IGLAHT BINDIFJ

nsisivaores on romcs is-ONNECTED WITH i‘

Silver fox (Farming '0

" This has been the week we have been looking forward to for several ,months. namely. the January vcndu of the Canadian Fur Auc- ylnn Company, - Ltd.. Montreal. Word from Montreal is that hotels ere packed with visiting fur buyers and that pcctations were there would be an excellent clearance. Each evening after the sale George n, Coilbeclf. Canpd ‘National Silver F Breeders As- sociation Fur M ketlng Depart- ment sends a telelflm BM!!! m! .1191“! and it appears next morn- Ilng in the Guardian. so that no .doubt our readers are 1111M “m- ilisr with flat ls $01118 0n- I The quantities offered consisted of 5.000 new types and 29,000 silv- ers and at the end of the- first "and second day one thing was not- iceable and that was that the per- centage passing into the hands oi buyers was the largest we can re- ‘ bar d for upwards of a year. It was Particularly gratifying to see the way the mutation show pelts were snapped up, but there was a reason for this and it was that they were advertised in New York, fur publications and dia- criminating buyers were there to pick them up. No doubt ii we eolud have seen the collection of Prince Edward Island and Ontario show pelts it would have been well worth looking at. We did see our own but we have no idea how they stacked up against Ontario and

will not know until we hear from a

George Callbeck.

But however much we may like the way furs are moving we cannot get away from the fsc that they are selling at about a 83 per cent decline from last January. For instance on Tuesday the collection of platinume was Stinger cent sold at an average oi $1 . if we remember this averaged overjlw. The Platinum silvers sold for an average of . and we are confident they sold for at least 0135 last year. White Marked silvers were 0d per cent mm mbavflllglhg: n,’ it'd-gm year ey r0 a over 300. The highest price for one lot alww platinums was . and we are wondering if'that was the Island Grand ‘Champion pelt. we note by Georges telegram that‘ the high for a platinum on the first day was $156 so the best show pelt must have been a much bet- ter skin. Owing to these notes being written early in the week it is not possible for us to give s complete picture of the sale.

A bill has been introduced win the House of Representatives at Washington to reduce the 20 Per cent fur tax to 10 per cent, to be effective the first day of the month iouowing thc enactment oi the hill, If this posses it means con- sidrrnhlc oi a boott for the fur industry and will no doubt be followed by a reduction by our Dolninion government of the pro- ccssing tax which ls now 25 per cent and is one oi the main causes for (hr decline in price oi iii\'(’l' fox pelts.

lt is always n good idea to keep an eye on what is going on in the U. S. A. and we note that the Am- erican National Fox Breeders’ As- sociation silvers were firm at the auction hcld by Lampson. Fraser it llluh. New York, last week. Of the 6,001 silvers 74 per cent were sold. the top price being $78. A loll price of $38 was paid for three- quarter and a. top price oi $25 for half silvers. New color phase ail- vcrs sold well. top price being $115 for plzetlnums. the collection bciug the offerings of the Pro- gressive Color Phase Fox Associ- ation which was termed as only a fair average collection, conspicu- ous by the absence oi tops in plailnums. One thing you will not- lcc particularly is the low prices which the three-quarter and half silvers brought - just imagine a top price of $88 for a three-quart-_ er and a top price of 025 ior a hllf silver. The writer can re- member when W. Chester S. Mc- Lure obtained $1,200 for an eiuhthi sllvcl" consigned to him by Tho-' nus Methcrall of Wcst Capc. and more recently we can remember when a little more than a half silver brought $500 in the 1027 sale of the Hudson! Bay Corn- honv. '

\

Thosc were thc days when tho three-quarter and halfs were feat- ured in Paris but there is no Pal-ls buying silver fox today. but m-lybc in the ncxt six months or twelve months. If so we wonder, whether three-quarter silvers will come back into their own again. If "lily do the Americans will cer- tainly be out of luck because they have gone the’ whole hog into pro- ductlon oi full silvers and we our- lclves will iii-id it a bit difficult to, iict hack into-the nice black necksl which we-produced a .few years We. 1f three-quarters do come h. ck our very good friend Peter G. Clark will have the laugh on us tall because ho has always maintained that it is the most beautiful type oi fur, and perhaps he is right.

Ourlcsteemed friend Dr. C. K. Cunn. erintendent of the Do- minion Experimental Fox station. Summerslde. has an excellent art- lcie in the National Fur News en- lltled. Fox nations In The Breed- lns season. This is the formula he recommends.

35 lbs I-Iorsc meat of beef. or horse meat. pork (boar) and rabbits.

Trinc. meat offal. canned chick ii

fl n lbs, 6.552}. Silk?" Dried UTGWITS‘ ve-ist (rc- duce these ingredients H0

he" ceht if comme ml cer- no ouestiorn Just in the vicinity

eel is used), of Charlottetown he must have

4 lbs. Minerals (green bonemeal purchased o er 2.000 pelts and he suit l.) also bought in other parts. and we

2 lbs. Finely * vegetables, must say that Mr. Weissler paid greens and sprouted prices fully equal to those ofsny "MM- other buycrs and in many ‘lin-

e-

*5“-

Inf“

g out advancing any others and that

wanted only at $00 to $80.

The amount oi feed-foun . isfactory ls from 10-12 ounce? fdéy weight) daily in one meal. These amounts, however, vary with mole and female foxes as well as with

the amount of exercise the foxes “Wm” W lflly b9 00351194 take. Some animals which tend from the. n Ilnwmoloilfll to put on weight readily should be Laboratory. Frede oton B.

ive/n less than the above . lties. while others will rgixviilie more feed to remain in good con. dition. It is advisable to handle (weigh the foxes whenever con.

venient) foxes from time to time 69in: back

to dcterminctheir condition, then the quantity oi feed required by the different vixens can be more

_y assessed. Considerable titude is given in the oi meat in the elm"

ration. and a wide variet or . eals» and vegetables can yalao cage used. A study oi the rat‘ used by a number oi prominent breed. ere shows that the winter rations may vary from 60 to 00 per cent in meat content. 20 to as pel- m“ in cereal mixture and 5 to 20 per cant in supplements. I-Icre the mix- t is gi for convenience in dry weight but can be mixed to the proper consistency with either water or milk. where the latter is cheaply "able,

A od tie is which“ arcwlztofing. used" eiretfinsiave y polygamous mating, a small mflmlhl meal (8-4 ounces) of raw ‘z llld fish, inwthe propprt we raw e 1 lo, a u.“ 9R8 of

is

Dying u Birch Gauss: Bcnccrn

(Science Service News)

The dying of lurch mrouglumlt thcjreater il-rt of the Maritime of Eastern Canada 1s caus- ing concern about future supplies of birch for lumber. veneer, ties. spoolwood, fuel and other products. This injury, and the causes con- tributing to it, are described in a

the periodic damage to foilsge by outbreak of insects such as the birch skeletoniaer and leaf-mining

down death the wh e tree to six, or more years. The greatest damage occurs in old growth or in mixed stands which have been severely cm, over- for softwoods A . called the bronze birch borer has been found to be breed- ing in practically all of the many hundred. of trees analysed and it is the chief injurious agent known to be inyolved When numerous. it can k’ll trees by r eatcd attacks but it cannot ultipy unless cor.- ‘ quantities oi weakened trees are available. when egg are laid in healthy trees. the young larvae die. The present outbreak of this insect is therefore a result of a general weakened condition- of birch stands rather than the first cause of the didrack. No evidence has yet been ob- ta‘ned that any particular fungus or other disease is responsible for creating this weakened wndltlon. Defoliating insects have contri- butcd to it but the most obvious cause h the plet- treatment 0f ‘ Insufficient

kin

uld be d Indus! . so that the foxes dbnilo: go off t eir feed at this season of he year.

Mihal l. Ded , Scottie Pu: Brenna‘;- staptfiktliigé from his experience of many years that fur auctions are vital to the success of fur farmers and we 32.2"‘ "t". r. ""2: v" v rcsen o oi soiling should bee afifigizngigvtiiht!

is that tho Hudson's Bay Com- rllly 0f London. the largest col- ector of raw furs from trappers. an’ exceptionally progressive con. vi-‘m- h“ always sold its furs through the auction sale method since its organization ln 1870."

_..__

The Canadian fur catch for 1042-48 season has been valueduzi: $38,505.03. This totals 15 per cent greater than previous high record of 1041-42. Higher prices wore responsible for the new record al- though thc actual numbe oi skins was much less than the catch of the previous season.

An occupant of the plane whion left Charlottetown for Newfound- land on Sunday besldcs the mill- tary and civilian members from Newfoundland was n mutation mink from Premier Jones’ farm io Victor Clouston, 8t. John's. Ir. was a polygamous male valued at $800 and ls another cvidcncc that MY- Civil-stun. who purchased a number oi high class silver foxesi here last season is going to have‘ the best mink and the best only in his ranch.

Wilfrid L. Todd of Boston, who is largely interested in a ranch in‘ Summerside and whose Norwegian foxes have been successfully raised here by several ranchers, writes us under date of January 17th: "I left for New York last Sunday night. The New York Auction Company was a fair sale but prices were quite low. The bcst platin- ums sold at $170. I saw elgh‘. skins raised bv a friend in Michi- gan bring $160 average but they were very large. heavy furred male pup pelts, medium color. I found that the pale skins did not sell tco well, they seemed to prefer the medium to dark skins with char- acter. 1 think you recall that I have talked on this continually. namely, light platinums with con- trasting color or markings sell very well but the flat white skins are

From what I could learn in New York no one seems to have their hand on the pulse of the market at all, everyone is guesain and no one at this date looks or an advance oi the market, but it could happen Just the same. The mink market is very strong, un- usually so. especially for mink and the mutation mink sales thelast oi the month and Febru- ary will no doubt o over big However, if the dea era concen- trate on new type mink they won't go very stron on foxes ecsusc when they ma e a run on short haired furs you always have to sit back with long hai-ed furs for a. season or two. This has been my experience.

I was very pleased to have the privilege oi witnessing the Pro- vincial Pelt Show at Summerslde and I followed the placings with the greatest interest. I must say that there was a splendid line of foxes there and the good humor and good fellowship which pre- vailed among the exhibitors was very notlcccbiey i also enjoyed the banouet and came away with the most pleasant recollections oi my short visit."

No doubt this will be a busy week for Fritz Weisaler oi Mont- real who will‘ have numerous cus- tomers not only from thc United States but from South American countries as well. fur emporium. Mr. wcissler ha ‘

few years built up a very fir

cntele who 1y on him to urnish them with a1 types of sliver fox mink and other furs their trade demands. This year he was a very large buyer of silver fox in this province oi thit there can be

Wild a“

” s . marinate have been fmmd to allow cuiibng of birch as it became ‘m- maoure, large quantities have been left exposed by soft/wood cuttings. and many over mature and decad- ent trees provided ideal breeding material for the borer.

Injured stands should be salvasvd as far as pomilbs. They remain fit for salvage longer than lg zen- erally realised and methods oi estimating the proportion of sal- vage are su gested _ thc labor- slwy . More intensive management is required t0 ml!!!- tain vigour of growth and some genera)! principles are

suggested. Old growth stand; in which ma- ture and over mature hardwoods. including injured birch, form a large prcportlon oi the stand should generall be completely clean cut. Oi growth stands

which have been opened up by past

overatory to softwood on old burns. the birch and other hardwoods should be cut as soon as merchant- nble This will release the soft- woods and remcve birch becoming weakened by ccrn-‘petitlon and favourable to the borer. The pro- per treatment of young hardwood stands need further study but thnnings on or other cuttings should not be heavy Biron with any sign; oi dleback should be removed. but care taken to pre- vent lniury or exposur ecf rigors-us

young trees Gicdlinz cf birch to remove un- merrlianiablc trees is a dubious

nrPbtibc as it creates ‘deal nor- ("H0215 fr" ih~ borer Palsnuirlv is being studied as vu sill-motive and ‘promises to be more suitabe

Use ‘of Fertilizers Gives Higher Yields

The problem of. maintaining soil fertility is becoming increas- ingly important in Eastcnl Can- ad-a. Increased production re- moves a larger proportion of plant nutrients from the soil. In areas of special crops where little or no live stock is produced thus limiting thc supply of barnyard manure. the matter of maintain- ing organlc matter in the soil bc- comes a problem of considerable magnitude. Following the denud- ing oi forested areas and subse- qucnt decomposition of organic matter. soil erosion removes large quantities of fertile surface soil. Thus a number of factors contri- bute in aggravating the intricate roblem of maintaining soil fer-

ty.

In this regard. the experiment on soil fertility which has been conducted ior 32 years by the Field Husbandry Division. Dominion Ex-

erimentsl Farms Service. is of mportance. This experiment has demonstrated that yields in a

suitable crop rotation can he well maintained either by the use of manure or commercial fertillzerm In a rotation of mangels. clover. timothy. illilefl-llllfll "ml- gels produced a 32-year average yield of .92 tons per acre as com- pared wi h 22.72 tons where man- ure was applied; 20.51 where com- mercial fertiliser was used only. and 22.13 where manure and fer- tiliser were combincd to main- tain the fertility. '

Similarly. unfertilized oats yield- ed 42.3 bushels per acre: manured oats; 00.0 bushels; fertilised oats. 57.7 bushels. and where the com- bination was used. the yield was b! bushels per acre. Clover. un- fertilized. yielded 1.00 tons: man- 3.77 tons; fertilised. so: w“; and manured and fertilised 351 m“; per acrc. Although the yield of timothy was somewhat lmvel- in all cases, the relative pro- duction from thc different treat- mcnis was similar to that of clov

GI‘.

--: — --—i

siion about it that the "re'§3o§§‘°..r buyers here such as r. Weisslcr. Mr. k 05'1"“ up, Rose and others. all hel stabilize thc market and ive t a breeders more confidence rl their

qd e _ 1i would have enJ migulityyblesk nggggfvivlle tag a}: the buyers!

cuttin or clieback should be P-lr- like the Spaniard. “manana‘ -- tlally clltto remove the mature and and tells us that spring will do defeciive trees. with a minimum just as well.

disturbance of the youser growth Expert. wood-cutters say we "ire Where even aged stands of nli ulvrong‘ in this. Wood. whe- white birch. aspen, and other me;- lol- rnel or fol- industrial use. hardwoods have grown up as an should be cut when the sap-con-

0115 ‘forty years ln Midian, married. and

- NEWSY

NOTESA -

A CHAPTiIt 0N DEBBIE (l)

Continuing from last wcck. "here is a list of- " ' Blue Berries

Altcrnate-leaved Ddkwood (COP-

nus aiternlioli). Shrllbl R5187

Yellow Clintonia (C- hotel's)- Low herb. , Blue Huckleberry (Gayluseacla

baccata. van). u Juniper (Juniperus sp.).

Mostly trailing shrubs. Everygreen. - Blueberry (Vaeclnium app.)- Small shrubs. Wlthe-rod (Viburnum cassinoi- dos). Shrub. Berry pink, then blue-black. Black Berries Wild Saracparilla (Aralia app).

Shrubs or herbaceous.

Black Crowberry llhnpetrluu ni- grum). Low shrubby evergreen.

Black Huckleberry (Gaylusaacia app). Shrubs.

Wild Black Cherry (Prunus sero- tina). Large tree.

Black-berrlcd Chokeberry (Pyrus melanoccrpa). Shrub. Astringent.

Buckhorn (Rhamnus app). shrubs. violently purgatlve. Black Currants (Rlbes spp.).

' Stone Age.

knives ‘of stone appear again ln Coverdale‘: Bible (Joshua 5. 2), and~in the Septuagint (Josh. 24, 9i) where "thc stone, knives. with which he (Joshua) had circum- cised the children of Israel in Oll- gal," were buried with him.

From the frequent. mention o! it in the Scriptures. we are disposed to think of the rite as peculiar to the children oi Israel. In this we are wrong. It was practised. says Bancroft, among the ancient Na- huas (including the Aztecs) of Central America. and is still kept up among the Teamas and Mandos on the Amazon. It is practised by races in the South Seas. among the Australian tribes. and in Papua, New Caledonia, and the New He- brides. It is common among the Kafiirs and Bechuanas of Africa. So wide-spread a practice forces one lo believe in its high antiquity. and the stone knives point to the

A! in ll-l 0148111. we may conclude that its began as a representative sacrifice connected with Phalllc Worship. "On this principle." says an old writer, “clrcumcisirn was an economical recognition of the divine ownership of human life. a part of the body being sacri- ficed to preserve the remainder." What the Hebrews did was to

M B‘

rubs. Blackberry (Rubus sppJ. Shrubs. generally spinose.

nigruml. Annual herb. A garden escape?

Black Blueberry la var. oi ‘Jac- cinlum pennsylvanlcum). Shrub. ow. .

By an oversight the High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum Opulus) was omitted from the list of Red Berries. Perhaps others may be "found wanting" too, and the writer will be glad to ilcar of such omissions. The False Solomon's Seals tSmll- acena slip). have berries which do not come under the above head- ings. being green with darker stripes, or yellowish-white speckled with brown. The contraction "spp. is lue plural of species.

Till} TIME T0 CUT WOOD

We. like many others. cut our firewood in late spring. hauling it home just before the winter roads give out in March. The reason is twofold. In the first place we uze too much occupied in banking the house, storing the lmpicmencs, grading iue produce. and so, on. to our. it earlier; and secondly, that trait in human nature which says,

tents are at their lowest point: that is. in late fall or cariy win- ter. In the into winter and spring thc sap is rising long before the leaves appear on the tress. and it i5 thc sap which brings up lllc resins and other materials that form "tar' in the stovcpipet. when thc wood is burned. Then. cn some windy day, the chlmnry "catches fire’ and we get a scare. ii nothing worse.

Wood cut illwihié fail or early winter. is better for industrial pur- poses too, because it seasons more slowly. and with little or no “check- ing.” It is freer from wood-Izorin; insects because they are inactive during the winter. Moreover. the sap-content is low. and the wood is not so attractive to them. Sluice there is little checking. the spores of the wood-rotting fungi find lcss opportunity for lodgement. Wood cut in the spring. seasons M01‘ quickly in the warmer weather, splits. u attacked by the insects (who must have the sap) and the wood-rots enter the holes of, the

ecls. Still. we are not cutting yet. Mariana!

HISTORY 0F THE JEWS (2)

It was in 1040 (if I mistake nflil that The Guardian had a short garagraph stating that a Rabbi had visited the Island w perform the rite of circumcision on an infant- the first and only time I had seen such a notice. This rite was en- jolncd on Abraham ind his des- cendants (Genesis l7. 11), but rc- searcll has shown that it was very generally practised arno many nations in early times. Mi man, in his "History of the‘ Jews.” devotes‘ merely a few lines t0 it-“The tribel were to be distinguished by tnc‘ rite of circumcision, 1t can hardly