Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-03-18 | Page 54 | U.S. Tells How to Raise Furs

U. S. Tells HOW to RAISE FURS THAT fur is costly is due to the fact that fur-bearing animals are scarce and are hard to hunt. If the experiments which the United States biological survey is making at present concerning fur farming prove all that they promise, the. price of furs will go down. Experiments are being carried on In Alaska, Washington, Maryland and New York. Officers of the survey are studying the needs and status of fur fanning. They are trying to find out if a practicable method exists whereby fur-bearing animals may be handled and confined. They are especially working on the problem of food. The animals being tested and experimented with so far have been foxes, minks and martens. Eventually, if all proves well, fur animals of all kinds will be tested for farming. farm-ing. Climatic conditions and making the animals domesticated play important parts i the investigation. There are silver fox farms in thirty localities in Alaska, and on an equal prober pro-ber of islands there are blue fox farms. Animals are being experimented upon in Washington, Maryland and New York. Many citizens are actively interested in the new industry of fur farming. The animals are kept in different kinds of inclosures and fed on different kinds of food. Records are kept of each animal as careful and accurate as the records and reports of hospital patients. Every reaction, reac-tion, each sign of improvement, each sign of "backsliding," any behavior whatsoever out of the ordinary, is recorded. The animals are mated with reference to specific characteristics and kept under varying vary-ing climatic conditions. It seems plausible enough that fur farming should prove practicable. prac-ticable. Certainly the idea is a sound one. Why should we have to hunt "furs" any more than we do ostrich plumes or wool?