in min: 3:141.

J-. I

ma CHARLOTTEPOWNA oiiiinnmii

TES

SIL Fox FARMING :Being tan itlutlligoiétiveéjllepor d‘0l'r;i,Silnt&er gox Forging: Stand‘:- n'a?h1g'§r'5l§?i)ife.r9u':’ivt§r keging lll.epa$°?‘r¥¢fnt (if The Ceacn-’

- fldian National Silver Fox Breeders’ Association, With In- troduction By Lt.-‘Colonel D. A. MacKinnon, D. S. 0. I

ozv

Prom our earliest acquaintance with silver fox furs we have con- sisigntly heard of the superiority of .Canadlq.n polls. in fact for lnlay years the only pelts sold were

' . of Canadian origin; first from the

wilds such as the forests of Labra- dalf, the wooded parts of Quebec an Ontario, Alaska and northern & of Alberta with some few

from other regions of the North American continent.

Then came the domestication of La Rernard Argentc in our own Prince Edward Island and the pro- duction, first in small quantities by the pioneers Dalton, oulton. the Rayners. Tuplins and Gordons, then in constantly increasing vol- ume until recent years when many thousands were marketed.

In the meantime the industry had spread far afield through sales of live foxes to breeders in the United States where it was augmented by the gigantic opera- tions of such concerns as the F'rDmm‘s and Ncimarrs with the domesticated type of Alaska-Wis- oonsin fox; to Quebec. Ontario and western Canada and more partic- ularly go Norway, whose large im- portations of breeding stock--the last in 19a0—are too recent to be forgotten by even the most casual breeder.

European Competition

Today that country peopled with the same Nordic strain of hard)’ warrior; that landed on the coasts of kitaln and France ma.ny cen- turiu ago and left their imipress, ‘have so lmiproved what they re- ceived from us and developed it that they are today being acclaim- ed among the best sources of fins silver fox furs.

True, Canadian skins were at I disadvantage on this season's mar- kets, due to the very unfavorable weather of the summer and fall of 1935 for fur develop .t. The ex- trcmely dry summer and the very wet fall laid a train of conditions one only the most exceptional could cope with. The result was the mnxketing of many thousands of inferior skins. brown or off-color guard fur and poor colored under- fur even when the guard for was not so badly off-color. There were a great many skins pelted too early with consequent lack of underfur; in fact lack of underfur was one of the most serious defects of the 1935 Canadian silver fox skins.

so many complaints reached Canada from consignment houses regarding the quality of the akins and so much favorable comment on the Norwegian skins, that insist- ence was placed on the necessity of Mr. George A. Callback, Manag- er of the Fur Marketing Depart- merit of the Canadian National Silver Fox Breeders‘ Association, goim to Europe. making a thor- ough study of conditions and bringing back a report of the fur auctions and our competitors’ ac- tivities.

Today The Guardian submits to its readers his observations in de- tail, and we are confident that every fur farmer in Prince Edward Island will do well to glv them careful thought. ‘

Housing Pups

‘Perhaps the most revolutionary part of it is the change which the Ncrweglans have made in the housing of pups and the adults they are preparing for pelting Here we have been accustomed to meeting the menace of hookworm and lungworm and also guarding Iaainst the effect of sun and, rain on pelts by placing oirflfoges in sheds or ooops on board floors which we cover with straw. Last fall on account of mists and rain‘ the straw would be damp and the

‘ vrxau AN-D-M’ purer srsnran

Id 3% no 10 days old and

,1: ‘week past, and use: BUNGLO V I X 11‘. N STAR

1/a Till‘. O

V I IIIISK.

~ 3,.PUPI“slotlld

be fed to Viirqul after

uutii waned. Increase rod 'lDIll Altar wholping data is

AND

-_,. i/i':.*'::.‘:.t

acacia.“

thin to show- ovfifll

i

ammonia from the fox excreta would ca wiring of the be ,4. 3... . frequent clen.nix‘~ ‘ V dnli‘l‘,‘-..'abo of the back cf‘, “;.;.' ' The Nofwe have torn out their; rd; (‘and replaced itlrom‘ 1-’, _ h wire. The pups’ in the sheds in a nest \3§_}:~ _he‘.ghothet fox at pink; -'.W_ Hthe pups are

'3Sid the new box is removed. large open pens are i'a\'ore<l for breeding purposes. the most popularbcfng fen by forty feet, the ‘extra length being con- sidercd as more conducive to exer- else than a square pen would.

Fish and Whale Meat

. Other points which we note in reading Mr. Cal‘.-bock's report are the value they place on fish and whale meat in tho growth and dc- vclopment of large puips. By the way. you will find that they have not only improved their foxes in size. but have secured olearncss of coior. two factors which add very considerably to the increase in value of a pelt. The Norwegian fox farmers aver- gge cost, of production with all charges put. on his marketable pro- duct, the pelt, is in the vicinity of 323, which is probably higher than ours because of larger feed costs and more thorough attention to details of sanitation. Our fur farm- ers can no doubt with great benc- flt take a leaf out of the Northern- ers‘ book in dealing with DETE- sites.

There. vigilant and unrelenting warfare is carried on. Here we are prone to take a 12115 ez faire at- titude and assume that all is well, when in reality these infinitesimal but none the less deadly enema:-s of the fox are carrying on their ravages, which mani"est them- selvese in small. runty foxes with rough, brownish or low grade fur.

These prelimlnnrvy reniziri:-is form my observations on what I would term is one of the most outstand- ing contributions in recent years to our silver fox fftfllllllg know- ledge here.

We now introduce Mr. George A. Callbcck's article.

from Norway. It was bought at £37.‘ It was a half silvery skin of very fine quality, clear in color having dark neck and shoulders. with deep sides and heavily furred through- .out. It was in fact_, one of the finest skins it has been my Privil- ege to examine.

Norwegian skins had a some- what better color than Canadian skins—they had better colored under fur. The brown under fur of the majority of Canadian skins had the effect of giving the gen- eral appearance of the skins a dull or brownish color.

Colour and Volume

It is plain that Canadian ranch- ers must pay more attention to color and to volume of fur, which I may state cannot be obtained by too early pe1tins- With some im- provement in these two desirable ieatures, color and volume, the quality and character which Can- adian sklns have would give them it preference with the fur trade.

while discussing with fur men and dealers in silver fox the ques- tion of the interest taken in the industry by European countries such as’Norway. Britain, Russia and others, I learned that Russia is going afur the silver fax busin- es in real earnest. Among other things I gathered the Iollowing in- formation: The Experimental Fox Ranch some distance outside of Moscow is run under Government auspices and control. It is a well managed institution with a thor- oughly capable and fully qualified director in charge. silver fox breed- ing is making wonderful strides In that country, and it is believed that by 1940 Russia will be mark- eting as many silver fox pelts as Norway.

One of the methods adopted by the Russian Government is to place pairs of foxes in charge of farm- crs. villagers and others for the pul'|')06e of breeding and raising stock to increase the fox popula- tion. Pelts of the animals raised by the farmers and others are to be taken by the Gcwemment De- partment in charge of fur skins at a fixed market price. which price is calculated to pay the ranchers the cost of breeding and bringing the animals to maturity. No in- formation was gained re the suc-

I

MR. GEORGE A. CALLBEOK

In company with we genial sum- meulde doctors, J. C. Simpson and W. B. Howatt prooedine 190 L0“- don to take a. post graduate course in medicine and surgery. I em- barked at Halifax, Feb. 22nd on board the s._ 5. Antonio of the Cunard line bound for Liverpool, England.

We arrived at Liverpool on March 2nd which allowed some days for examination of the shipper-‘s furs previous to the opening of the sale on March lath.

Almost 84.000 silvers were this year offered on the London March sales. Hudson's Bay. Lampoon. An- ning sr Cobb. Kuhn and London Fur Sales sold in the order named. The sale finished on March 26th.

There‘ was only A. moderate at- tendance of buyers throughout the sale——tho smallest in fact that I have seen at any London aunt-ions. bung, no doubt, a result of the un- settled European‘ ituation. which became increaslnfilii [TWO Jill'- “previous” to the sale. Yr-ouch on 139: mm buying was small. Hence. ‘mt Italy and cioi-t_mmy not nur- tici ting,‘ the mat bulk of coods so “was for the horns trade with

United

PM more us co . Two ‘dlyl low

can or otherwise of these meth- ods.

Russian Enterprise

Russia has likewise an Experi- menal Mink Farm as well as sec- tion; set aside for the raising of sable. Baum, Marten and Stone Marten. About. 1.000 animals are kept on the Mink farm. The Sable and Marten sections am said to be very interesting. The families of them animals are small. usually Of only two or three young and as they produce only one litter per year considerable difficulty is ex- perienced in raising lar;e num: bers of them. . The Russian Government is of wonderful benefit to the fur in- dmtry in the great support ll» 15 giving to experimental work. Vis- itors aie much surprised wlienl they observe the immense enthus-l iasm displayed by the controllers and guporivlsors oi’ this section of the Russian fur industry.

The Russians expect that the

fur industry of the future will de- pend mainly upon the skins of domestic and ranch raised animals, and they are going after the bus- iness enthusiastically. ‘I might here add that the Rus- sian Silver Fox Furs that I saw in London were furs of poor guard -but with plenty of underfur. Their quality was not good. a condition that might be explained by the fact that the Russian Government in its ambition to increase and im- prove its foxes is petting only the poorest animals.

France, Gcrmlny & Norway

In Paris I learned that fur deal- ers had fairly large stocks of Bil- ver I-‘ox still on hand. This fact. in connection with the German menace. and France's anticipated further trouble with her next, door neighbour mllltaled against the good attendance of French buyers at the auctions of silver Fox; and in addition to those circumfi‘ now the unsettled conditions which ‘us- ually precede a French °1°¢"'"", especllll with so many rfllfls iii‘ the fiel as in the room lllootldi 0a.mpaign,—tend to restrain the

participation in the sales.‘

In lerlln two days sitar ihl 0106 lion which returned mm: with ,_ 90 per cent vote OVCPWNDI nem-

, nonlly beliond to-exist. time of my arrival in Norway on and tho vnatlisr

~'-,.°*°'~....°~°°.i+.:.° can

employ’ i' an noun- 1.’... ‘aguiticmiation waso in‘ Basra: s 8" PW‘!

out on mm-acting itiner-

. . He sooompanicd me to in. rancliim outfits when

buyers from anything like keo'n;’:

n ..."Zio.u. and pm

our-KIL V

Kills lice, miioiand um guy Prevents immediate rclnlon. stion.

Full Information from your local Cooper dollar, or druulst.

Cundiur Dlstflbulollz

CANADIAN C0-OPEEATIVE WOOL GROWEES LIMITED

Tnrunio-Westun-licglnn-Lannoxvillc

-

IDIDI 300!)

When the Norman king: pmo. duoed new law: into linuiaiui. it was felt. that the forest laws were more tyrannical than any which tho gun- Ject race had been .called upon to hear. The penalty for shooting deer in the royal forests without tho king's pmrnission. wag terribly lov- are: the archer was punished by emascuiation and loss of sight. At t.he' same time the yeomanry of the Kingdom were everywhere trained to the use of the long bow. in the

her of good ranchers. This move me a chance to get first hand knowledge of ranching oonditions. Silver Fox Ranching is already in this country a great industry, At, this time the exports of silver mix Furs are more valuable than the export; of any other commodity produced in Norway. Dr. Roch. mann's part. in this rapid advance- ment. of the Industry has been 5 most important one. He has for a number of years been in charge

use of which they speedily excelled all ozher nations. There was thug a IINBL temptation to those marks- men. who lived near the king‘: for- cats. to break the law; and after so dolng they quite naturally fled to the woods for shelter. They be- came outlaws. and “forming them- selves into troops, endeavored to protect themselves from the dread- ful penalties of their delinquency." (Port-y.) Their extensive knowledce of the recesses of the forests which then covered England, made it easy for them to elude the civil power.

The antiquarian writer stow. to

of the Experimental Fox Ranch under the guidance of the Nut. wegian silver Fox Breeders’ A.ss'n., and we get some idea of the re- sults of his service by the progress made by the Norwegian silver llbx Ranchers. I wish here publicly to give expression of my thanks to Dr. Rochmann for his many com-.. testes and for the avenues of in- formation he opened up that I might get. a fair idea of how the Silver FOX Indllstry 15 carried, on in Norway.

Norweslan Breeders

During my eight days visit in this County. I met some directors of the Norwegian Silver Fox Breed- ers’ Association. and visited a number of pa minent ranchers, The President. Lt. H. Dalsaune and other officers of the Association in- vited me to luncheon prepared’ for my entertainment on Tuesday, April 7th and the reception sc- corded me was a real one.

The Norwegian silver Fox Breed-

ers’ Association is opemting nine- ly with a membership of about 4,000. Each member pays an an- nual fee which is approximately equivalent to $1.00 of our money. Inspection for registration was dropped in 1931 and the holding of tax shows has been substituted. Each year 48 to 50 shows are held in different parts of the country from November 15th to December 15th. These are conducted by the Association proper or by the gffu- iated Association. The judges are mppzilnted by the parent Associa- tion. At the first show of the sea- son the judges meet, discuss, and decide cn the standards that would cntitle foxes. pups and adults, to championship hcnors—-to first, nec- ond and third prises, etc. Al] {axes to be shown must bear Agsocia- ton identification marks on being entered. as an Association regula- tion is that all foxes must, be tat- too marked by September i5th 0! the year of birth. A fox exhibited that does not qualify for the stand- ard agreed upon cannot win any prize. even if the class it be shown in be quite smau. foxes that win prizes must subsequently be regis- tercd. Norwegians feel that the policy they adopted in 1931 in dropping "inspection for registration" and substituting numerous fox shows has been very beneficial to the In. dustry.

Ranches and Pens

Althouzh Norwegian fox ranch- es are not so very much different from those wo have in Canada I ilarticularly admired the much cleanliness that was everywhere fimlarcrit. One ranch visited had 200 female foxes and no fewer than 6 man were employed the year around to keep the ranch as clean and sanitary as pomblc. such safe guards no the supplying of a pair of clods or wooden anoes for the caretaker to step into be- fore entering the pen so as to pre- cludc his carrying of outside infec- tion into the pen in an instance of i.he sanitary precautions taken in the Norwegian ranches, In cues where I found that the caretaker donned the wooden shoes, there was also for each pen a. small

whom we are indebted for light on many of the incidents of former ages. has this to say of the out- laws: -

"In this time (about the year ll90. in the reign of Richard I) were many robbers. and outlaws. among the which Robin Hood, and Little John. renowned theeves, con- tiiumi in woods. despoyling and rob'.~mg the goods of the rich. They klli“\ llfllle but such as would in- vade them, or by resistance for their own defence."

“The salde Robert entertained an hundred tall men and good or- chcrs with suche spolles and thefts as he got, upon whom four hundred (were they ever so strong) durst not give the onset. (In modern language. four hundred men dared not tackle them.) He suffered no woman to ‘.12 oppres=ed, or otherwise molested; poore mens goods he spared. abundantlie relieving them with that which by theft he got from abbeys and the houses of rich old caries; whom Major (the his- torian) blnmeth for his rapine and theft, but of all the thecves he at- flrmeth him to be the prince, and the most gentle theefef’

Stukeley. another antiquary. says that his true name was Robert Fitz-ooth, and in his “Ps.lacogi'a- phin" gives a pedigree of the out- law, “which. if genuine, shows that he had real pretensions to the earl- dom of I-luntingion.“ But it is a sig- nificant fact. that the oldest bal- lads expressly assert him to have been a yeoman or freehold farmer; and a very old manmript, premrv- ed in the public library at Cam- bridge. begins:

“Llthe and lysien. gcntylmcn That be of frc-bore blode:

I shall you tell of a good Yaman, His name was Robyn hode."

It in not impossible. says Bishop Percy, who wro:e about the middle of the eighteen century, that our hero to gain the more respect from his followers, or they to derive the more credit to their profession, may

scl‘s at. 16 to 20 cents per pound, pork hearts 9 to 10 cents per pound, and whale meat at 4 1-2 to 6 cents. Beef for fox feed costs or- dinarily from 12 to l5 cents per pound. tripe 7 cents while beef liver is out of the question for fox food as it cells at 30 to 40 cents per pound.

The following are some reading schedules to give a more definite idea of how the feeding on some good ranches is being done.

The feeding of 550 pups in ranch No. 1. for the morning meal, on July 5th. 1935, as follows:

Whale mcat—46 pounds.

Green Eonc—l3 pounds.

Pork Liver—'.l2 pounds. l..ettuce—7 pounds. Buttermllk—37 pounds.

Porridge (2 parts oatmeal. 1 part rice and 1 part

Soya Bean——l05 pounds (cooked) Breod—5 pounds (dry.) Total-235 pounds.

For the evening meal:

Fresh fish—88 pounds.

T 33 pounds.

Pork heal-ts—:i3 pounds.

Ground Green Bone—'l pounds. Buttermllk—33 pounds. Porrid¢e—105 pounds (oookcd.) Brsad—-5 pounds (dry.) Total—-304 Dolinds. .

A total of 639 pounds was fed to

shovel which was used only in that

particular pen to gather the fox droprpinlll When the work of cleaning is done the shoes and

shovel employed in the pen clean- ed remain at the door of the pen to which that certain pair of shoes and shovel are assigned.

An important feature in the nearly . - absence of para- slteg extomal as well as internal. This condition is largely the re- _lHl of‘ e sanitation in vogue in V ' , so. on enquiry I loam- flffliatino lmir worm is found in -Norway-_ Then is really no mug. ‘worms. other than the _treatm¢_mt o_f pups for

netting. The for broader:

feed quite a lot of fish though on the ballet ranches fish farms not more than noperosnttolopor cent, of the fora food allowance. This includes whats most and cod !lsb—orv|tietiecoffisho!tbc nod many. Nearly 5 per cent is ooroal bepg about ‘I0 pi!‘ cent 0 (title or ostrneslyi mm. was one and soy: bean 1 part) and 5 per cent bread (dry.)

‘With the high prices paid

for most meats it costs mm ui food

Norwegian ranchers in general to

550 pups on July 5th when the pups would be roughly three months old. which would be about 15 3-4 ounces per day. In this connection it should be noted that this does not represent the dry weight of the feed. Note the 70 pounds of buttermilk and that the weight of the not-ridge is given as cooked.