter's Road, I was accosted by the "scout-s” of the various competing dealers. who looked ovel my wares and made ma an offer If it agreed with my judgment l accepted and drove to his head- quarters, delivered the goods and got the money. Sometimes when the scouts price was deemed too low, it paid me to drive ori to town and go the round of the dealers themselves who often paid a cent or two more par lb. or bushel, rather than see my cargo go to some competitor: but in all case: it was a cash sale. The world does not stand still however, and with the coming of the telephone into greater use. the picture began to change. When l sought the dealer he how began to phone to some other dealer to find out what he was paying. and the answer set the price. This method was so satisfactory to the dealers that the old system oi competition soon gave way to an organized cooperation. and the price of all farm produce was fix- ed without the farmer having any say in the matter.

Then the “cash on the nail‘ system was abandoned. The buy- ers of pork paid by bank cheque and as the cheque reached its goal usually in a few days it was good business practice; _ than that of most business firms. who among themselves, favored monthly settlements.

On the other hand the buyers

root crops. potatoes. turni s. ed to a more primlt ve method, with less consideration for the hard-working farmer. Af- ter the goods were delivered tn the warehouse or shipping point talways be it remembered. at the farmer's expense or trouble) the money was sent out in the form oi currency to the buying agent and the farmer had to collect ii from him. ‘This was not an oner- ous lob if the two were near neigh- bors, but in mos; cases it meant '2; journey. longer or shorter. at the most inclement season of the year: and if the agent happened to be from home. the Journey hill to bc repeated. I do not know whether this procedure is still worried out nil over the Island but l gatlicr it still survives at vari- ous points. It is a system that might well be abandoned in favor of better and morev considerate business methods. Time i5 W‘! valuable to the farmer these days for unprofitable jaunts.

Ilisiory Of The Jews ti)

1 3m just finishing the “first volume of Milmans tragic His- tory of the Jews". HER?!’ Ha" Miiman was an ecclesiastic who

became Dean ‘of Si. Paul's London in 1849, and died in 1866. I-lis tor-y" was first published in . and was issued sill" in a" ex‘ tended form in 1856. Its issue raised a storm of controversy which must have surprised thc clerical writer.

i "h tli History aptteaisgil tlhrgebillkeilif the British people believed that the Bible. as they had it. could he: err: and at the back of their minds WM 6 vague picture of an anksllfl Del!!! dictating. verbatim. the W°Yd °l God" to a line of- scribes com- lnencing with Moses and endinS with St. John at Patmos. Milman. however, proposed to sift and study the Bible like any other book. and desired that while the events and characters of sacred histofi’ Bhfillld be treated revcrently. it should bc done none the less critically. Iii pursuance of this course he ventured to point out (amen; many other examples) that Psalm 136 Pharoah was said to have perished in the Red $082 while in the historic narrative IEXOLiU-S r4. 2a». no specific meo- lion is made of the monarch him-

cisms drew upon Miiman the rc- sentmant not only of the public but of the theologians. and cost him some of his dearest friends. Those readers who wish. mill’ “ml more details of those controversial times in the Bverymans edition

of thefllistory": which may be consulted in one of the City libraries.

But this must be said: no mat- ter liow these unimportant de- tails are criticized, the Bible alone. of all writings. offers the surest guidance to a happier life for all mankind.

A Little Nonsense

Ahdrc _Maurois believes that the Eilgiiah like lishness. and maybe this accounts for my col- lecting tin my callow days) those absurd productions called parodies and "bowlers." The former were comic versions of famous poems. generally innocent and always hu- morous; but they were deemed reprehensible as blunting apprecia- tion of the original‘ poetry; ‘Par example. a . Y greatly favored bv concert elocu- tlonists in those days, began

"A soldier of the Legion lsy dying in A iers.

There was lack of woman's gentle hands. there was dearth of ivoman‘: tears"-

Tlie parridlst, who had no pathos lri his soul, gave it the KO with

this- "A Hamilton militiamen as hicht gat rosrin‘ u‘.

TliE CHARLOTTETOWN GUARDIAN

self having perished. Such critl-l

l Brass and Glover Silage for Milk Production y (lapcrimsntsi Finns News) the e content of the forage'

Among the forage crops usually grown for bay, it nas been round that clover, slalfa and s mint of clover or alfalfa along with tim- othy or oflser grams; are probably the most suitable. It, has been the practice generally to begin erisillng M1011 the clover is in the early bloom stage. This product is some- times called 511830 and should not be with the gran silage produced in Great. kitain from short miniature greases. Feeding experiments at the Dominion Experimental Station, Fredericton, N.B., in u: that silage mado from clover and grass without

oil/red mixed clover and timothy hay cut at about the same stage of mat- urity. However, clover and grasses can be endled in weather wholly unsuited for hay , ac there is more auurlanoe that the crop Will he out at the most desirable stage of msimrity if it is enailed thin if it is made into hay More- over. if the haiv should become badly weathered before it is stored. silage would no doubt be superior in f value to hay. Gram and clover silage car. be produced without the use of mol- assee or other preservatives, but