jfnx farming

In the 1880’s Charles Dalton, a farmer, fisherman, trapper and fur buyer from Tignish, con- ceived an idea that brought him wealth, a knighthood, and the office of Lieutenant Governor, and gave PEI an industry for which, particularly in the first two decades of the twentieth centu- ry, it achieved world-wide fame. Dalton, in the pursuit of his first love — hunting and trapping - had occasionally caught one of the Island’s rare black foxes, whose pelts invariably brought the highest prices, and he began to acquire breeding stock in the hope of developing a strain of pure black foxes from the black pups tipped with silver guard hairs that the native red foxes occa— sionally dropped. He met with indifferent success, however, until forming a partnership with Robert T. Oulton, an old fishing and hunting companion. In 1894, Mr. Oulton built a ranch on Cherry Island (Oulton’s Island), which he owned, and Dalton brought the first pair of black foxes there.

The two men made an excellent team. Dalton possessed the business acumen, while Oulton was an experienced, innovative and persistent stockman. Their ranch served as a model for many who later entered the industry. In the early 1900’s Dalton with some misgivings sold a pair of breeders to Robert Tuplin who formed a merger with James Gordon. A further merger with two other fox breeders, B.I. Rayner and Silas Rayner led to the formation of the Big Six Combine, which monopolized the domesticated fox world until 1910, when a Dalton-Oulton sale of twenty—five fox pelts for some $34,000 became public knowledge. The Combine came under tremendous pressure from merchants, farmers, fisherpersons and professional men, and was irretrievably broke when the flamboyant nephew of Robert Tuplin, Frank Tuplin of New Annan, sold breeding stock to anyone willing to pay his almost unbelievable price of $5000 a pair. There was no shortage of buyers and the golden age of the silver black fox dawned.

A veritable fox mania engulfed the Island from 1910 to 1940. Within a few years the Island was literally dotted with fox ranches owned by companies, partnerships, and private individu— als.

The appeal of fox farming was by no means restricted to the large operators. In Stanley Bridge as in other communities, small farmers, fisherpersons, clerks, and labourers got involved and established small to medium ranches on their properties. The Campbellton Road, the Taffy Town Road, the Rattenbury Road, the North Road, Route 6, Mill River Road and Village East and Village West soon had fox ranches gracing their locales.

While World War I caused a decline in the value of the fox pelt, it did not spell disaster. The industry recovered during the 1920’s and 1930’s and expanded in Canada and the United States. Many did lose money, but it is equally true that many were spared severe economic hardships during the Great Depression through the sale of fox pelts. Stanley Bridge has witnessed the ebb and flow in this industry and invariably will be prepared to share in a revival of an industry which is presently suffering a downward trend.1

1 Francis W.P. Bolger, Wayne Barrett, & Anne MacKay, Memories Of The Old Home Place (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1984).

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