8 INTRODUCTION. 



mainly in accordance with its original practical design ; and it 

 might properly be dedicated to poor men who are looking out 

 for pleasant work and ways of making money ; and especially 

 to the pioneers of settlement and civilization in all parts of the 

 world. 



As honesty is always good policy, it is best also to confess 

 here that the author and editors of this work are exten- 

 sively engaged in the business of making steel-traps, and have 

 an eye to their own interests, as well as to the interests of 

 others, in this effort to help the business of trapping. 



And here perhaps is the place to say something of the 

 mutual relations of the several trades immediately concerned 

 in the subject of this book, and of their importance in the 

 machinery of universal business. 



CONNECTION OF TRAPPING WITH OTHER TRADES. 



Trapping, in the business series, is the intermediate link 

 between trap making and the fur-trade. The trapper buys 

 of the trap-maker and sells to the fur-dealer. The first 

 furnishes him with weapons, and the second buys his spoils. 

 Through the first, he is related to the manufacturers and 

 merchants of iron and steel, who furnish materials for his 

 traps, and to the hardware men who bring them to his door. 

 Through the second, he connects with the fur-manufacturer, 

 the hatter, and the clothes dealer, and sends supplies of com- 

 fort and luxury to the world of wealth and fashion. 



Trapping and trap-making are directly subservient to the 

 fur-trade. They may be said to be branches of it, or even to 

 be its foundations. The fur-business expands as they pros- 

 per, and, vice versa, they prosper as the fur-business expands. 

 The trapper and trap-maker watch the prices of furs, as the 

 sailor watches the winds and the currents. When furs are 

 high, trapping becomes active, and the trap-maker has his 

 hands full of business. When furs are low, trapping declines, 

 and the trap-maker has to dismiss his workmen. 



The importance of the subservient trades, trapping and 

 trap-making, can best be judged by looking at the statistics 

 of the great fur-market for which they work. The fur-trade, 



