IV. Preparing Skins for Manufacture 
AMMALS which have a short, fine, soft coat of fur through which 
grows hair, usually of greater length, variously called overfur, 
water-fur, guard-hair, are known as fur-bearers. To provide more warmth 
for the animal, the coat of fur and overhair is usually thicker and 
longer in the winter; hence, furs taken in winter, or when prime, are 
more valuable than those taken in warmer weather. 
When the skin is unprime, it has a bluish appearance on / 
Pelt of a the flesh side down the back and sides; when prime, it is 
Fur-Bearer se . ° 
of a whitish or creamy colour. An experienced furrier 
can by the appearance of the skin and of the overhair, determine the 
season at which it was taken. It is desirable to capture fur-bearers 
when prime, because the fur and overhair are fuller and heavier and 
will not fall out easily, as commonly occurs in ‘springy’ pelts. It is 
also desirable to take skins shortly after becoming prime, which is 
usually about the first of December, immediately after the first winter 
weather. When taken then, the pelt is better coloured and less worn. 
In a climate like that of Prince Edward Island, where winter sets in 
about Christmas the last week of the year is chosen for killing the 
fox. The pelts of the majority of animals become prime late in Novem- 
ber. 
The fur, or, as it is called in relation to the hair, the underfur, 
consists of soft, silky, downy, curly filaments. It is usually short and 
thick, and towards the skin it grows lighter in colour. It is barbed 
lengthwise and hence is capable of felting—a quality not possessed to so 
great a degree by wool or silk, which is best handled by spinning and 
weaving. Inaprime pelt the underfur is hardly discernible unless 
the overhair is blown apart. Then the light colour of the undeifur 
appears. If it were generally known that the undyed skin is whitish 
and that the underfur close to the skin is a light drab, or pale blue 
colour, it would not be so easy to sell dyed skins as natural.” 
The overhair is straight, smooth and, usually, comparatively rigid. 
It is scattered throughout the fur and, on the living animal, prevents 
the fur from felting. It serves as a protection against cold and storm 
as well as against injury. In the case of the fox, which lies out in 
the open, exposed to the coldest northern weather, the dense overhair, 
sometimes over six inches in length, protects the body, while the toes 
and face are protected by the immense tail, which covers them when 
the fox lies down. The beauty of a pelt is due largely to the overhair. 
It is the glossy black or the amphimaculated silver-black overhair that 
makes the silver fox one hundred times more valuable than his 1ed 
