In' the past few years a new industry of considerable importance has grown up in Canada, namely, fur-farming. Due to the rapid spread of civilization, even in the northerly portions of the Dominion, the forbearing animals have been driven further and further afield, and their numbers have greatly decreased. Ag the demand for furs has increased at the same time, there has been a rapid advance both in methods of making artificial furs and in the fur-farming indus-
The difficulties of, breeding and raising wild animals in captivity at first were thought to be unsurmountable; there were many losses due to -improper methods and to the nervous reactions of the animals, This has been true especially of the silver fox, the valuable of all animals bred for their fur; the animals must be caught with great care and there is continual danger that they may take fright and either die, or else refuse to breed. However, after learning many bitter lessons through failure, fox-farmers have solved these problems, 30 that to-day many foxes are available each year for export. The majority of the silver fox farms are located in Prince Edward Island, the island province of the Dominion, and large trac!s of land have been carefully pianned as runs for the valuable animals.
In the Province of Quebec, another animal, the muskrat, is raised ix large numbers, Only this weel announcement was made of Purchase of a sizeable lake in the' north for the purpose of raising muskrat and mink. The problem. to be faced in dealing with the muskrat is that the animal must have both land and water included fenced home, and, on account of his great capacities for digning, the fences must be extended underground for several feet and then turned inwards. It is understood that at least 30,000 pelts will be offered by Canadian fur merchants at the mid-winter sales in New York; this gives some-idea of the magnitude of the industry, presenting, as it does, only a portion of the total trade, A THOROUGHLY cosrorTABLE
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.