ioo THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



The mink is from 10 to 15 inches long. He is solitary. He 

 is nocturnal. His hand is against all men, like Cain's, or rather 

 against all creatures smaller, or more helpless than himself; and I 

 never look in his murderous beady eyes without believing a bit 

 in the transmigration of souls ; for ultimately, he falls a victim to 

 the stealthy ferocity by which he lives ; and he looks to me like 

 an evil spirit put in a corporal form, in which he must pursue his 

 glut for blood to the blood-thirsty, but never-quenched, end. He 

 mates in March and the young are brought forth six weeks later 

 blind. The blindness lasts for five weeks and if the mother die 

 and the little mink be placed to suckle with a foster mother, they 

 will tear the milk ducts of a cat, and spit venom at a baby bottle, 

 or ink dropper extemporized into a feeder. At eight weeks, they are 

 weaned and go out on the quest of their own blood-thirsty trail. 

 A male may have as many as five wives in his harem ; and the 

 kittens number 4 to 9. 



The best mink pelts to-day come from Labrador, the North- 

 eastern States, the Maritime Provinces, Hudson Bay, Alaska and 

 the Rocky Mountains. 



Best mink is brown, rather than yellow, and the pelage is thicker 

 in colder countries and is one of the best wearing furs in the world. 

 In all the weasel family, the deep over hairs are the chief beauty 

 and give a lustre and gloss to the fur, which no dye can impart. 



To the mink's body measurement of 8 to 12 inches should be 

 added the tail of 6 to 8 inches. His tail is pretty but not the bushy 

 flag of honor that the sable and the fisher can boast. 



I have spoken of mink selling in the Rockies at 90 cents. In 

 1879, it sold in St. Louis at 40 cents. 



In fur trade classifications, there are 10 varieties of mink in 

 America ; but these classifications are chiefly as to habitat, which 

 determines the color and depth of the fur. 



The European, or marsh mink, is not valued as highly as the 

 American mink. Perfect mink fur is so dense, you can bury your 

 hand in it, so soft if you shut your eyes you might mistake it for 



