jo THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



greatest value. Astrakhans have longer hair, the curl is more open 

 and usually has less lustre or gloss than the Persian. The Moiree 

 Astrakhan is a very soft light skin, having straight hair, but a very 

 satiny lustre. Broadtails are taken from lambs prematurely born. 

 Skins of this class are soft and pliable, as well as light in weight. 

 Their hair is shorter than in Persian skins and instead of being 

 tightly curled, exhibits a very attractive wavy pattern. Krimmer 

 is a gray fur produced mainly in the Crimean peninsula. 



"Between 1895 and 1913, prices have increased 180%. " 



Since the Agricultural Department made this report, prices 

 have again advanced, largely because of the shortage of supplies 

 owing to the War. 



"The sheep takes its name from Kara-Kul — the black lake — 

 a village in Bokhara. The elevation of the area is about 8000 feet. 

 The summers are very hot and dry. The best feed occurs from the 

 middle of March to the middle of May, then vegetation dries up. 

 The number of sheep in the territory is estimated at from three to 

 four millions, and the annual export of lamb skins runs at about 

 1,500,000. The skins are collected by traders and resold at the 

 annual summer fair at Nijni Novgorod in Russia, 272 miles by 

 rail East from Moscow. About 166 skins are packed in a bale; 

 and become the property largely of Germans from Leipzic. In 

 Leipzic, the skins are sorted for export and some dyed, though 

 usually the dyeing is not done until the skins reach the firms by 

 which they are made into wearing apparel. 



"The foundation of the present fur-bearing sheep was the 

 early native Arabi. The blood of the Arabi in combination with the 

 black Danadar produced the sheep kept at Karakul. With the 

 rapid rise of values, the size of the flocks increased. The Karakul 

 is a sheep of medium size, with black face and legs, and a long 

 coarse fleece of some shades of gray. The rams are horned and the 

 ewes polled. The body of the Karakul has not a close resemblance 

 to any breeds in America. It has the narrow back and flat sides 

 common to sheep not bred for meat. A very distinctive feature 



