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diff --git a/40157-0.txt b/40157-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..569b386 --- /dev/null +++ b/40157-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,371 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40157 *** + +Breeding Minks in Louisiana + +FOR THEIR FUR + + +A Profitable Industry + + +[Illustration] + + +BY + +WILLIAM ANDRÉ ELFER + + +FOR SALE BY THE +GESSNER CO., +611 CANAL ST., NEW ORLEANS, LA. + + +COPYRIGHTED +BY +W. A. ELFER +1909 + + +Press of J. G. Hauser +"The Legal Printer" +620-622 Poydras St. +New Orleans + + + + +PREFACE + + +This little volume is issued in illustration of the feasibility of +breeding minks in Louisiana for their fur. It is the result of +experiments conducted by the author himself, and he feels that it +should be of interest to many and of value to the few who are looking +for fields for profitable investment. It is the author's aim to issue +a more elaborate work on the same subject sometime during the early +part of next year. + +W. A. E. + +[Illustration: A Louisiana Mink. Notice the Small Eyes, and the Low, +Rounded Ears, Scarcely Projecting Beyond the Adjacent Fur.] + + +For the following description of the American mink I am indebted to +the Encyclopædia Britannica: + + "In size it much resembles the English polecat--the length of the + head and body being usually from fifteen to eighteen inches; that + of the tail to the end of the hair about nine inches. The female is + considerably smaller than the male. The tail is bushy, but tapering + at the end. The ears are small, low, rounded, and scarcely project + beyond the adjacent fur. The pelage consists of a dense, soft, + matted under-fur, mixed with long, stiff, lustrous hairs on all + parts of the body and tail. The gloss is greatest on the upper + parts; on the tail the bristly hairs predominate. Northern + specimens have the finest and most glistening pelage; in those + from the southern regions there is less difference between the + under- and over-fur, and the whole pelage is coarser and harsher. + In color, different specimens present a considerable range of + variation, but the animal is ordinarily of a rich, dark brown, + scarcely or not paler below than on the general upper parts; but + the back is usually the darkest, and the tail is nearly black. The + under jaw, from the chin about as far back as the angle of the + mouth, is generally white. In the European mink the upper lip is + also white, but, as this occasionally occurs in American specimens, + it fails as an absolutely distinguishing character. Besides the + white on the chin, there are often other irregular white patches on + the under parts of the body. In very rare instances the tail is + tipped with white. The fur, like that of most of the animals of the + group to which it belongs, is an important article of commerce." + + +The fur market has always been a good market. It has grown firmer and +stronger from year to year, while the prices for furs have been +advancing steadily and rapidly with the growing demand for furs in +Europe and America, and with the general increasing scarcity of all +fur-bearing animals. Mink fur advanced about fifty per cent. during +the last two seasons, and there is every reason to believe that the +mink fur in Louisiana will advance to about six dollars within the +coming three years. The minks caught in Louisiana last season were +sold at an average price of three dollars. + +[Illustration: Resting in a Warm Place. Notice the Long Body +and Its Shape.] + +[Illustration: In a Position to Jump. Notice the Long Tail.] + + +Fur-bearing animals are becoming scarce where they were once so +plentiful, and, like the buffaloes that roamed this country in such +great numbers, they will soon, many of them, become extinct if the +present rate of trapping continues to obtain in America. Already +certain fur animals are almost trapped out and are rare. Even the +alligator, which was so plentiful a few years ago in the swamps of +Louisiana, is hardly sought after any more for its hide because of its +scarcity. + +The laws enacted by the various State legislatures for the protection +of fur-bearing animals, in fact, offer no protection; for most furs +caught out of season have no market value, and for that reason are not +caught. + +In Louisiana a trapper has to procure a hunting license if he wishes +to carry a gun while trapping, which license costs only one dollar and +is good for one season only. Such a low license, while it may bring a +large revenue to the State, clearly has no element of protection in +it. On the contrary, it is a truth that it stimulates both hunting and +trapping, as there were more trappers in Louisiana last season than +before the law requiring this license came into effect. Every trapper +procures a hunting license whether he carries a gun or not, and most +trappers believe the law requires them to have this license to trap. + +Whatever is being done for the protection of fur-bearing animals in +Louisiana, the fact remains that they are fast disappearing. Old and +experienced trappers will tell you that minks were very difficult to +trap last season as compared with the seasons of a few years ago, when +they could be so easily trapped in dead-falls. Raccoons, too, which +were so numerous in the rear of old cornfields during the trapping +seasons, have diminished at a surprising rate within the last three +years. + +[Illustration: A Female of Two Years.] + +While laws are being adopted by different States for the regulation of +trapping to protect fur-bearing animals, it is time for those who +expect to make money with fur in the future to begin raising their own +animals. The time is almost here when trapping will be unprofitable. +Fur animals will be too scarce to make anything at it. Then people +will have to build farms in which to breed minks for their fur, and +mink farms will become common. Minks are the most valuable fur-bearing +animals in Louisiana, being the most numerous, and they are also the +easiest and most profitable to breed for their fur. + +Breeding minks in Louisiana for their fur can be made a very +profitable industry. There is more to be made at it than raising +horses, hogs or cattle. After a farm is once completed and stocked, +all expense is about over if there is a large-enough pond in it to +supply the minks with sufficient food. Under the present condition of +the fur market, each female will average a profit of forty dollars a +year. A farm stocked for the first time during the winter with five +hundred female minks should bring its owner the following winter +approximately twenty thousand dollars. This is figured at three +dollars a fur; but within three years the mink fur in Louisiana should +be selling for what the mink fur in the North sold last season. With +this increase in the price of fur, a farm stocked with the same number +should bring forty thousand dollars. + +[Illustration: The Fur During the Summer Is Very Poor, and Not So +Dark as It Is During the Winter.] + +[Illustration: An Excited Mink Trying to Climb.] + +Minks require little room, and thousands can be raised each year on a +farm of ten acres. The larger the farm, however, the better chances +they will have to procure food for themselves, as birds will enter a +large farm more freely than a small one. + +For this reason, in building a mink farm the first and most important +requirement is a good location. A small island consisting of low land +covered with trees and grasses, with the opposite shore at least +three-quarters of a mile distant, would make an excellent farm, +provided the surrounding water supplies an abundance of small fishes. +Such an island would, of course, preclude the necessity of using +material for holding the minks in captivity. If a suitable island +cannot be found, a good farm can be made with five or more acres of +low swampy land having a natural growth of trees, grasses and +underbrush, such as can be found in Southern Louisiana. But the piece +of land selected for a farm must inclose a large pond, or several +small ponds, containing a good quantity of small fishes, especially +crayfish. The trees and grasses will attract birds, which, in addition +to fish and rabbits, form a large part of food for the minks. + +Feeding minks is pretty costly, and is hardly to be considered by one +entering the business of breeding them for their fur. + +The walls surrounding a mink farm can be made either with bricks or +with sheets of corrugated, galvanized iron. The latter material makes +an excellent wall, and costs less than a brick wall. It should be used +in sheets measuring twelve feet in length by about twenty-six inches +in width. These sheets should be used in an upright position, and at +least five feet should be underground and seven feet aboveground. They +should be allowed to lap two inches, and the dirt should be firmly +packed against them. Two rows of wooden strips nailed on the outside +of the wall, one about two feet above the ground, and the other along +the top edge of the sheets, will greatly strengthen the wall and also +prevent the wind from shaking it. + +[Illustration: A Young Female Mink Walking Along the Walls of a +Small Farm.] + +The following photograph shows a small pentagonal farm, the walls of +which are made with sheets of corrugated, galvanized iron. Each side +measures sixteen feet in length, extending four feet underground and +four feet aboveground. Wire netting is used to cover the farm, not to +prevent the minks from jumping over, although the walls are too low, +but to prevent chickens, cats and buzzards from entering and eating +the food put in for the minks. A wooden shed also covers a part of the +small farm and serves to keep out some of the rain and heat, there +being no shrubs or trees therein. There are two small troughs in the +ground for holding water, and in the center of the farm there is a +place for the minks to live during the day, which consists of boards +laid five inches above the surface of the ground with about fourteen +inches of dirt on top. Under these boards it is dark during the day +and always damp and cool. There are also several barrels in this farm +filled with corn shucks and hay for the minks to enter during cold +weather. The minks in this little farm are fed with the spleen of +cattle, different meats, crayfish and other small fishes. The cost of +this farm, or pen, which has been used for experimental purposes only, +amounts to approximately forty-two dollars. It is large enough to +raise two hundred minks if they are properly fed and cared for. + +[Illustration: A Small Mink Farm.] + +[Illustration: Part of Interior of Small Farm, Showing Boards With +Dirt on Top for the Minks to Live Under During the Day.] + +Sometimes an island can be used for a farm even when it has opposite +shores or islands within two hundred feet or less, provided the water +surrounding it has an average depth of from four to six feet. In such +a case, the walls inclosing the island should be built in the water at +a distance of fifty or one hundred feet from its shores. Sheets of +metal should be used, as previously described, by placing them upright +in the water and nailing them together with strips running along the +outside. It is not essential that the lower wall should be in the +ground or even touching it; posts can be driven in the ground to +strengthen the wall, or to support it entirely. + +[Illustration: A Mink Farm Made Out of an Island. The Water +Surrounding Has a Uniform Depth of Five Feet.] + +In a small farm where minks are in close captivity and have to be fed, +the old ones used for the purpose of stocking it will at first do +considerable digging near the walls. They will dig into loose earth to +a depth ranging from a few inches to three feet in their attempts to +liberate themselves. But they will cease to dig after they have been +in captivity for about four months. Those born in a farm will not dig +or try to get out. They will climb, however, to a height of fifteen +feet on reclining trees or on bushes, and for this reason all trees, +bushes and pieces of lumber should be removed from the inside of the +walls before any minks are turned loose in a farm. They will +ordinarily jump to a height of four feet. They can climb wooden walls +as swiftly as a cat, or any wall made of soft material. + +[Illustration: Disturbed in Her Sleep. Notice the Bushy Tail.] + +The following sketch shows the very best mink farm that can be made. +It requires a rectangular piece of land of five or ten acres, running +along and separated by a large bayou in the swamps of Louisiana. +Covering this land there should be the necessary trees, shrubbery and +grasses. The walls are built along the bayou about one hundred feet +from the middle, and extend underground to a depth of six feet. The +walls at the ends of the farm where they cross the bayou should be +very carefully constructed. At these places where the walls cross the +bayou should have a depth of at least twelve feet or more, so that the +walls can be made to extend nine feet below the water surface for +one-third the width of the stream and still have sufficient openings +below the walls to permit the water to flow through freely. For +example, if the bayou is fifty feet wide, fifteen feet of the wall +crossing it can be elevated so that there will be a large-enough +opening below for the water to flow. The remaining portion of the wall +(that lying near the shore) should be driven in the ground for about +one foot, as minks will not dig under water. A farm of five acres, +similar to the one just described, would cost, completed, +approximately eight hundred dollars. The minks in such a farm, owing +to the continuous change of water in the bayou, would always have an +abundance of food. The banks of the bayou would afford a natural +breeding-place, as minks usually burrow in the banks of small streams +or along canals and have their young near the water. If the water in +the bayou falls, wire netting could be used over the opening at the +ends below the walls. + +[Illustration: A Mink Farm Inclosing Portion of a Bayou, Allowing the +Water to Flow Through.] + +[Illustration: An Angry Mink.] + + + "Minks eat birds, small mammals and eggs. The principal food of + minks comes from water, fish, frogs, crayfish."--_International + Encyclopædia._ + + +The minks I have been experimenting with have persistently refused to +eat frogs. I penned one up separately and attempted to feed her on +frogs only, and I believe she would have starved rather than eat +frogs. + +Minks can be raised in any kind of pen or cage, and water is not +essential to their happiness. They are easily tamed and like to be +petted. + + + + +Habits of the Mink in Louisiana + + +Minks in Louisiana have two litters a season, the +number of young in each brood varying from four to eight. Sometimes, +however, but very rarely, there will be only two in a brood, and +almost as infrequently, on the other hand, there will be three litters +a season instead of two. Captive animals breed more profusely than the +wild, and will occasionally have three litters where they are in close +captivity. They begin to breed when they are about one year old, and +in captivity will raise an average of fourteen a year. Normally, they +live to be about nine years old, but they will live longer in +captivity where they are well treated and given all the water and the +different foods required by them. + +Like all other industries, the business of breeding minks for their +fur necessitates an outlay of capital. A farm cannot be built without +money, and the cost of one sufficiently large to breed minks +profitably ranges from five hundred to a thousand dollars. Of course, +a farm can be made any size and costing any amount of money; but large +farms are not necessary, and it is much better to have several small +farms of six or ten acres than one very large one. + +[Illustration: A Female Mink Resting With Eyes Open.] + +After a farm is completed it has to be stocked, and the task is no +easy or inexpensive one. Trappers will have to be employed to trap +minks with No. 1 steel traps, as these small traps do not injure them +very much unless they are permitted to remain caught too long. Those +that have badly-broken bones should not be bought, as suffering will +cause them to eat their leg off, in which case they will always die. + +The author intends to organize a company styled the "Louisiana Mink +Company," the objects and purposes of which shall be to build mink +farms and to breed minks in this State for their fur. + +No matter what capital is involved, or expense incurred, in entering +into the business of breeding minks for their fur, the returns will be +so big that this will appear small in comparison. And those who are so +fortunate as to start in the industry now will, when minks will have +become so rare that trapping will be unprofitable, and the demand so +great that the prices for mink fur will soar higher and higher--those +persons, I say, of foresight, who had the good fortune to start in the +business early, will reap each year the steady advances in the price +of mink fur, and be able, in a word, to command the fur market of both +Europe and America. + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + +All obvious typographical corrections were made. All original spelling +and gramatic constructs were retained. Some images were moved to +rejoin split paragraphs. Where the first letter in a paragraph was +displayed in Old English font, it was assumed that represented a new +"section". + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Breeding minks in Louisiana for their +fur, by William Andre Elfer + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40157 *** |