112 Department of Conservation of Louisiana 



of Louisiana skins (mink sold for $1.33 average in 1915) , 

 the numbers of mink must surely decrease. In those sec- 

 tions of the state where the muskrat does not occur, the 

 open and close seasons on mink should be scrupulously ob- 

 served. However, while the mink is, in itself, valuable as 

 a fur animal, it is an enemy of the muskrat, and on those 

 areas now being taken over for muskrat ranches the few 

 mink to be found should be systematically eradicated, mak- 

 ing way for the increase of the more valuable muskrat crop. 



To insure a prime skin, one that will command the high- 

 est market value, the mink should not be trapped in Louisi- 

 ana before December 1 nor after February 15. Mink in 

 captivity at the department's experimental fur farm at 

 Morgan City began shedding before the end of March, the 

 hair of the head around the nose first became darker, then 

 the back, and finally the rest of the pelage. By the first of 

 June summer pelage was attained. 



Minks are peculiarly adapted to "fur farming" in con- 

 finement and the prevailing price for good fur is sufficiently 

 high to make an investment for proper mink-raising en- 

 closures worth while. This, coupled with a growing de- 

 mand for mink fur and a corresponding decrease of tho 

 animals in the world, leads authorities on the subject to 

 recommend this phase of fur animal breeding. That returns 

 are to be earned in rearing breeding stock for sale seems 

 certain, but what can be earned from a "minkery" on a 

 purely pelting basis is something that la3 not yet been de- 

 termined. It is suggested that the field be experimented with 

 by those anxious to invest in fur farming on small acreages. 



Those interested in this phase of fur animal breeding 

 may obtain a great deal of practical knowledge by reading 

 "Mink Raising," leaflet No. 8, by Frank G. Ashbrook, biol- 

 ogist in charge of the division of fur resources of the 

 bureau of biological survey in the Uuited States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, which can be secured from the super- 

 intendent of documents, Washington, D. C. at 5 cents a 

 copy. It is probably the best information now obtainable 

 on the subject and contains a world of information and 

 knowledge on mink raising in a very few pages. 



