FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 107 
imports of undressed fur skins as 82,327,101 rabbit skins, value $3,675,- 
483; 333,033 seal skins, value $1,491,573; and 18,515,682 other skins, 
value $15,390,209. In 1909, when the total number of undressed rab- 
bit skins imported was 66,135,374, valued at $2,548,537, the countries 
supplying the larger quantities were: Germany, 39,462; Belgium, 11,- 
255,772; France, 3,845,158; Australia, 43,442,559; New Zealand, 7,379, 
960. Of the undressed seal skins imported in that year the United States 
furnished 24,556, Russia, 27,980; Norway, 60,694; Japan (including 
Formosa), 11,398; Cape of Good Hope, 15,061; Newfoundland and 
Labrador, 126,796; the total imports amounting to 288,055 skins, valued 
at $1,328,219. Undressed unclassified skins aggregated 17,960,661, and 
had an import value of $11,285,180; of these the United States supplied 
6,426,851; Russia, 750,868; Germany, 3,370,525; China (exclusive of 
Hong Kong, Macao, and Wei-hai-wei), 507,637; Japan (including For- 
mosa), 85,692; Chili, 46,558; France, 47,754; Austraila, 5,499,814 and 
Canada, 987,321. Dressed rabbit skins numbering 537,051 and valued 
at $80,098; 18,608 dressed seal skins, value $490,339; and 4,856,818 
dressed skins, not classified in the customs returns but having a value 
of $4,318,688, were also imported into the United Kingdom during 
1909, as well as manufactures of skins and furs (including skin rugs) 
worth $5,005,122, thus giving a grand total for the 1909 imports of 
dressed and undressed furs and manufactures of furs and skins of 
UMC eee Cae Cee gpk a Se Oe ent mee taD 
“Of late years some big firms, notably one French house, 
with branches in London and the United States, and sev- 
eral American houses located in Philadelphia and else- 
where, have been dealing direct with the trappers, thus avoiding the 
London auction sales altogether. The French firm is a determined com- 
petitor of the great Hudson’s Bay Co. in its own territory, and with 
ships and frontier stores is making a serious effort to obtain a portion of 
the Canadian fur trade. This firm does a wholesale and retail busi- 
ness, but offers no skins at auction. The Hudson’s Bay Co. sells all 
its furs at public auction in London through the firm of C. M. Lamp- 
son & Co. The extensive buying of the American dealers in Siberia 
threatens to entirely nullify the importance of the Russian-Siberian 
fairs as fur marts. 
French 
Competition 
“England maintains its position as the skin dyeing and dressing 
centre of the world, despite many attempts that have been made to 
wrest away this supremacy. The French, especially, were determined 
competitois and at one time had secured a fait share of the business. 
One of the leading dyers of Great Britain told me that five years ago 
the French business amounted to about 25 per cent. of the whole, and 
