Far Farming Makes Life More Pleasant and Ones
Labor More Profitable
By I. S. Horne,
Wild Beast Merchant, Pasadena,
Calif., and Kansas City, Mo.
On many occasions I have
been asked what animals of a
fur producing variety are most
profitable and at the same time
suitable for Alaska, and have
always replied—nearly all vari
eties of fur bearers are both
suitable and profitable.
We hear of hard times, money
shortages, and millions of peo
ple out of work all over t he
world, but do you see the
ladies of the land stinting
themselves on clothes, jewels
and fine furs? You do not, and
lo long as the human race ex
ists, fur of all kinds will be in
demand, and Alaska will pro
G”ce the best in the market.
Fur farming is but in its in
iancy. Silver and Blue Foxes
have been produced for many
\ ears, have sold for fabulous
prices, far more than their
value, but any fox farm in exist
ence, if properly managed and
in a suitable locality, will al
ways pay good, big profits.
Alaska is an ideal country in
which to breed food and fur
bearing animals such as Skunk
(Odorless), Raccoon, Beaver,
Coypu Rats (the giant South
American fur rat sold as Nutria
on the market), Mink, Fitch,
White Foxes, Badgers and fur
bearing rabbits, and these ani
mals not only produce prolifi
cally, but produce good tasty
food as well as fine fur.
The Raccoon, Mink, Badger,
and Foxes can be fed on a fish
or Reindeer meat diet with
little else. These foods are
cheap and easy to produce, or
should one so desire, he can
raise fur rabbits for their pelt
and feed the rabit meat (if he
-A
has a surplus more than lie
Personally needs for food) to
his Racoon, Badger, Mink, etc.,
thus cutting materially his costs
oif production.
ftaccoon and fur-rabbit breed
ing in Alaska can be made of
tremendous value if the res
idents will start with good
stock and gradually increase
(heir breeders to a point where
in a short time they will be
able to market enough meat
and pelts to not only make a
good living, but to raise their
standard of living and put
money away for a rainy day.
The writer, as .well as many
of his friends, has made many
thousands of dollars profit out
cf these little fur-bearers, and
at the same time had an ex
tremely pleasant time doing so.
Hence, he knows from personal
fxperience what can be done
with fur-bearing animals if any
one will expend a little money
to start, and then give the pro
duction of furs and food a rea
sonable amount of time and at
tention.
Thousands of you Alaskans
are missing a good bet if you
pass up such opportunities. ..
Alaska Land of Great Posibilities
x
Indie napolis News.
Alaska still remains Uncle
Sam’s last frontier. We haven’t
neard so much about it since
the gold rush except through
the moving pictures, but it is
not a barren land of ice< and
snow as many people seem to
believe. Its farming prospects
are considerable and its natural
resources are great. Writing on
modern Alaska in the current
issue of the National Republic,
Lucy Salamanca says in part:
“It is only within the last 3C
years that the latent resources
of Alaska have become suffici
ently known to be considered an
asset. The value of furs ship
ped from the territory in 1928
was estimated to be $4,293,637.
Exclusive of acquatic furs, the
Bureau of Fisheries estimated
the value of fisheries products
for 1928 as $54,545,588, ap
proximately 96 per cent of
which sum was derived from
salmon fisheries alone. Miner
als valued at approximately
?600,000,000 have been taken
out of the territory, 42 per cent
of this coming from the placer
mining of alluvial deposits, 33
per cent from the copper mines
and 20 per cent from lode gold
deposits. The other five per
cent includes such miscellan
eous sources as silver, tin, lead
platinum, paladium, antimony,
Quicksilver and rhe non-metallic
minerals, coal, petroleum, mar
ble, gypsum and graphite.
“The United States paid Rus
sia $7,200,000 in gold for this
vast country. In 100 days in
1906 the city of Nome alone
produced $7,500 000 in gold, and
the total gold production for
• 929 was close to $8,000,000. In
every five years fur-bearing an
imals exclusive of seals, more
than pay for Alaska. The Ter
r tory has already; : produced
more than a billion and a half
dollars in new wealth. And the
surface, ‘old-timers’ tell us, has
net yet been scratched!
“One of the greatest factors