Karakul Sheep Industry

Especially is this true with regard to the production of furs; it appears that the advancement of civilization increases the demand, while at the same time it decreases the number of wild animals which, since time out of mind. have furnished mankind with this indispensable commodity.

As wild fur-bearing animals have decreased in numbers and the scarcity and prices of furs consequently increased, many individuals have been led to undertake the rearing of fur-bearers in captivity, as, for example, the efforts to breed foxes in Canada and parts of the United States, and the wide-spread interest in skunk-raising. It is of significance that in one State alone the game warden, within a period of two years, issued more than fifty permits for breeding skunks in captivity.

Attention has been directed recently to the ancient industry of Karakul sheep-raising to aid in restoring the equilibrium between the increasing demand and decreasing supply of furs. The pelts of the young lambs of this breed of sheep, because of their special qualities of warmth and beauty, appeal to persons of both sexes, old and young, of all stations in life and of all nationalities. There is, perhaps, greater possibility of restoring to mankind a supply of furs from this source than from any other.

Recently, through the generous cooperation of Mr. L. M. Crawford, ranchman; Dr. H. J. Waters, then president, and President W. M. Jardine, then director of the Experiment Station of the Kansas State Agricultural College, the author traveled in Russia, Bokhara, and other parts of Turkestan largely for the purpose of studying Karakul and other sheep.

On my first expedition to the East to study the Karakul, my Bokhara interpreter, a man of education and influence …"