100 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 
ever, that only personal ownership of the fur-bearers would ensure nearly 
100 per cent. of the pelts marketed being prime. 
The fur moth also causes immense losses. Modern refrigeration, 
however, has solved this problem by providing cold storage chambers 
for furs stored in the warm season. 
All seal and Persian lamb skins go through a process of 
ia dyeing. Seal skin, after the water hair is plucked, is of a 
drab colour, but expert English dyers make it a dark-brown- 
ish black. As German dye excels in fastness of colour and in leaving 
the skins supple after treatment, the Persian lamb skins are mostly 
dyed in Germany. The French are very skilful in ‘topping’ where 
the overhair is made to imitate sable. Latterly, the Germans have de- 
veloped a large trade in ‘pointed fox,’ which is an ordinary cheap fox 
dyed black, and afterwards ‘pointed’ by sewing in white haiis. The 
German dyed article is quite durable in colour; but it, again, is imi- 
tated by furriers in America, who colour with ordinary black dye and 
glue in badger hairs. In a few months the difference in the quality of 
the dye used is revealed. Good dyes—such as those developed in Eng- 
land for seals and in Germany for lambs—are likely to remain trade 
secrets. 
The dressing and dyeing of furs in Canada is nearly all perfo1med 
by one firm which handles about 2,000,000 skins annually. The work- 
men and expeits are largely German and other Europeans and have 
received thei tiaining in the old world. The dressing and dyeing of 
furs in America is steadily improving and the proportion shipped to 
Europe is decreasing. 
The natural colours must be of a certain quality to 
Eeeemes Natural be highly esteemed. Thus pure white ermine is cost- 
olours : : : : . 
lier than the gray or yellowish-white kinds. With 
white furs, it is the purest and, with black furs, it is the densest that 
are most desired. A brownish colour in a silver fox is very objection- 
able (although common in most districts), while a bluish cast is de- 
cidedly to be preferred. In fact, it is almost axiomatic that a bluish 
cast, instead of a rusty or brownish, is preferred. It is the brown cast 
of Hudson Bay marten that makes it inferior to the Russian sable, 
which often has a bluish-brown colour. The predominance on the mar- 
ket of brown or rusty coloured skins can be readily accounted for when 
it is remembered that most ‘springy’ skins are brownish, no matter how 
blue-black, or blue-brown, or blue-gray they were when prime. 
The modern art of dressing and dyeing furs is a great im- 
Dressing provement on pioneer methods, especially in dyeing and 
finishing. For giving suppleness and durability, the pri- 
