NOVEMBER 1s.

1948

,3 nunv sorts on mics é ié _ oouuscrso wnn § t, S1lver Fox and 2 é _ , Mink Farming 2 will: had a chat recently ‘llur-Austercam) and Holland.

Walter R Shaw whose duties are mgny, but the one that in- terests us at present is that he is secretary of the Prince Edward Island Fur Breeders’ Association, which will hold its 18th Live Fox Show and first Live Mink show at the Provincial Exhibi- tion grounds next week. On Mon- day morning foxes and mink will arrive at the building and be al- lotted to their respective places. The entry list for mink will be gt least 200 with a possibility of quite a few more. Foxes will num- ber about 250. Special cages have been made for the mink and they will be placed on the west side of the fox show buildinx with the foxes occupying the east side.

The classification committee will commence work about ten o'clock lnd their duties should be com- pleted between three and four o'- clock in the afternoon. Judging of foxes will commence at nine o'clock on Tuesday morning and n, l; exzpected to be completed by Wednesday afternoon or earlier. As soon as it is finished the judging o! mink will take place. Several well known varieties oi foxes Mil be represented and also the various mutations in mink. The fact that it. ls a live fox and live mink show makes the com- bination one that will appeal to a larger number of visitors. Very few have ever seen mutation mink and this will give an opportun- ity I/o the ladies oi Prince Ed- ward Island to view the beautiful Silver-Bin, Bin-Frost, Koh-l-Nur as well as natural mink that are now being featured so much in the magazines for coats, wraps, ncckpietcs. etc. Of course there nill be the very best in silver fox and its mutations so altogether it will be s, unique and very in- teresting Exhibition.

On Tuesday night the banquet

will be held at the Charlottetown

llotci. Previously banquets had always been held on Wednesday night but for various reasons the directors decided that Tuesday night would be more suitable. This banquet has been a great crowd-pleaser for years.

The first shipment of pelts from New York City then New Am- sterdam was in November, i626 and fFLLTi then on a steadily grow- ing fur skin business was con- ducted between New York (New

Dutch ship carried 7,315 beaver skins. 172 otter, 43 hunk, 35 wgq- can: and M muskrat. The” hm M911 Purchased from the Indian. who brought thorn down the l-lud. son River in canoes from up state points. It is said that the Dutch Purchased what is now the glee o1 U" 01W of New York for s. few til-funk Presents to the Indians that would not cost more than a dollar in our currency.

A census taken by the Norweg. ian Minister 9i’ Supply Show; g so per cent decline in the produg. tion 0! blue fox pug thig y“;- and a 40 per cent. increase in the Production o! mink kits as wmPBred with the previous year. It is estimated that the czrop of fox pelts will be 00,000 fewer this Ye" t-iwn a Year ago, while this P0958 "OP 0i mink pelts will be about 05.000 skins, that is to lay about 20,000 more than last year. A considerable portion ‘of these will be silver-blue, pastels, Koh-I. Eur, Bin-Frost and other mute. .ons

Walter Shaw informs us that he was surprised std-he large showing of silver fox, which he estimated at about 3(1), at the Maritime Winter Fair, Amherst. Like most other exhibits Island foxes took the majority o1 the Prim-5- Among the big winners we notice George A. Oallbeok, Er- nest T. Mill and Roy Woodside, men whose ioxel would win pdzes at any exhibition.

According to a cable received by Fairchildb News Service, N. Y., silver fox was I00 per cent sold at the Oslo, Norway, fur auc- tion last week-The whole silver fox consignment went to Italy on a compensation basis. Other Eur- opean buyers were reported com- pletely frozen out as the ltalians paid prices u-p to 1% per cent above world markets. The aver- age price reported was abmit 130 shillings equal in Canadian money to about $26. The above sale was on a barter basis, that is to say the Norwegians arranged to make purchases in Italy that would cover the cost of the silver fox pelts purchased in Norway.

The general thing about these

a higher price on its product than

they can really get in the open

PIIRE BREII RAMS AVAILABLE

The attention of sheep owne for breeding purposes of Itlgh class

vince.

Under the Federal-Provincial Rum Bonus Policy, rams may

be secured on the following basis:

Bonus to Nef Cost

Rom Lambs Price ‘ Purchusel b Purchase’ (XX $25.00 $6.00 $19-00 XX 22.00 4.00 18.00

Siuerimg Roms

XXX $30.00 $7.00 $23-00 XX 25.00 5.00 20-00

Tho purchaser will forward

in column two to the Dominion

lottetown, (Box 489). Later in the season the o from the Provincial Department oi

Agriculture. This leaves the net cost of such registered rams. not much more than the market price of a grade rum of equal weight.

The system of selling lambs on rail grade is rapidly gaining ground. There is u feeling that in u short time oIl our lombs WI" be sold on o rail grade basis. On this basis

be mailed f0 the purchaser

breeding e top grade product value.

Place your order now for one of the bonus graded rams avail-

eble in this province.

Quipkiea

P. E. I. DEPARTMENT 0F RIGLTIIRE

the price of the ram outlined Department of Agriculture, Chor- bove bonus will

will receive

transactions is that each side puts

is is drawn to the availability graded rum lambs in this pro-

the producer who is rho highest market

and Thursday, November

evening, November 15th.

ber 15th. day, November 17th.

Flight leaves Toronto doy, November 18th.

Maritime Iientral

EXIIIIRSIUII FLIGHT to ROYAL WINTER FAIR

TIIROIITO

An opportunity is being provided, through the co- operation of the Government of Prince Edward Island, bonu fide farmers and their families to visit- fhe Royal Winter Fair at Toronto on Wednesday, November 17th.

18th. of a special round

hip fore of $50.00 per person, subject to sufficient advance reservations received on, or before, Monday

Reservations should be mode with MARITIME CENTRAL AIRWAYS on, or before, Monday, Novem-

Fliglii- Ieuves Charlottetown 5.00 c. m. Wednes-

11 l. I; Illdnight Thun-

For reservations, please phone 2061 or 540.

Airways Limited

market in Norway. the pelts are all handled through a govern- ment agency and n0 doubl- 011% government fixes prices on the products they receive from Italy high enough so that. there Is no loss when they are sold to the public. Anyhow it is most encour- aging to think that they sold the pelts at auction and left some other countries hungry for pclts, ‘Ilhese countries would likewise be on a barter basis. Now if we could make some arrangement with Australia, south Africa, Argentina, Mexico or other South American countries to barter —- that is re- ceive some products from them and exchange our silver foxes and its mutations - we would be 8111i’- to get. prices that would perhaps let us out at cost. .

A1, pmseflf, the cost of raising a silver fox or mutation without any charge for interest. or (le- preciation runs from $25. to $35. Under the new arrangement with the Dominion government for the marketing of this season's pelts in i949 we understand that the arrangement calls for a very large out in prices of platinums, but silvers will be pretty much the same as last year. Pearl platin- urns will be out similarly to plat- inums and white faces will have lower figures allotted to them-

oi this continuous loss by the breeders will be the disappear- ance c-f more ranches this iali and greatly curtailed operations by all others. Those who have had a nest. egg built up have it pretty well expended now and ex- istence will depend on the ability to borrow money to carry On wit-h. It is certainly not a pleas- ant. prospect and it is just tc-a bad that Finance Minister Abbott could not have heard our Mace-

donian cry and yielded to it when we asked him to remove taxes 0i all kinds from ranch

bred furs. Had he done so we would have had a. distinct advan- tage over the mass of trashy furs brought in from China, Japan, Russia and other places to oom- pete with Canadian furs.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the industry in the United States has been the brinslns in of Russian furs by parties favor- able to trading with Russia. Im- mense quaniities have been clump- .ed._on the market and are being pushed with zeal by persons who have no interest in building up the resources of their own coun-

I17.

_____________. SAFEGUARD DEER NANAIMO, B. C. —(OP) ~Two lawns found in the Woods B10 0° spend the rest of their lives at n cougar-dog training school near

In our opinion it will take a mighty good ranch to average $15. a pen. therefore the loss per pelt will be from $10. up. The result

here. The dogs will be taught to lignore them. thus when seekln";

cougar they will ignore deer scent.

Potato Cars Demolished

Tao

fie

generally, of a most inoffensive character. its food is extremely ‘varied, and runs from mice,

NEWSY

Vik —

GUARDIAN, cnaargrlrglgwp

ly Agricola

_ _.

NOTES -

0v

The Broad-winged Hawk

This little hawk, the smallest of the Buteos, has found its way into Island lists by a kind of logic! 1t is known to be in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick; ergo, if; should be found in P.E.i. too! I may say at once that I've never seen it, or heard of anybody that has-but that proves nothing. Perhaps the safest course is to share with other birdwatchers, what information I can collect, as a means of identification.

The Broad-winged Hawk is about the size of a crow, and is, speaking

through frogs. reptiles, small fish, to insects, but seldom includes birds. Large caterpillars. grasshop- pers, crickets, large beetles, and cven centipedes, are regular items in its diet. Thus it is considered beneficial and worthy of protection.

One of its curious habits, during the nesting season, is the placing of green leaves in the nest. Some individuals add green leaves to the lining of the nest nearly every day. Two or three eggs is the usual number in (he clutch.

The ordinary call oi this hawk is not u kind of scream. as with ‘most other species, but a shrill, high-pitched. double-noted whistle, which Is accompanied by chatter- ing, scolding noises if the hawk is annoyed.

This hawk varies considerably in color, occasionally individuals are

und that are entirely black. However, (he typical form is here presented in a composite descrip- tion drawn from many ornithologi- cal works:

Brand-winged Hawk. AOU. 343. Observed, Newfoundland, N.S., and N.B., so probably hare. (1916 list). A(lulis:. head and upper-parts brownish; feathers of the nape tinged white at the base. Wings broad, three outer primaries emar- ginate (notched). Tull short, round- ed, burrcd, white bands us wide as the black, and 3 or 4 in number. Breast brownish In front, with transverse white spots in a coarse pattern; belly white barred with dull rufous. Immature birds sim- liar, but (1) underparts whitish, streaked (not barred) with dusky, (2) tail grayish-brown, with about 6 bonds of dusky, and tipped with whitish. Length of adult about 16 inches.

Novas are catastropiic

I recall that when the old peo- ple of our village talked of “the end of the world", they were sure that it was to be brougnt about by fire! Asked for the reason of such a belief, the usual answer was, "Well, the world was once destroy- ed by water" (or words to that ef- fect). “so next time it will be by fire!" As I grew older I found that their belief was derived from the Second Epistle of Peter, ch. 3, verses 7, 10, 12.

Some astronomers toiay believe the same thing, though they may not have the same ground for their belief, The Sun (they say) may pass into the Nova stage with just such ‘dire results. A Nova is a

star that suddenly increases in brightness up to several million- foid, and after a while as rapidly diminishes to a very faint star or disappears entirely. It was the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe who first (1572) saw such a phenomenon, and believing that he law the birth of a new star, he christened ii: a Nova Stella.

Many Novae Stellae have been seen since then. and now the men o1 science believe that such an occurrence is a stage in the evolu- iion of every star. Somc even pro- fess to find evidence that our Sun (which is only another star among the hosts of heaven) is en the way to its Nova stage. Already, they

intimate, it is "heating up", and this may be the cause of the mounting temperature on the

Earth during the last thirty years. The Astronomer Royal gives a terrifying picture of such an event. There would be little or no warn- lng: In the course of a few days or even of a. few hours, the Sun's output of heat would increase to such an extent that all life would become extinct; the oceans would be turned into vapour; trees, for- ests, cities and everything combust- ible would be burnt; the Sun would rapidly swell and might even consume and swallow up thi Earth! “Solvet coelum in favlllai" St. John. exiled to Patrnos, look- ed down through the ages and prophesied that, in the last. days, the sun's heat would be increased. (Revelations, chap. 16, verses 8 and 9).

ATTENTION

Drivers of Ilorse Drawn Vehicles

Sub-section (g) of Section 21 of "The Highway Traffic Act, I936" enacts us follows:

(9) "Every Irons-drown passenger vehicle upon e public highway shoII carry offer sunset and before sunrise a lamp or reflector of the buck of said vehicle costing u red light clearly visible under the headlights of u motor cor approach- ing from the rear of such vehicle with normal atmospheric conditions, uf a distance of not less than 400 feet in the rear of the vehicle."

For your own protection curry u Iump or reflector. The surface of the reflector must be kept clean of ull times and the reflector musf be replaced when worn out. Reflectors Indy be secured from any R. C. M. P. Detachment in the Pro- vmce. ’

The Police have been instructed fo prosecute offenders against this Section.

J. W. MocKINNON Deputy Provincial Secretory.

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, November 12, 1948.

Nature Notes

Tendrils are very slender cord- like structures which enable a plant to cling io, or wind round some other object, for security and stability. Perhaps the tendriis of the garden peas are the best known‘. they are brancted filiform appendages that grasp the brush- wood or net supporting the plant. The tendrils of the grapes are hard, wiry growths that make con- siderable trouble for the pruner. Those of the Virginia Creeper (rarthenocisaus) have disks at their tips that permit them to cling to flat surfaces. Many tendrlls are curled like spiral springs, which allow a certain amount of "play" in windy weather. A hot-house Passion Flower (Passlflora), that l grew in the Old Country, had spiral-spring tendrils that ran to the left for one-half of their length, then changed in the middle of the coil and ran rlght-handed.-—just for variety, I suppose iThe Virgin's Bower Clematis has a different plant: it has very long leaf-stalks which it uses as tendrils for grasping. And it. almost ties them in a knot! Foxes at large. On Oct. 28, (a “Pet Day", as the older islanders used to call such weather) I walk- ed down to the spring, just for the sake of the outing. Between the spring and the fence is a low-lying tract covered with shrubbery and long grass, and this year. I noted, some animal had made a tunnel- like run through the shrubbery dir- ectly to the pool. I had heard there were foxes about and here was evi- dence. In former years a visit to the spring was usually the occas- ion of a big splash, and the rise of a black duck going for all it was worth! There was no splash this year and no sign of game of any kind. A few hunters have been to our shore, but they did not get any game-there is none. And it is a fairly safe inference that there won't be any till the foxes are ex- terminated. Also the skunks are Increasing again. One made a raid on the hen-house the other night- and paid for it! Canadian Nature, the nature- study magazine, has just complet- ed its tenth year of publication, the first numbers hearing the date 1939. For the first time it is print- ing pages of advertiscmen . These are to be found in the ov.-Dec. number, and are not mixed in with the reading matter. One of the most interesting ads. is from the MacMiiian Co.. offering a replica of Audubon's "Birds of America" for $6.95. (The published price last year was $12.50 so thul this Is a bargain). The replica-plates are 9 by 12 Inches. are in full color, and are very artistic. The chance of possessing such an ornithological treasure is not likely to occur again. Possibly your bookseller

».

I n

. o uef as end-helping; to this pfcnffeoil . in I091"! s till i001 Mi’;

ma.

l!!!

Iloabovopiotnreo

show two completely demo fished luhrlly near Iroetown which held up traffic for several hours. Whon fhn railway can, two reefers and three box-carp, Li: also right of way. No one

potato cars. the rranli. hf a uarailment last

left the tracks. Th- P's ~-‘~~‘ ~~, was injured In the IrcldcnL-Pltoto by Clark.

m-ritlnnt occurred five

A clean-skimming, c", ‘n; Renfrew is available to you now. There's no waiting for delivery! As the authorised lbenfrew Repre- sentative for this district l will gladly demonstrate n Renfrew in your on dairy. There's no obli- gatlon to purchase. Got more areas: and Inflow with a Ren- fnw. Give no I call and ru prove I lo you ntilnetlon.

J. M. Ladner 111 xsnr srnesr

CREAM SEPAR ATOR

‘i-wi bum-st own, spilling

Aha mam nnucx scam mums MAGIC!

can show you a specimen plate such as was sent out last year.

everybody has remarked how diffi-

—"White wing-patches. rusty under tail coverts." Then comes a num- ber referring you to a page when will be found a complete account oi.’ the bird in question. I remem-

Stiil on the subject of birds,

cult it is to definitely recognize the species when seen at n distance. Some related birds, such as the two Waxwings, are hard to identify, even with the airl of a field-glass- unless one knows where to look for the "peculiar difference." as Tenny- son puts It. Now, there has Just appeared a new "Field uuldo to the Birds" (eastern) with 1,000 illus- trations,~500 in full coior-whlch la based on their appearance in flight, on pattern markings, and on field marks. Moreover each pic- ture has "arrows" printing to peculiarities, while alongside the title Is a single-line description. For example the Cedar Waxwlng has arrows pointing to the crest and the tail, and the description ls—- "Yellow band on tail, crest." The Bohemian Waxwing also has ar- rows emphasizing the description