356 ANNUM. REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



l)eople in New York Citj' en<Tagecl in the various branches of the fur 

 industry and that the capital invested there amounts to about $200,- 

 OOO.OOO, Durino- a period of 12 days in February, 1920, one firm in 

 St. Louis sokl i)eltries vahieil at $27,000,000. A few days hiter a New 

 York firm sold furs havini? only slip^htly less value, while in May the 

 St. Louis firm listed furs for sale valued at $30,000,000. 



A survey of conditions throuf^hout the country indicates that the 

 supph' of wild fur-bearin<y animals has decreased very materially 

 during the last decade. This is doubtless due to the large number 

 of people who, during a portion of the year at least, engage in trap- 

 ping fur bearers, as a means of increasing their incomes. The exceed- 

 ingly high prices which have prevailed for furs during the last few 

 years have stimulated trapping activities to a remarkable degree, re- 

 sulting in a serious depletion of the supply of wild fur-bearing ani- 

 mals in many sections of the country. The fur industry from trap- 

 per to manufacturer has developed to a point where it is worthy of 

 the most careful consideration and the employment of all practicable 

 measures to maintain the supply on a basis which will meet the re- 

 quirements of the future and lay the foundation for the permanency 

 and growth of the industry. Trappers, raw fur dealers, manufac- 

 turers, and Federal and State officials concerned with wild-life con- 

 servation work should unite in working out and establishing policies 

 directed toward this end. This affects in a very material way present 

 and future financial interests, besides providing fur garments to meet 

 the demands of the constantly increasing number of persons who use 

 them for physical comfort and for the satisfaction and enjoyment 

 coming from wearing the more luxurious articles of apparel. While 

 prices declined considerably at spring sales, it appears probable that 

 owing to the world-wide decrease in the natural supplj^, prices will 

 continue in future at a high level. 



With a view to fostering and guiding the production of fur- 

 bearing animals under conditions of domestication, the bureau has 

 initiated and conducted experimental and practical studies of silver, 

 black, blue, cross, and red foxes, fishers, martens, minks, skunks, and 

 raccoons, and of animals which may be reared under semicontrolled 

 conditions, including beavers and muskrats. These investigations 

 have been conducted in part at the Experimental Fur Farm, near 

 Keeseville, N. Y., on the ranches of successful fur breeders, and on 

 marshes and streams under patrolled and natural conditions. 



Carefully outlined studies are in progress of diseases that affect 

 fur-bearing animals, both those of bacterial and those of parasitic 

 origin. The specific causes and also the course and symptoms of such 

 diseases are being investigated, and studies are being made of means 

 of prevention and methods of treatment, practical ways of disin- 

 fecting pens, dens, and houses, and means by which they may be 

 maintained in a sanitary and healthful state. Studies were con- 

 tinued of feeds and feeding practices Avith a view to economy of 

 production and maintenance of health and vigor in the animals, 

 and of soil, climatic, housing, and other conditions favorable to the 

 production of furs having the highest marketable qualities. Studies 

 are also in progress of fur quality and grade and the characteristics 

 upon which these are based, including means of identifying accurately 

 the kinds of fur that are now placed on the market under a great 

 varietv of trade names. The latter feature is of much importance 



