56 GRADING. 



valuable, those from Georgia and Florida being worth only 

 about one-third the price asked for skins from the New 

 York and New England district. Raccoons are graded 

 as li Large," "Medium" and "Small," according to size; 

 and as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, according to quality 

 and color. A large No. 1 New York skin is worth from 

 three dollars and fifty cents upwards, the extra dark and 

 black skins bringing as high as seven dollars and fifty 

 cents. 



H. B. Sable "Dark" Eastern and Canada Martens are 

 worth from fifteen to eighteen dollars and upwards, some 

 bringing as high as ninety dollars ; the ' ' Brown ' ' skins are 

 worth about forty per cent, less, and the "Pale" skins 

 some fifty per cent less than the price asked for dark skins 

 of the same size and quality. 



Skunks are graded as "Black," "Short Stripe," "Nar- 

 rpw Stripe" and "Broad Stripe;" the relative values of 

 the different grades being four dollars, three dollars, one 

 dollar and sixty cents, and seventy-five cents. The best 

 skunks come from New York, Northern Ohio, Northern 

 Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, 

 Maine, Vermont and Canada ; but they are almost equalled 

 in quality by those from New Jersey, Central Pennsyl- 

 vania, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska and 

 Oklahoma. The skins from Indiana, Maryland, Virginia, 

 Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky and North Carolina 

 are less desirable; and those from the other southern 

 states are poorer still. 



Wild Cat skins are graded as "Large," "Medium" and 

 "Small," and the heaviest furred come from Canada and 

 Maine. Those from the Central States are of medium qual- 

 ity, and Southern and Southwestern skins are very poor. 

 Wild Cats, .quality for quality, are worth about one-third 

 the price of Lynx skins. 



