no THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



off. Yet Otter prices have moved up to #100 plus. In the South, 

 the Otter has already been exterminated. In the North, I doubt 

 if he will ever be ; for he is a lover of solitary places and has instinct, 

 cunning and dexterity to match against the man hunter. 



It has always been a matter of amazement to me that the Amer- 

 ican markets have not had greater demand for Otter. The reasons 

 for this are many. The fur is a heavier pelage than the American 

 climate requires ; and while it is exquisitely beautiful, it is not 

 a showy fur. The best Otter on the American market is seen in 

 men's overcoat collars. Much of the Otter fur done up as women's 

 coats is the plucked Otter siding or rubbed belly fur, which has been 

 discarded and dyed to imitate beaver or seal. The true Otter is 

 undyed, a deep glostering, shiny brown, almost black in the best 

 pelts, with rough over hairs, which are often but ought never to be 

 cut down, and a fur proper thicker than any other fur on the market. 

 Indeed, the fur below the long hairs is almost impenetrable. Be- 

 neath this is another downy fur, which is dyed to imitate seal and 

 beaver. 



Undyed Otter has long over hairs a shade darker than the next 

 layer of thick fur. That is — if the under fur is brown, the long 

 hairs will be a darker brown. If the under fur is almost black the 

 over hair will be black with a brown tinge ; and below these layers 

 is another fur, which is used for imitations. To me, there is no 

 equal to it in the world for combined utility and beauty and dura- 

 bility in all weather, wet or dry, sunny or cloudy, raw or penetrating 

 frost. In weight, it is heavy to carry. It is also expensive, too 

 expensive for a climate where you wear a fur coat for only two 

 months of the year; but in Canada and Russia, Otter can be worn 

 as a coat by day for five months of the year and as an evening wrap 

 for a lifetime. It does not cost as much as mink, marten, sable, 

 chinchilla, mole ; but it ranks up next to these expensive furs. 

 I may say in all the fourteen or fifteen years I have lived in the 

 United States, I have never seen an Otter coat which had not some- 

 thing which a Canadian or Russian would reject. Either it was 



