FUR-BEARING ANIMALS, Cultivation of, or FUR FARMING, is a new and promis ing industry in North America, which has been begun in view of the alarming decrease of these animals in their wild state. It will relieve the pressure on the wild stock, and will make it possible not only to supply the market with the pelts of captive stock, better on the average than wild skins, but also will enable the persons engaged to supply themselves with excellent furs at a comparatively small cost. As most of the animals to be utilized are natives of cold regions the industry can be successful, accord ing to present information, only in the colder Northern States and in Canada, as in warmer regions good long fur will not be produced; but the beaver, skunk, muskrat and raccoon may be cultivated almost anywhere when local circumstances are favorable. Farmers are most advantageously situated to carry on this indus try as a side-line, so that it has come to be called °fur-farming.° Much of the food re quired, which is mainly such as is fed to dogs and cats, involves little expense, and the labor of attendance is light, except, perhaps, in the case of black foxes. This special line requires a considerable investment and an expensive up keep if entered upon systematically.
The earliest serious attempts were made in Oneida County, N. Y., where minks were reared in 1866 by H. Resseque, and by others later, with profitable returns; but were not long con tinued. Latterly mink culture has been resumed in Canada by many persons, one company in Quebec having embarked about $50,000 in the enterprise. Minks require access to water, and the yard in which they are confined should in clude a small space of pond or of a running stream. They are fed on bread, corn-meal mush and the like, with fish or meat twice a week. The results thus far are highly en couraging.
The Canadian pine-marten and the larger pekan (see MARTEN) have been bred in captiv ity, and several serious efforts are now in progress in Canada toward their cultivation; but the difficulties of success with these animals are great. The same is true of the otter, ex periments with which are being made, with good promise of success. The fur of all three is very costly, and successful cultivation would be very profitable. The raccoon is far more easily reared, and this is now done in hun dreds of farm-yards, where the space required and the food supply can be furnished with almost no expense, and the returns are gratify ing; but wild stock is still too abundant to make the culture of this animal very important as yet. The same may be said of the skunk. Two
kinds of skunks exist in North America the common black-and-white northern skunk, and the smaller variegated or °striped" skunk of the southwestern border and Mexico. Both pro duce fur that is in constant demand at good prices, the pelts of the northern skunk being now worth about $3. The skunk breeders in this country now exceed in number that of all other animals combined. This animal tames quickly and is easily managed and cheaply fed; and it offers the great advantage that it remains asleep in its den during cold weather, when other animals need the most costly attention. Any fanner or villager may easily rear a few; and there is much inducement to engage in skunk-breeding as a regular business on a large scale. In undertaking to rear these or any other animals the principle of action must be to ar range food and a manner of life for the captives as nearly as possible like that to which they are accustomed when wild.
The cultivation for its fur of the fox in captivity is the most important and extensive venture in this direction yet made. American foxes, from the point of view of the furrier, are of four kinds: (1) The gray fox of the southern United States; (2) the small swift or kit fox of the western plains; (3) the red or ((common" fox, and (4) the white arctic fox. The first two have not yet been cultivated, nor do their pelts enter largely into trade. The arctic fox is yet too abundant to attract capital to its culture; but a small proportion of the species, perhaps 10 per cent, are not white even in winter, but slate-blue in color all the year round, and are known as 'blue" foxes. These have been held in captivity and reared for their fur for many years at places along the shores of Alaska, and on certain islands in Bering Sea; but in most places they are able to pick up their own food (largely fish), or need be fed only a part of the year, and are caught late in the .fall by trapping. Several expensive ex periments have been made in breed ing establishments for these blue foxes in east ern Canada, and they promise well, but definite results are not at hand.