CHAPTER III 



THE FUTURE SUPPLY OF FUR 



Fur bearing animals will be with us forever if they are given half 

 a chance and the man and boy in the country is taught to realize that 

 the fur bearers are his friends and not his enemies. Every man who 

 traps furs or is in anyway interested in furs for profit should see that 

 the fur bearers in his neighborhood are protected and should encour- 

 age his neighbors to protect them, and he should preach the gospel 

 of saving and increasing this tremendous source of wealth. "The 

 commercial history of America begins with furs, and from the early 

 days down to the present this has been an important article in the 

 domestic and foreign trade. There are few commodities in common 

 use which distribute their benefits so widely. From the country 

 boy who traps a few muskrats to the professional who patrols miles 

 of country, the money received for pelts goes at once into various 

 channels of circulation." Today the great fur centers of the world 

 are in the United States. The amount of capital invested in the fur 

 trade is greater than ever before and many thousands of people in 

 the great cities derive their support from it in the different branches 

 of dressing, dyeing, manufacturing, selling, etc. The investment on 

 the part of dealers, manufacturers and retailers runs into hundreds of 

 millions of dollars. This gigantic industry and this tremendous 

 source of profit to the trapper and the man and boy in the country 

 would of course cease the minute the supply of furs was shut off; 

 and this industry would naturally decline in proportion as the supply 

 of fur declines, or increase as the quantity of furs increases. There- 

 fore it can be readily seen that the future supply of furs is a very 

 important factor and that it is something that well deserves the 

 attention of every boy and man in the country and that it is up to 

 them to conserve and increase the supply of fur bearing animals. 

 This can be comparatively easily done as has been proven in many 

 sections. The small fur bearer is very prolific and breeds rapidly. 

 There are millions of acres of ground in this country from New York 

 to California and from Canada to the Gulf where the small fur 

 bearers can roam at will and breed and multiply for generations to 

 come. There are vast areas not only in this country but also in 



