288 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



were worth only $703,000 at prices then prevailing. 41 In the London 

 market the reported average annual sales of muskrat skins from 1763 

 to 1915 were as follows, the big slump in 1915 being the result of the 

 World War: 42 



Muskrat pelts brought from 10 to 12 cents each in 1875, IO to 50 

 cents in 1907, 80 to 85 cents in 1911, $1.25 in 1912, 12 cents to $5.10 

 in 1919, $5 to $7 in 1920, according to Laut, 13 cents to $4.55, accord- 

 ing to Lantz; 8 cents to $2.58 in 1921, 12 cents to $2.46 in 1922. 43 



In 1918, 399,938 muskrat skins, worth $599,907, were obtained 

 in the State of New York. 44 In 1924, 319,611 skins, worth $367,552, 

 were shipped from Alaska. 45 In the season 1926-1927 Texas produced 

 30,000 muskrat skins and Louisiana 3,ooo,ooo, 46 163,000 acres of waste 

 marsh land producing 350,000 in one season. 47 Kansas produced 

 238,174 muskrat skins, for which the dealers paid over $240,000, dur- 

 ing the three-month season of 1927-1 928. 48 The muskrat industry in 

 one Maryland county brings in $100,000 annually. 49 The Canadian 

 muskrat catch for 1923-1924 was valued at $2,985,395, and the beaver 

 catch at $2, 542,992. 50 



The drain upon the supply of muskrats has been seriously felt in 

 many localities. Notwithstanding the lure of increased prices, one Bos- 

 ton dealer reported a falling off of 50 per cent in the offerings for the 

 three seasons of 1918, 1919 and 1920, and in Wisconsin, with a 10 



41 Stevenson, Utilization of the skins of aquatic animals, Rept. U. S. Fish Conim. 

 for 1902, pp. 283-352. 



42 Lantz, The muskrat, Farmers' Bull. No. 396, pp. 24-26, 1910 ; The muskrat as a 

 fur bearer; with notes on its use as food, Farmers' Bull., No. 869, p. 12, 1917; re- 

 vised, 1923. Rept. Indiana Dept. Fish and Game for 1913-14, pp. 241-249. 



43 Laut, The fur trade of America, pp. 90-96, 1921. Lantz, Farmers' Bull., No. 

 869, 1923. Jones, Fur farming in Canada, pp. 89-90, 1913. 



44 Johnson, The muskrat: Its natural history and economics, Roosevelt Wild Life 

 Bull., in, 205-320, 1925. 



45 California Fish and Game, x, 82, 1924. 



48 Arthur, The fur animals of Louisiana, Louisiana Dept. Conserv. Bull. No. iS; 

 p. 220, 1927. Conservation News, March, 1924. California Fish and Game, XT, 141, 

 1925- 



47 Ashbrook, Fur farming for profit, p. 198, 1928. 



48 Dose, Kansas' enormous fur trade, Kansas Fish and Game Bull., p. 67, 1928. 



49 Lantz, Farmers' Bull., No. 869, p. 17, 1923. 



80 Seton, Lives of game animals, iv, Pt. 2, pp. 569-601, 1929. 



