THE GUARDIAN. GHARLOTTETOWN

rAGE ELEVEN

The Now York Auction Company yesterday offered a very large col- Jectlon of ranch mink-approx.l- mately 50.000 skins. They are ooh- signed by the United Mink Breed- ers Association, the strongest body of breeders of mink in the United States. It will be the last of the season's offering from them and the collection is described as fine 1rc:.h goods. They were put on show last Monday and attracted the attention of a large number of prospective buyers. it is considered gm; mg offering comes at it time when factors for mink popularity are on the up and up.

Designers are coming up almost glory week with new styles to make up silver fox, blue fox, mink and other furs. Some of them are VCl'y attractive and we are particu- Jnrly taken with the ingenuity in imrking two and four skins silver and mutation foxes into capes, vi-mp aroumis and other styles.

Irving Denson of Los Angelcc. California. is the leading specialist in that state in the handling of tax furs and he has made a feature of small pieces with split skins work- ed in tiers. Through the use of half skins rather than full pelts and handled horizontally the fur appears to be less bulky and lends itself to smaller pieces and s. more flattering silhouette. This house shows cape styles that come to just above the waist line in back end- ing about nine inches below the waist line in front. For dressier wear capelets are deeper or are ribbon tied at the neckline m-inus !I'l(' stole front. silver, Platinum and foxes are all very attractive made up in the above styles.

Ranch mink was strong at Lamp- snn, Fraser as Huth's auction last uct-k. Prices for the approximately 40.000 skins offered for the Great Lakes Mink Association were firm and the sales room took I large percentage of the collection. Se.-- tion One, 18,500 skins extra dark and dark was 94 per cent sold at a lop of 525.50. Section Two, 12.500 Starlights was 86 per cent sold at a lop of 332.50 for mediums, Bec- txon Three, 5,826, average goods, was 76 per cent sold at a top of :16; 1.328 IC'Jl' grades were '10 per cent sold with a top of 812.50 for good skins. The attendance of buy- ers was good and bidding active and sales were mostly to dealers, nianufacturers and exporters. Ono of the important factors at mink auctmns has been widespread buy- ing power. There are quite a few ptople in mink this year who here- wfore were in other furs and that makes more buyers in attendance at the sales. The biggest buyers scam to be asking smaller quanti- tze.-. than before and more people

six" in the category that buy from,

303 to 500 skins at a" sale and there. are some who take on more than this number, so it is easy to see how a sale of 40.000 skins can be absorbed by sixty or seventy buyers,

Finland. which is becoming an important fur producer -with large tax and mink ranches, and is also the habitat of many wild furs, ex- ported five times as many raw furs in 1049 as in 1048. but dressed furs were smaller in quanity. The coun- try has at present about 2,000 fur farms mostly in the coastal district where fish at low prices are avail- able. The 1949 crop is estimated by the Federation of Fur Breeders as follows-(1948 crop in brackets)- mink, 35.000 (26,000); sliver fax 15.000 (15,000): blue fox 15,000 (I2. 00': Platina. fax 2500 (2.000). TM rxports are controlled by the Bank of Finland and barter transactions are now permitted only for farm furs. Mink must be sold exclusive- ly to dollar countries and it is stat- ed that 30.000 mink have been ex- Dorted to the United states this war. A few years ago-and we pro- Iume he still holds the positio:i-- the chief inspector of fur farms in

&T” smmaamo

TIMELY "NOTES ON TOPIOS OONNEOTEO WITN

Silver Fox and Mink Farming

1, .&.LA

I general sale of furl in New York last week. Raccoon brought I tip price of 00.00 for heiwles. extra large. Full silver bmught I top price of tie. for fair quality large, with 76 per cent sold. Inferior all- vers ba-ought I top price of 00.00 with 90 per cent sold; three-quar- ter silvers brought I top of 016.60 with 90 per cent sold.

A very fine collection of furs will be auctioned by the Canadian Fur Auction sales Company (Quebec) Ltd., starting Monday, April 34th at 9.00 I. in. That day 10.000 silver platinum and white marked foxes will be offered. April 5th beaver. fisher, ermine, Canadian squirrel. blue fox. white fox, red fox. cross fox and other furs will be auct- ioned and on Wednesday, April zstlh. muskrat, wild mink, ranch mink, silverblu mink and miscel- laneous mink will be auctioned.

A few day! 980 we had I Ihort conversation with George Key of Hall Manaifacturing Co., summer- slde. cl he informed us that he was c sing OllI':'llI his fox food supplies and would discontinue handling them, It least until the industry got back on its feet. We regret this very much and we are sure other fur farmers who have been dealing with Mr. Key feel tne same way about it. At the same time we can well understand that he could not devote a large amount of space in his cold storage plant under present conditions. Mr. Key is I man who likes to deal in large quantities and sell at the very low- est prices. Though the years we have had many transactions with him and never In unsatisfactory one. It is B pleasure for us to pay this small tribute to one who is al- way courteous, always obliging even though it meant going to con- slderable trouble and expense to carry out his word or promise. M-:Yl like Mr. Key are I great asset to any community.

The fur trade in the United States and the for producers Iro putting on I tremendous campaign .to have the United states govern- ment either remove the 20 per cent sales tax on furs or else to out it in two. There is I sort of optimistic feeling pi-evading the Industry that something will be done and a canvass of leading ,.' 'ons which we note expressed in various fur magazines and Women's Wear Dally leads us to believe that the cut will not exceed one-half, that is the tax after July list will pro- bably be 10 per wit. it the United States lowers its sales tax on furl: it is possible, in fact probable, that Hon. Mr. Abbot may do the same for Canadian furs It least we hope so.

We acknowledge with grateful thanks the kindness of Dr. C. K. M. sc.. superintendent of Experi- mental Iibx lunch. Surninerside P. s. I. ll: sending us I copy of the Dominion Experimental Farms an- nual report for 1946-49. The Bx- perimental farms have as their Director 3. 8. Archibald. B. A.. 3. s, A., I..L.D.. D. so., whom we have often listened to with deepest interest when he addressed the an- nual meetings of the Canadian National silver Fox Breeders As- sociation. Tho book is very lW'39' tive and among the illustrations of covers of booklets from the differ- ent farma is one from the l:xpei1- mental station It Bummer-side, with photo of I beautiful silver fox pelt. We spent last evenini! reading it over and intend to con- tinue as then is I wealth of in- teresting rnIterlIl in its ninety

D0803- CULTIVABLI AREA

The productive land of Spain comprises nearly il4.000.000 acres. about so per cent of the total area but only 56,000,000 acres are under cultivation.

TYR.AN'.l"5 END

Fillhlnd. Carl Petersen, was a dip- Iuma graduate of Mchuro and Mac- Kinnon Silver Fox Farms, Ltd.

umnson.'mui- .2 nuth'l held collorv. Berlin.

ATTENTION FARMERS

FARMALL TRAC'.l'0IlS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN ALL SIZES FAIIMALL "CUBS"

l3k& 3”” "A"

SUPER "0"

ground bunker It III

FARMALL "II"

SeoThern0lIvDIllIkiIT0dIY De ti-ItioasAi-ranged poll uelf TE"I.loIII.S up to three years if mud ALSO IN STOCK:

Grain Drills, (plain IIIII fertiliser) Field Onltlvstorl. 5 ft. to 3 ft. Lime Ind Fertiliser

w. n. JENKINS

A mrnananonsr. nun:

Great a.'I?.E'sc on-rnoeteton 'fsllBVIOllOI.l.()WI saws"

Adolf !fII;IoeI',xI.l”lIIIilnIa0h1I:lVO gzerd 011 AI" n I un ' IUIUAII

Seed Good Seed lloap Good crops

A: spring .......oIches, farmers Ill over the country are prepaing for seeding. This means the pie- paration of milhons of bushels of cereal grains for seed. The yield and quality of the crop harvested this fall will be greatly influenced by the character of the seed used

Good seed has certain definite characteristics. It must be of suitable variety and pure as to variety and kind. It must also be free of weed seeds and of disease,

and it must be of good germina-I

tion.

In choosing a suitable variety. the recomrnendntious published ,by each province should be consulted and followed. These variety re- commendations are based on the results of tests made throughout each province every year, Only varieties of good quality and of high yielding ability, and which possess the most satisfactory re- sistance to disease and insect pests are lawn. endcd.

Purity means freedom from grains of other varieties and from other kinds of grain. Better yield- ing varieties will outyleld poor yielding types by several bushels per acre. The inclusion with the seed of some poorer yielding types will naturally lower the y'eld. Grades may be lowered from mix- turea of late and early maturing types by producinll both over-ripe and immature or greenish kernals: in addition considerable losses may result from the shattering of the over-ripe kernals. Uniform ripen- ing is especially important today when the ombine is used s.'most exclusively to harvest cereal crops

Freedom from weed seeds needs little comment. Weeds bring extra cost and labour and are the chief means by which hard-to-control perennial weeds get established on a farm.

Germination is important be- cause I good crop is largely depen- dent upon healthy plants. such factors as frost, immaturity, heat- ing, weathering and disease, tend to weaken or destloy the germina- tion of grain seeds, Where wire- worms or root rots are trouble- some, it is important that the grain germinates and grows quick- ly and vigorously. Diseased seed tends to weaken germination, by killing the seedlings or weakening them so that they fail to grow in- to normal plants. Planting diseased seed practically ensures the per- petuation oi the disease; this is especially true of the smuts.

To get I start with good seed, it is necessary to buy only a few bushels of Registered or Certified seed and increase it on good clean summer-fallow. If care is taken when seeding and harvesting to prevent mixtures, these few bushels may be Increased into a source of reliable seed for the entire farm.

QUALITY IN OATS

0'l.'I'AWA, April 18, l960-Chem- lstry is stepping into the picture more and more as the decisive agent in esfabltshlng the real nu-

and their effects on animals, man included.

This fact has been demonstrat- ed recently in the Canada De- partment of Agriculture where tests have been made on oats grown in widely separated areas and of different varieties. The re- sults show promise of better guidance for the future in estab- lishing balanced diets for farm animals-and porridge lovers.

Popular conception of a good variety of oat is usually one with good yields, high weight per bu- shel and thin hulls. Such I va- riety may have I good feeding value, but not necessarily. Chem- ical Inalysls gives I much better idea of protein and fat content, for instance. Results of such analyses at the Chemistry Division-of the Central Experimental Farm. Ottawa, are very striking.

Oats varieties varied from 14 to l7 per cent in protein-Victory gave l5.45 and Cartier 17.15 per cent. This means that 111 pounds of Victory would be required to equal the protein of 100 pa -' of Cartier. Some varieties contained twice as much fat as others-Rem ton, 5.48 and Exeter. 2.70 per cent, that is the same amount of fat in 100 pounds of Rexton Is in 203 pounds of Euler.

The varieties used for then tests were grown at Agassiz, B.C.: Scott. Sade; Winnipeg. Man.. and at Ottawa. "rho average protein content of all varieties tested was lowest It Agassiz and highest at Winnipeg and Scott. The fat con- tent was higher in the Scott test than at any, other three points.

ATTENTION

arr. snnnnns or snona-nouns

In or Whafnqulrhaflulls

All slaoi-thorn owners are cordially Invited to loin our Auoolaloa. Don't delay. we can MID Von.

iwrito tot JOHN IASQIIIII St Peter's Isl. Proddnt C

A.l.HI'TIi0ll. Icrnallffc.

trition values in farm productslprmdpauy mg” and much It

- NEWSY

n-soc-oo-mo

' "The Bong Sparrow," says min, "is the first to tune his notes round our doors in the spring. In fact the lively bird, in some cases has been here all winter, hidng in the sheltered nooks of a barn or I stack-Yard. But now he is out

his social ways, to warn us

the softening sky and the bud- ding willow and the Robin's loud call in the grove. The nest is built on the ground, sheltered by a clod or stick, and composed of grass and hair. Sometimes it is placed on a low bush. if the intelligent bird has been often dsturbed the ground.” The earliest date of the Song Sparrows appear- ance in my locality was March 19, 1909," This bird is increasing here wrote Mr. Frank J. stems of Sou- ris, in 1906; and Vesper Sparrows (in that order) are all of the "seed-eating" class. but the seeds they eat are of plants that could well be dispensed with. In the sum-mer, the adults feed on in- sects, and the young are fed en- tirely on them till they leave the nest. In the fall, after breed- ing season ls over, and be- fore they migrate to serener cli- mates, they again resort to the weed patches too often left on our farms. In this way, spring,

in

dish brown, with a grayish med- ian line a greyish superciliary line, and a black line behind the eye. Back, wings and tall, reddish brown. Underpurts whitish, throat and breast heavily streaked. I blackish, the streaks coalescing

often of a wedge-like shape. The tail is not "cut square" as in the Vesper sparrow, but is sllghty notched; the bird "teeters" it noticably as it flies Length of adults, to 6.'15.lnehes.

TI-IE CAROB TREE

What were the locusts that St. John the Baptist ate, (Matt. 3: 4)? were they animal or vege- table? I had supposed this ques- tion answered long ago, but the controversy is re-opened 'in the pages of I popular magazine and the victory remains with those who favor the animal diet. There is no gainsaying the fact that the original Greek word, AKRIS means a cricket, grasshopper, or locust, and .that. the translator has got the right idea. Still, I think readers will be interested in the locust-tree. ' t

The locust, or Carob tree, bears pods whose contents are

word places the tree in I group that is of great value both to man and beast; and in particular. among the pease, beans, and the "pulse", which you will remember did such I good Job of fattening those Hebrew lads in the palace at Babylon. The two names of the tree point to the" 'horn-like color and appearance of the pod (or slllque). -

Now, when I was I schoolboy there was nor packailecl chewing- gum on sale: on had to walk to the chemist's shop a ml'e away, where one might buy a penny- worlh (or even I 'happorih'), of liquorice-root, ”camel's-rut." (that is. calamus-root). orris-root. or locusts. The last were dried been-like pods three or four inches long. and an inch wide; they were brown. varnished and rather hom-like, but in taste, ex- tremely swset and I very good substitute for gum.

The Locust tree is I hardy

of about fifty feet. It is found in southern Europe from Spain east- wards along the Mediterranean coast into the Levant. The Inn was used as food for cattle Is I rule, but in time of scarcity, it furnished I nutrltoais ailment for the poorer people. One ancient writer has it that the beans were the husk: that he wins did eat. (Iuuko 15:16). Historians state that the locust beans formed the principal food of the British cav- Ilry horse: in the Peninsular war og 1611 sand 1012. '

It may not be generally known that we have locust trees in this Province, though I suspect they In not native. John MIc8wIin. in his Supplement to Spmttoni Botany (1007), list: the Common. and the Clantmy Locust trees, both' belonging to the genus, Ro- binis. I never came Icroax the mummy medics but noticed I

I OAPONIIINO Roasoncblablatui JAMES KEITH MUTCH

By Agricola

with his clear musical ditty and? that, the season of love is comirg with:

summer and fall, the Song spar-.

row works for the farmerr whol mostly doesn't appreciate the help he is getting!

Eastern Song sparrow - AOIU 581. Summer resident: in- creasing. Plumage: I-lead, red-

were more woody than those of Aalfalfa.

land of the livlng", I must

hardlhood to some, at to form an irregular central spot, it? direct des4”end&ni'-s-

There was tude of the little creatures on the -

dairy products, which

evergreen, growing to the height

NOTES -

ihedge of the Common Roblnia in ,Chariottetown, in 1918. There was

fan attempt at growing it in the ; Mount Herbert district about ithat line, but it did not thrive

' in the open country. A LOTUS COIINVJIILATUS

It seems difficult to get away )from the vegetable kingdom this iweek! There is, in the Farmers

Advocate "of April 13, on the Bird's ifoot Trefoll (1. eornioulatus), that zmerlts the close attention of our

farmers. in October, last year, 9. ?”Clinic'' of research workers and i armers, was held at Ithaca, 3New York, and a thorough study was made of this particular tre- foil. The plant was found to be a good substitute for Alfalfa under certain conditions, and I must refer the reader to the "Advocate" for further enlightenment.

This lotus is an European plant, and I have found it growing underi most varied conditions, over all' the North of England. A few years before the last war, I read that it was being cultivated in yBritish Columbia with great suc- icess, and in on sequence, I wrote to a botanist in England, and so procured some seed. That year most of the little Trefoils winter- killed, but one survived and was transplanted into the 'rock-gar- den. There it has survived ten winters which proves it fairly hardy. It is said to throw out I sprawling growth, up to two feet long, in B. C., but it never ex- ceeded 8 inches here; perhaps the fault of its situation. The stems succulent and less

"in the save ts seed, since it will transmit its least, of

If the Trefoil is still

THE SNOW FLEA

In the Family Herald of April

5, there is a. good drawing of I Snow "mechanism" its jumps. It has. been injured, for it is short on legs! The Order Thysanura, to which the Ffleas belong, comprises - insects with three pair of legs and with other pecularitles.

showing the by which it makes

Flea,

Snow

The Snow Flea (or springiail)

is placed in the sub order, Coil-

embola, as indicated.

I have only seen Snow Fleas once, and that was in April, 1961. an immense multi-

ttbanking" round the house, at time, covered with snow. And weren't the little fleas having

the time of their lives, seeing who could jump highest! 1 few or them to Entomologist, who kindly ldenti-,

sent I the Dominion

fled them as Achorutes soclalis

Uzel.

belongs to the orden Legumino-

sae, and its name is Catatonia There is another insect of the siliqua. These three words tell same order, called the silver the botanist quite a. lot! The long Fish-moth. a household insect

found in the U. S. A Has it been found here? It is also common in

Britain.

Your Future Hangs On The Dairy Cow

The Department of Agriculture

in its desire to promote I better use of food as well Is a better we of land, is resuming through Consumers section and other de- partmental agencies, former peace- time activities in getting Canaiian people home produced foods.

its

better acquainted with During the next two months, logically 'form part of a national program of conservation-from soils to men-- will be featured throughout the country. Here are a few facts which any producer or consumer should keep in mind:-

(1) Dairy products are basic products; in any health program. in any daily diet, they commandg

Spring care or Lawns