WHAT WOMEN FUR BUYERS SHOULD KNOW 33 



soil in rain and fog and raw sea weather. They do not fade. This 

 is one of the great faults of beaver, which is one of the toughest and 

 most durable of furs. It fades in strong sunlight and mats in damp. 

 It probably does so because the beaver originally lived in shade, 

 and the outer coarse fur which has been plucked protected the under 

 pelage in his aquatic life and habits. This also applies to the best 

 muskrats, whether sold as Hudson seal or imitation mink. 



In durability, then, as to fur proper, the unplucked fur is far 

 more durable than the plucked fur. This places unplucked otter 

 at the head of all furs as the most durable pelt. Plucked otter is 

 sold dyed for Alaska seal, or for beave r and nutria. It is usually 

 the rubbed belly of the animal, or a skin taken out of season and not 

 prime and so cannot be sold as unplucked otter. 



Next comes the durability of the furs with the long upper hairs. 

 From the beavers and the seals, they are plucked. On the musk- 

 rats and rabbits and otters, they are evened down ; but in the 

 foxes and the fishers and the skunks and the martens and the sables 

 and the mink, they are left as the chief beauty. It is the long upper 

 hair that gives to sables the almost purplish vapory sheen ; and to 

 mink, the appearance of almost a veil ; and to skunk and fisher 

 almost a velvet softness, and to fox its chief beauty. It is the long 

 hair of the fox frames the face in a soft aureole and takes out the 

 harsh lines. It is the long hair has the tip of silver in the fox. Fox 

 would not be fox without the long hair ; but with the two exceptions 

 of fisher and skunk, long-haired furs are not durable. The long hairs 

 scuff at the neck and show wear first. If it is an expensive fur like 

 sable, marten, silver fox, mink, the scuffed fur should yearly be 

 taken to the fur dealer to be redressed, just as a lover of jewels takes 

 her diamonds and pearls once a year to the jewellers to have them 

 cleaned. 



Just here let it be said that fisher is the only long-haired fur that 

 cannot be dyed into an imitation of something else. That is why 

 it has gone up in price from #10 and #15 a pelt to #148 and #345 as 

 they sold in Montreal and New York and St. Louis the other day at 



