174 THE SHEEP AND WOOL INDUSTRY 



ing the fur apart at the exact place where the dark spot is on 

 the pelt, and the difference in the length of the fur will be seen 

 at once. The dark spots on the pelt do not have any effect 

 on the hairy fibres which grow over the fur. All rabbit-skins 

 are sorted by the marks on the pelt, because each different class 

 of skin has marks there that denote the quantity of fur it 



RALJBIT-SKINS. 



[Photo by Author. 



1. First incoming skin, showing a little dark on sides of pelt. 



2. Second incoming skin, showing heavier and deeper dark on side of pelt. 



3. Milky doe, showing yellow and dried milk veins on belly of skin. 



possesses. First summer skins have an all-white pelt, and an 

 inexperienced person might mistake them for a first winter. 

 They can, however, easily be detected from the first winters 

 by the shortness of the hair and fur ; the pelt is also a rather dirty 

 white, the pelt of the first winters being cleaner-looking. Second 

 summer skins have a dark image on the back of the pelt which 

 resembles a rabbit sitting up. (See illustration.) 



