FUR FARMING IN CANADA 99 
wholly on one side of the board and the ventral on the other side. All 
skins except fox are marketed fur side inwards, fox being turned fur out 
after one day’s drying, when the front legs are still pliable. Skins 
should be dried without artificial heat. A cool ,dry place away from 
the sun’s rays is best. Beaver skins are stretched within an elliptical 
hoop made of saplings. They are tied to the hoop with twine laced into 
the skin at intervals of two inches. Bear skins are usually laced simi- 
larly into a rectangular frame made from small sticks. Raccoon are 
nailed on a wall or board and stretched into a rectangular shape. The 
best nails are brass tacks or wire nails and they should be driven not 
more than two inches apart. 
Otter tails are always split and stretched by nailing to the stretch- 
ing board. 
Boards should be made of soft wood, like white pine, which 
See permits easy driving and withdrawal of nails. For smaller 
animals, the stretching board should be about three-eighths 
of an inch thick, and for the larger—otter and fox—about five-eighths or 
three-quarters of an inch. It should be nicely rounded on the edges. 
Wedges are sometimes inserted down the sides of the board with advan- 
tage. They permit the circulation of air on the inside. A steel wire 
has served well in stretching muskrat on many occasions. 
The best stretched skins are those that are extended very slightly in 
all directions. Mink and marten should be pulled slightly lengthwise 
and the lines of the sides should be only slightly converging. A stretch- 
ing board may be split and a wedge inserted between the two sides 
will adjust it to any size of skin. 
Valuable pelts are sewed up in muslin and expressed to 
Bckesing destination. When shipped by express care should be 
taken to have the agent mark the full value of the skins on 
the 1eceipt to ensure recovery of value if lost. When packing skins do 
not roll them; pack flat and then sew them up neatly in burlap. They 
should be wrapped in paper first. Label the package inside and out- 
side to make identification certain. Skins must be packed dry and 
must be kept dry. 
If all the pelts taken in Canada were prime and were properly 
stretched, dried and marketed, the increase in value would amount to 
millions. Nearly fifty per cent. of the pelts of some species are blue, 
or springy or with hair rubbed off or falling out. The competition be- 
tween trappers is producing more and more blue pelts, which cannot 
grade above No. 2. Conservation of fur would be achieved if it were 
illegal to kill except when the pelts are prime. It is probable, how- 
