104 THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



in 3 months. They do not emerge to the world for 8 weeks and 

 are full grown at 6 months. Hornaday describes the marten as 

 an imitation young red fox about as large as a heavy cat. Its length 

 is 24 inches, its tail 6 to 7 inches and its body dark brownish yellow 

 or fawn. The legs are darker than the body. It loves timbered 

 haunts and rocky burrows. It is not a chicken thief like the mink 

 but it is a still hunter of birds, eggs, reptiles, mice, rats, with a great 

 taste for berries, which improve the sheen of the fur. It is called 

 the "pine marten" because it loves the forests of evergreens. 



The pine marten is also known as the baum marten in Europe. 



The stone marten has a white throat and a tail so fine it is kept 

 to adorn mantles and capes. The stone marten is found all over 

 Europe. Its fur is almost a purple brown with the belly side white, 

 the throat pure white ; and its fur has no yellowish cast whatever. 

 The Canadian marten is a rich brown, almost black. Its under 

 fur below the pelage is almost drab. The long hairs are darker 

 than the thick even pelage. The throat is white. The tail tip 

 may be white but is not always so. The best martens in Canada 

 come from Labrador and the Rockies. Fur traders say they can 

 tell the Canadian marten by the shade of the long over hairs, the 

 white spots on the breast, the grayish ears, and the fact the fur is 

 coarser and harsher than the Russian. At a wild guess, the yearly 

 catch is about 90,000 in Canada, though these may all come on the 

 market at once, or be held off for a rise in price, or change in style. 

 The legs of Hudson Bay marten are tinged with white, of the Japan- 

 ese martens with black. 



Why should marten fur be so highly prized ?J[It is not durable 

 as otter, or rare as otter. Solely because of its sheer beauty and 

 wearing qualities. The over hairs are so long and so uniform, 

 they are deeper than the deepest fox over hairs. Their glisten 

 imparts almost the sheen of a beautiful veil. Then the dark brown 

 under pelage is soft as chinchilla and fine as down. Beneath that 

 again is a lighter under fur fine as down. Well-marked skins need 

 no dye. Only when matched in a cloak, must the stripes down the 



