ye
Demorralic, Wald,
msm sem e——— PA
Bellefonte, Pa., May 1, 1925.
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RAISING SILVER FOXES.
Arthur Schliecher finds fox-raising
the most interesting job in the world.
For him it holds as potent a charm as
inventing does for Edison.
Fourtéen years ago he was as un-
decided as to what he wanted to do in
life as are most boys of seventeen.
But about that time fate, in the form.
of a pair of red foxes, stepped in. He
had always loved animals. So having
caught the foxes, he took them home,
built a cage, and spent hours each day
caring for them, watching and study-
ing their habits.
The next spring four pups came to
his pets and his interest was fanned
to a flame. Would those pups live and
thrive of he kept the little fox family
in captivity? They did; and while it
may have been due more to the in-
stinctive care given them by the par-
ent foxes than to anything the boy
could then do for them, still out of
that incident grew his great desire to
raise foxes.
Fox pelts: were worth good money.
‘That he knew from the trappers who
ranged the great bluffs that surround-
ed his native village, Millville, Minne-
sota. That being the case, despite the
ridicule of the neighbors and the dis-
approval of his parents, he procured
several pairs of cross foxes. For
three ‘years he worked and studied
their idiosyncrasies, their wants and
needs. No amount of trouble or loss
deterred him from continuing his ef-
forts to find the methods that would
bring success.
Even his parents were beginning to
think him temporarily insane. “Play-
ing with those old cats, and wasting
all your time,” was his mother’s tear-
fully reproachful way of expressing
her opinion of his venture.
He will smilingly say in speaking of
his werk and the urge that kept him
going during those difficult years,
“My fox pups died; my grown foxes
died; but always I felt that some day
I should find the way to prevent such
losses.”
And he did. Furthermore, he has
worked those lessons into a system of
housing -and handling, and a feed
chart giving the daily menu through
a whole year, so that every would-be
fox farmer who is possessed of “horse
sense” and industry can succeed with-
out learning of that most expensive
teacher, Experience. :
When he had learned these lessons,
he felt that he was capable of raising
the best animals that could be obtain-
ed, and dreamed of raising beautiful
silver foxes. He knew that the silver
black fox pelts are among the few
furs that cannot be successfully imi-
tated, and consequently always bring
the top market price, so he determin-
ed to raise that kind of foxes. He
then burned all his bridges by dispos-
ing of his inheritance of a small but
well-established lumber and hardware
business, and invested in two pairs
from Prince Edward Island, Canada,
paying three thousand dollars per
pair. This done he plunged into the
business with renewed zest and with
increasing success, both in handling
the animals and financially.
At the end of four years he had one
hundred and seventy-five of as fine,
healthy silver foxes as could be found
in the United States or Canada, and
his ranch had become known as the
largest of its kind in the West. His
ambitions had now outgrown’ the pos-
sibilities of the Millville site, and he
desired to secure a larger farm in-a
less secluded region; but he alone;
had not, as yet, the necessary capital
to. obtain and equip the sort of place
he visioned. Therefore, he determined
to try to interest financially:able men
in such an investment. :
But again the old adage—a prophet
is not without honor save in his own
country—was exemplified. - Of those
acquaintances approached not one be-
lieved in him or the great future of
this unusual branch of animal hus-
bandry, in spite of the progress he
had made during his eight years of
solitary work.
Finally, however, he explained his
plans and presented his records te
John Schmauss, of Lake City. From,
him came the first encouragement
that had been vouchsafed, and it was
through his influence that others were
eventually interested in the project,
and the Rest Island Silver Fox Com-
pany formed, with Mr. Schliecher as
its secretary and manager.
/The present farm is, as its name in-
dicates, an island. ' It is located in the
Mississippi where that river widens to
form Lake Pepin, and its two hundred
well-drained, wooded acres form an
ideal site for raising these beautiful
little animals. Grouped among the
trees are one hundred and ninety ken-
nels, each in a pen, which is in reality
a huge wire box, forty feet by twelve
feet by six feet in size. This box-like
construction prevents the foxes from
either digging or climbing out. Sur-
rounding these pens and the ranch
outbuildings is a guard fence of two-
inch mesh wire six feet to nine feet in
height and buried a foot or more in
the ground.
As it cost but a trifle over two cents
a day to feed a fox his daily ration of
meat or fish, supplemented by milk
and various cereals made into mush,
the feed bill for the one thousand that
were raised during the 1922 season
did not amount to as large a sum as
the uninitiated would expect. And in
October one shipment of thirty-six
pairs brought $42,000! Many other
pairs were sold later, as well as the
pelts from the less perfect animals.
The prices for single pairs range from
$1,200 to $1,500, and pelts bring from
$200 to $800 each.
Practically all of the breeders are
sild in the United States; but the pelts
are disposed of in foreign markets.
Thus has come the fulfillment of
Arthur Schliecher’s dream of building
the largest silver black fox farm in
the United tes, and one of the larg-
est in the warld.
Se marry early, us-
ually at the of 16. When a girl
is unmarried at the age of 23 she au-
tomatically becgmes an “old maid” to
her friends. J
FARM NOTES.
—The systematic use of a disinfect-
ant sprayed in all buildings and on
poultry paraphernalia is the best and
cheapest health insurance policy. It
is the strongest bulwark against dis-
ease and vermin.
—Geese are a very economical
source of meat. They are grazing
creatures, capable of sustaining them-
selves on pasture land. They require
virtually no grain, except for fatten-
ing, and the minimum of care and
using are needed. Goslings are
easy to raise. :
—Yellow, brownish stains that form
on mica peepholes to brooder and in-
cubator lamps, and which obstruct a
clear view of the lamp flame, can be
removed by a strong solution of wash-
ing soda or vinegar. Alcohol is also
useful in removing these stains. Use
a soft rag and but little pressure.
—Well-boiled rice mixed with a lit-
tle charcoal or the water from boiled
rice will often check bowel troubles in
little chicks. Another remedy is to
dissolve fifteen grains of catechu in
each gallon of drinking water. Re-
duce the animal protein of the diet,
such as beef scrap,
milk.
—Chickens and most fowls can no
more masticate their food without
sharp grit than we humans can chew
our food without teeth. Grit must
have angular edges to it to make it
sharp, to give it grinding power.
Smooth, round pebbles are virtually
worthless. Prepared poultry grit,
which comes in various sizes, is on
sale at most seed firms and farmers’
supply houses and costs about eighty
cents the hundred pound sack.
—>Sand, fine gravel or dry soil to
the depth of a quarter of an inch, cov-
ered with half an inch of cut clover,
alfaifa or wheat chaff saved from
threshing or sweepings from the hay-
loft, make an ideal covering or bed-
ding for brooder coop floors.
The sand and litter act as an ab-
sorbent, furnish grit, encourage exer-
cise, help to keep the floor warm and
dry, act as a dust bath, allay odors,
and the clover or alfalfa or’sweepings
also furnish the chicks with tid-bits.
—Scaly legs is an irritated condi-
tion of the shanks and toes, which is
caused by a parasite that lives under
the scales of these parts.
is not serious, except that it is un-
sightly and very discomforting and
quite likely to be spread throughout
the flock. No careful poultryman will
tolerate this condition.
Apply vaseline containing 2 per
cent. of creolin to the affected parts.
An ointment containing a little car-
bolic acid or sulphur will do the trick
also. Endeavor to remove the scaly
deposits by soaking the shanks in
warm, soapy water, but do not: pick
them so as to start bleeding.
—The best poultry feeds available
will fail to produce eggs or flesh un-
less they are accompanied by a liberal
supply of clean drinking water. Wa-
ter softens the feed and makes it
ready for digestion. Water acts as a
carrier and distributes the nourishing
parts of the feed where it is most
needed by the body tissues.
Water carries off the waste from
the body. Water equalizes the tem-
perature of the fowls body. Water
enters largely into the composition of
the egg, the egg being about 75 per
cent. water. Practically speaking,
water is just as valuable as grain, be-
cause the latter will fail of its pur-
pose without water.
—Bulky feeds, such as bran, alfal-
fa and ground oats are -as essential
part of the chicken’s diet at all ages;
they promote crop development, sup-
ply mineral elements and assist in the
digestion of the more concentrated
feeds; but the content of fiber or in-
digestible portion of the bulky feeds
should be kept as near 5 per cent. of
the ration as possible. In short, do
not overfeed dry, bulky feeds any
more than you would underfeed them.
One extreme is as harmful as another.
All things considered, millet seed is
of little importance as a poultry feed.
Because it is hard, round and slippery
it is found to be indigestible for young
chicks. For grown stock the nutrients
which the millet contains can be more
A small quantity of millet seed may
not prove harmful and it is usually in-
cluded in the ready-mixed chick feeds
to add variety; but fed exclusively or
in large quantities it is almost certain
to start trouble. It has a way of es-
caping the grinding action of the giz-
zard, because it is so hard and slip-
pery; thus it evades digestion.
to twenty eggs before becoming
hroody. If one wishes to obtain a sec-
nd clutch of eggs, it is not difficult to
break the hen of broodiness, whereup-
on she will soon start laying again.
The first lot of eggs can be hatched
under chicken hens.
—Gapeworms are likely to bother
young chickens at this season of the
year. The birds are most susceptible
from ten days to six weeks old, be-
cause at this age they are not large
enough or strong enough to dislodge
the worms from their throats, as in
the case with the grown stock.
The worm which causes gapes is in
reality two worms—male and female
—which are so firmly grown together
that they cannot be separated without
tearing the tissues. The female worm
is the principal member; it is about
one-half inch long, while the male is
little more than one-fifth of an inch.
The heads of both are attached to the
mucous lining of the windpipe or tra-
chea, which causes such an irritation
that undue secretions collect and make
breathing difficult.
Sometimes so many worms collect
in the trachea and grow to such size,
for their eggs develop while they are
in this state, that breathing becomes
impossible, and the host—the afflicted
chick—dies from suffocation.
Chicks affected with gape-worms
will be seen to cough and sneeze with
labored effort in a vain attempt to dis-
lodge the pests. Soon they commence
to gape, extending the neck and open-
ing the beak, indicating they are hav-
ing great trouble in breathing. Later,
as they become weakened by their
struggles against the parasites, their
appetites fail and they grow dull and
listless; their wings droop and the
birds stand with half-closed eyes and
and substitute
| have their origin in the soil.
The trouble ‘the annals of racing, will be the min-
imum qualifying mark required of all
.the cars entering for the great cham-
‘pionship classic at the Altoona speed-
economically supplied in other grains. |
heads drawn back into the body feath-
ers. In this condition they are apt to
die from suffocation or to be trampled
by their fellows.
In dealing with this complaint the
poultry keeper should learn to rely
more upon preventive than a cure, be-
cause very young chicks are very diffi-
cult to treat individually; therefore,
the operation is expensive.
Good results have been obtained by
extracting the worms with a feather,
twisted horsehair or one of the pat-
ented wire extractors. These devices
are forced down the victim’s throat,
either dry or moistened with turpen-
tine, then twisted about vigorously in
an effort to dislodge the worms and
removed. Be careful not to take too
much time to the operation and per-
haps strangle the chick.
Good results have been reported
from medicating the drinking water
or by injecting three to ten drops of a
5 per cent. solution of salicylate of so-
da. The best method of prevention is
to put the chicks on fresh ground that
is known to be perfectly sanitary, and
if any trouble is experienced, to treat
the yards and premises with a strong
disinfectant, the same as for other
kinds of worms or parasites. ;
It should be understood that worms
Clay
soils and those which are inclined to
be wet for long periods are most like-
ly to be infested. Be careful to drain
off any stagnant water and to fill in
any marshy places. Sunlight is a po-
tent enemy of the worm and other
such parasites. Expose the soil to the
sun by spading or plowing at regular
intervals.
If colds or roup appear in the flock,
disinfect the drinking water at once to
prevent the spread of the trouble,
which is likely to be communicated by
the water. 'L'o each gallon of water
add the amount of potassium permag-
anate that will remain on the surface
of a dime. These crystals will color
. the water a deep purple. It is a wide-
ly used antiseptic and can be purchas-
ed at any drug store. Roupy birds or
seriously sick birds should be isolated.
TWO MILES A MINUTE
TO QUALIFY.
One hundred and twenty miles an
hour! Two miles a minute! This
phenomenal speed, without parallel in
way of June 13. : 2
The new qualifying speed, just an-
nounced by the officials, exceeds by
ten miles the fastest gait ever requir-
ed on any of the fast board tracks of
the world, and is forty miles faster
than that required of the same cars
and drivers at the famous Indianapo-
lis course.
The continued streak of record
breaking speeds established by the
speed kings of the world since Ernie
Ansterberg, since killed at the Chaxr-
lotte bowl, roared around the oval at
Altoona last Labor day close to 130
miles an hour has caused the new min-
imum because the track at Altoona |.
has repeatedly re-established
as the fastest track
world. :
The central ticket office of the
itself
speedway at East Altoona has report- |-
‘ed the advance demand for seats as
even surpassing that of last year,
when record crowds of 80,000 attend-
ed each of the two big events. Re-
quests for reservations are being re-
ceived from all over the country as
the new supercharger equipped cars
.are expected to create new racing
history.
ef lpr erereseees cee
Onion Sets Scarce—Planting Seed.
Owing to the shortage of onion sets
many farmers and gardeners are ||
planting onion seed. If the seed is
strewn thickly in the beds small on-
ions will develop by the end of the
growing season. They are then. dug
up and spread out in a dry place.
These will be next year’s onion sets.
Those who do this will not be caught
short handed or have to pay the high
price asked this year. Years ago it
was the accustomed rule to grow onion
sets instead of buying them.
If one wishes mature onions, seed
can be sown now, being careful to
plant thinly, the same distance: in
‘spacing as onion sets are planted. It:
is almost too late to plant seed" for
onion sprouts,. although a late crop
might be produced. : + . ;
Reports from seed houses say that
| 'the crop of small onions was unusual-
A ‘turkey hen will lay from fifte on 1y large last year but at harvest time
the weather was unfavorable, spoiling
their keeping qualities. While many
of them looked nice they soon turn-
ed soft and spoiled.
Sixty Prisoners Win Certificates.
Sixty of the 140 prisoners at the
Rockview penitentiary who enrolled
for night class studies last fall with
the engineering extension department
of The Pennsylvania State College,
completed their courses and received
certificates from the college depart-
ment at special exercises in the peni-
tentiary assembly rvom a few days
ago. There was an interesting pro-
gram of talks, and music by a jazz
orchestra composed of negro prison-
ers, to the enjoyment of the 500 in-
mates who attended the exercises.
Certificates were presented by Prof.
C. G. Gaum, who congratulated and
shook each man’s hand as he handed
out the treasured certificates that will
help the prisoners in after-life. Pen-
itentiary officials declared that they
would give opportunity for continu-
ing the courses next fall for the third
consecutive year.
Keep It Pp.
The Clean Up and Paint Up cam-
paign not only puts the community in
good sanitary condition, but makes it
possible to keep it clean. Unless the
work of Cleaning Up and Painting Up
is kept up by systematic efforts the
year around, little permanent good is
accomplished. It is important that
the initial intensive work be general
and thorough. Then the follow-up
work can be carried on effectively, and
the danger of unsanitary conditions
returning is removed.
MELLOWING AGE.
We get the sweetest comfort
When we wear the oldest shoe.
We love the old friend better
Than we'll ever love the new.
The old songs are more appealing
To the wearied heart—and so
We find the sweetest music
In the tunes of long ago.
For there's a kind of mellow sweetness
+ In a good thing growing old—
Each year that rolls around it
Leaves an added touch of gold.
meee eerste.
Mines Closing Down all Through
Region.
Closing down of mines in the Cen-
tral Pennsylvania bituminous field
within the past few weeks has thrown
more than 12,000 men out of employ-
ment. Inability to market the coal
except at a loss is the reason given by
the operators for closing down.
Officials of the Buffalo and Susque-
hanna ‘Coal and Coke company noti-
fied its 1200 employees at the Saga-
more mine in Armstrong county, that
it would close down.
Other operations closed down since
April 1 are the following, involving
upwards of 12,000 men, who have been
working from two to five days a we:k
in the past: Stineman company at
South Fork; Shoemaker company, at
Lilly; Bougher, Cartright company, at
Beaverdale; Taylor-McCoy company,
at Gallitzin; Duncan-Spangler compa-
ny, at Barnesboro; Emipre company,
at Barnesboro; Sterling company, at
Hastings; H. W. Swope, at Madera,
and all of the Allegheny River coal
company’s operations from Brookville
to Kittanning, employing about 2,000
men.
TONIGHT -
Tomorrow Alright
NR Tablets stop sick
headac
relieve bilious attacks, tone an
regulate the eliminative organs,
make you feel fine.
% Better Than Pills For Liver lis”
C.M.: PARRISH
BELLEFONTE, PA.
Ain the entiged.
It’s lots of fun to get a meal
When Doggie’s hunger makes
§ appeal.
—Young Mother Hubbard
Satisfy your hunger with
the proper foods. Buy
meats that have the right
nutritive values. Buy choice
foodstuffs that have been
properly priced by us, and
delivered as you order.
Beezer’s Meat Market
““' ON THE DIAMOND
wu-3e1y °° ‘Bellefonte, Pa.
Caldwell & Son
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Founded Almost Three-quarters of a Century
Ago, this Bank Needs no Introduction
W- are known, we hope, not only for
exceptional financial strength, but for
other essential banking qualities.
A connection with us places one in line for
all the various services that a well organ-
ized Bank can offer.
First National Bank
Bellefonte, Pa.
nyone who wants to win---should set
his goal, and then exert every
effort toward the achievement
of his purpose. Ar account with the
First National Bank will help you take
good aim.
. 3 per cent Interest Paid on Savings Accounts
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK
STATE COLLEGE, PA.
y.
MEMBER FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
ERT yr—
Thru a lifetime of toil and service every man
moulds for himself a reputation for good or for
bad.
FAUBLE’S CLOTHES have earned an envi-
They can be depended upon for Quality,
So it is with everything.
able reputation.
Style and Satisfactory Service. The assortment is the
largest we have ever shown—the price the lowest in years,
All-Wool Suits, with 2 pairs pants, as low as
$25.00. Better ones from $30.00 to $40.00.
Come---a Syrprise Awaits You
A. Fauble
t=-Our Store will be OPEN Thursday ( All Day) until
June 4th. Thursday Half-Holiday will be Observed thru
June, July, August, and September ONLY