PROFIT FROM THE MUSKRAT 83 



valued, and should be preserved and cultivated 

 under properly restrictive conditions. Com- 

 pared with most other furs of small size, musk- 

 rat furs are of excellent quality and durability ; 

 their cheapness is chiefly the result of their 

 abundance. Properly dyed and made up, they 

 are difficult to distinguish from sealskin, but 

 their wearing qualities are greatly inferior. 

 The modern dresser and dyer have found means 

 of imitating nearly all the more costly furs with 

 that of this animal, and have thus created a 

 continuous demand for the pelts. 



Notwithstanding that during the past 150 

 years nearly 250 millions of muskrats have 

 been trapped, vast numbers of these pelts reach 

 market annually. The sales at the great Lon- 

 don auctions (which determine prices for the 

 world) for 1909 were 3,771,000, at higher prices 

 than at any time previously. Many fur-buying 

 establishments advertise most alluringly, in 

 order to induce consignments from local deal- 

 ers, or from individual trappers ; but in many 

 cases they grade the furs so low that the re- 

 turns are far below expectation. It is prob- 

 ably better policy, as a rule, for the amateur 



