Page 397 - Our Vanishing Wild Life
P. 397
BREEDING GAME AND FUR IN CAPTIVITY 375
that fox fur is one of the poorest of furs to withstand the wear and tear ofactualuse. Abouttwoseasons'hardwearareenoughtoputthebest fox skin on the wane, and three or four can be guaranteed to throw it into the discard. Even the finest black fox skin is nothing superlatively beautiful! Achoice"cross"foxskincostingonly$50is/armorebeauti- ful, as a color proposition; but London joyously pays $2,500 or $3,000 for a single black-fox skin, to wear!
Of course, all such fads as this are as ephemeral as the butterflies of summer. TheRusso-JapanesewarquicklyreducedthevalueofAlaskan blue foxes from $30 to $18; and away went the Alaskan fox farms! A similar twist of Fortune's fickle wheel may in any year send the black fox out of royal favor, and remove the bottom from the business of producing it. Let us hope, however, that the craze for that fur will continue; for we like to see our friends and neighbors make good profits.
Pheasant Rearing.—This subject is so well understood by game- breeders, and there is already so much good literature available regarding it, it is not necessary that I should take it up here.
