68 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 
     
    
   
   
    
     FOX FARMING 
     
    
   
   
    
     Allied to Agriculture, fox-farming made great strides in the 
     
     years 1913 and 1914. Begun at Tignish and Alberton in the year 
     
     1888 by the Hon. Charles Dalton and Mr. Oulton, whose tentative 
     
     efforts were made in partnership, this industry progressed experi- 
     
     mentally, quietly and gradually until, between 1900 and 1910, as 
     
     many as six or eight fox farmers were sending to London insured 
     
     packages of pelts for auction at the january and March sales of a 
     
     London firm of fur merchants. The stock was bred from Prince 
     
     Edward Island wild foxes caught in traps and held in captivity in 
     
     wire enclosures comprising several acres each. Experimental 
     
     breeding proved that a single female fox will breed eight or ten 
     
     times in the course of her life, each litter containing from two to 
     
     seven or eight pups, and that the average fox will live from 1 1 to 
     
     15 years. The pelts of these pups sold on the London market at 
     
     prices ranging from $100 to $3,700 each. These facts were at 
     
     first held back from the public. But by degrees they leaked out, 
     
     and until the war broke out there was a boom in the production 
     
     of black and silver foxes for breeding purposes. At present there 
     
     are in this province, besides a number of individuals and unincor- 
     
     porated companies in the business, the following fox companies 
     
     incorporated by special Acts of the Legislature (marked A) and by 
     
     Letters Patent (marked L P) :— 
     
    
   
   
    
     Abegweit S. Black Fox & Fur Farm Ltd. L P. . . .Charlottetown ..... $150,000 
     
     Acme Silver Black Fox Co. Ltd .......... L P. . . .Summerside ....... 170,000 
     
     “A. E. McLean Co. Ltd. ............. L P. . . .Southwest, Lot 16. 350,000 
     
     A. H. Locke Ranching Co. Ltd .......... L P. . . .Sherbrooke ....... 30,000 
     
     Alberry Plains Blue Fox Co. Ltd ....... L P. . . .Alberry Plains ..... 5,000 
     
     Alberlon Dark Silver Fox Co. Ltd . . . . L P. . . .Alberton .......... 110,000 
     
     Alma Ideal Dark Silver Fox Co. Ltd. . . .L P. . . .Alma ............. 40,000 
     
     Anglo-American Silver Black Fox Co. Ltd A .. . . . Charlottetown . . . . . 80,000 
     
     Banner Fox Co. Ltd .................. L P ....... do .......... 48,000 
     
     Barkers' Black Fox Co. Ltd ..... .‘ ...... L P . . .Summerside . . . . . 125,000 
     
     Bay State Fur Farms Ltd . . . . . . .L P. . . .Charlottetown . . . . 440,000 
     
     Bedeque Fur Farming Co. Ltd .......... L P. . . . Bedeque ......... 200,000 
     
     Beech Grove Silver Black Fox Co. Ltd. .L P . . Summerside . . . . 250,000 
     
     Beech Hill Fox Co. Ltd ............. L P. . . .Charlottetown . . . . 20,000 
     
     Beechwood Silver Foxes Ltd .......... L P ........ do ......... 75,000 
     
     Belfast Fox and Fur Farming Co. Ltd. .1. P. . . . Kinross .......... 50,000 
     
     Beacon Fox Co. Ltd . .............. L P. . . .Tyne Valley ..... 50.000 
     
     ‘Belmont Black Fox Co. Ltd .......... L P. . . Charlottetown . . . . 150,000 
     
    
   
   
    
     'Bideford Fox Co. Ltd ............... LP... Ellerslie ........ 75,000