6 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



Supplying the Demand 



Confronted with this condition of a decreasing supply and 

 A Domestic ^11 increasing demand, the fur trade has done its utmost 



to bridge the gap by encouraging the use of furs of domestic 

 animals, by diverting a part of the demand to serviceable but less costly 

 furs and by preparing imitations of the more costly varieties. About 

 thirty years ago, Eussian furs came into vogue, when Persian lamb, broad - 

 tail and astrachans began to be used extensively. This development is of 

 great significance as the demand for the above-mentioned furs has in- 

 creased enormously in recent years and the supply to-day is greater than 

 ever, because they are produced by domestic animals, bred intelligently 

 under a husbandman's care. If the marten, mink, fox and otter had 

 been domesticated a score or more years ago, it is probable that the pro- 

 duction of their fur would have served already as a counterpoise to the 

 monopolies enjoyed by Eussia and Germany in the production and 

 dressing of astrachans and Persian lambs. 



When the perennially fashionable sable, ermine, chin- 

 Populanzing ehilla and silver fox did not supply the demand, the 



Persians, broadtail and seal became more costly. 

 Gradually, too, from its plebeian rank of coat lining at fifty cents a skin, 

 mink was adopted into the select family of valuable furs, closely pre- 

 ceded by marten and, latterly, followed by fisher and cross fox. To take 

 the place of mink as a coat lining, muskrat or musquash was chosen, 

 sharing this promotion with the less valuable marmot and hamster of 

 Europe. To supply the demand for a medium-priced black fur of beauty, 

 a common animal, the skunk, has been chosen. The black domestic cat, 

 known to the trade as ' genet ', is also utilized to meet the demand for 

 black furs, while northern hares are extensively manufactured into 



* Baltic fox ' or ' white fox ' or ' black lynx.' 



When the fur dressers and dyers produced a clipped and 

 Renaming dyed muskrat skin that resembled sealskin almost perfectly, 



it was found that it would not sell under its real name be- 

 cause it was a common fur, used largely by the poorer classes. Con- 

 sequently a name was invented for it and this popular and high-priced 

 fur is now sold as ' Hudson Bay seal '. The fur of the coney, a very 

 cheap and common animal in France, is the raw product in producing 



* electric sealskin ', ' clipped seal ' and * Baltic seal '. Eaccoon, when 

 first introduced, was cheap and was in little demand, but when given 

 the name ' Alaska bear ' and ' silver bear ' it immediately came into 

 favour. Skunk, which is an excellent fur of a dark hue, though beauti- 



