INTRODUCTION. 



11 



brown and dark. That is a sign that the best far is gone. 

 Afterwards it grows light-colored, and in- winter when the 

 fur is in the best condition it is altogether white. When the 

 pelt is white it is called prime by the fur-dealers. The fur 

 is then glossy, thick, and of the richest color, and the tails of 

 such animals as the Mink, Marten, and Fisher are full and 

 heavy. Beavers and Muskrats are not thoroughly prime till 

 about the middle of winter. Other animals are prime about 

 the first of November. There is probably some variation 

 with the latitude, of the exact period at which furs become 

 prime, the more northern being a little in advance. Trappers 

 are liable to begin trapping too early in the season, conse- 

 quently much poor fur is caught, which must be sold at low 

 prices, and is unprofitable to the trapper, the fur-buyer and 

 the manufacturer. 



STATISTICS OF THE FUR-TRADE. 



The following estimates of the annual production of all 

 the fur countries in the world, were given in a volume on 

 the fur-trade, published in 1864, by Heinrich Lomer, one 

 of the principal fur-dealers of Leipzic. The total value is 

 somewhat less than we have given on a previous page and is 

 probably within the truth. 



YEARLY PRODUCTION OP FURS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. 



