"I am very glad to hear that the beaver in Itasca 

 Park are doing so nicely. The house with which I am 

 connected purchased practically the entire lot of last 

 year's catch. They were excellent pelts, and the catch 

 showed that they were handled by people of experience. 

 It was advantageous to the state as well; it procured 

 quite a nice little revenue out of the sale and undoubt- 

 edly will do so again this year. The skins are sold at 

 auction to the highest bidder." 



In answer to President Lange's inquiry as to the 

 value of muskrats, Mr. Krahmer said: "The present 

 market value of muskrat skins is about $1.50 each, 

 whereas ten years ago they were worth not over 35c. 

 Naturally this increase is due to the demand and the 

 scarcity, and an important contributing factor has been 

 the lack of imported furs. Where formerly muskrats 

 could be caught by the hundreds of thousands, twenty- 

 five thousand would now be a maximum catch. Musk- 

 rat is to a large extent dyed and used for Hudson seal, 

 and to permit its use for this purpose the quality must 

 be of the best. With regard to other skins, beaver 

 ranges in price anywhere from $3.00 to $25.00 ; the 

 value has practically trebled in recent years. Otter is 

 so scarce in this part of the country, it is hard to state 

 a definite price, but the value of the pelt averages 

 $20.00 to $30.00. The one great problem of the fur in- 

 dustry is to maintain the raw material or live skins. 

 It would be advisable, if it could be so arranged by 

 law, to limit trapping to the months of January, Febru- 

 ary and March, as skins out of condition are really not 

 worth marketing. ' ' 



24 



