GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. 15 



to let the animal alone until its pelt has become prime. By exer- 

 cising a little seK-restraint and deferring for a few weeks the capture 

 of the animal the money return will be five to eight times as great. 

 Now that the shipment of unprime skins is prohibited, a still 

 greater improvement in the quahty of furs handled may be confi- 

 dently predicted. 



PERMITS TO TAKE FUR-BEARING ANIMALS FOR BREEDING OR OTHER 



PURPOSES. 



Within the last few years great interest in fur farming has de- 

 veloped in certain sections of America, particularly in Prince Edward 

 Island, New Brunswick, and other parts of Canada. Within the last 

 year or two the interest has spread to Alaska. The result has been 

 that the Bureau has received many requests for permits to capture 

 various fur-bearing animals, chiefly foxes, in Alaska and use them 

 there or elsewhere for breeding purposes. Several requests were also 

 received for permission to collect fur-bearing animals in Alaska for 

 museum purposes, for zoological parks, or for other purposes. Up 

 to November 30, 1912, 19 permits had been issued. 



SHIPMENT OF FURS FROM ALASKA. 



The method adopted in 1910 for the purpose of securing the Alaska 

 fur statistics has proved fairly satisfactory; it is probably as good 

 as can be devised unless the personnel of the fur-animal service 

 should be greatly increased. The method is as follows: On appro- 

 priate blanks provided by the Bureau for the purpose, any person 

 shipping furs by express or freight will make a report to the Bureau, 

 giving, for each shipment, (1) place and date of shipment, (2) name 

 and address of consignee, (3) number and value of pelts of each kind 

 shipped, and (4) signature of shipper. Any person shipping by mail 

 must fill out a similar blank giving the same data, which blank, after 

 having been signed by the shipper and certified by the postmaster, 

 will be mailed to the Bureau of Fisheries by the postmaster. 



The open season during which furs may be legally taken extends, 

 roughly, from October to June; for most of the species it extends from 

 November 15 to April 1. The furs taken in any particular open 

 season are nearly all shipped early in the spring following, and all 

 will be shipped before the following fall. Therefore, the shipments 

 made between November 15 of one year and November 16 of the 

 next wiU include practically all the pelts taken in the open season 

 between those dates. For this reason the Bureau has fixed upon 

 November 16 to November 15 following, both inclusive, as the fur 

 year, for statistical purposes. 



In the year ending November 15, 1912, fur shipments were made 

 from 120 different places in Alaska. Among the most important 

 ,6711°— 13 2 



