THE OTHER GREAT STAPLE FURS 147 



called cross because he is a cross-breed, but because his markings 

 of darker fur down his back and across his shoulders resemble a 

 cross. 



When the white colored fox changes his pelt to spring color, 

 he is called stone fox; but science recognizes no such distinction. 

 Nor does science recognize the distinction between the blue fox and 

 the Arctic. Yet on the fox farms of the Aleutians, the Arctic foxes 

 are slaughtered off to prevent their blood spoiling the strains of 

 blue fox for fur fox. All are known to science as color phases of the 

 Red Fox Family, variegated by climate and habitat. In the fur 

 trade, grades vary in each of the divisions, silver, cross, blue, Arctic, 

 red, white, kitt and gray. The little kitt fox is the gray fox of Vir- 

 ginia to Arizona. The kitt fox is the small fellow of Pennsylvania 

 and the Eastern States. The red ranges in value as to habitat from 

 the Rio Grande to Alaska, the best red coming from the North. 



As shown in the fur sales of 1920, prices follow these classifica- 

 tions. London fur brokers classified foxes as silver, cross, red, 

 white, blue, gray, kitt. Montreal and New York followed the 

 same classification; and the prices ran for silver fox up to $1200; 

 for cross from #89 to #200 ; for best red from #5 to #50 ; for best 

 white from #28 to $70 ; for blue from #200 to #300 ; and in the four 

 centres of the great sales, these prices were almost uniform. 



What constitutes good fox has been given in the section on fur 

 farming ; and how fox furs are used in imitation is given in the same 

 chapter. 



At time of writing fox is the most popular fur in the world. 



Bear and Wolf 



The same difference between the classifications of science and 

 the fur trade come in Wolf and Bear. 



Here, corresponding to foxes, you have the shaggy gray and 

 brown timber wolf at the head of the list. His fur is deeper than 

 fox but taken when he is young and in prime mid-winter coat, it 

 can be dyed for silver and cross fox ; and is more durable. Comes 



