ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 19 
end of April for probably two weeks, which is 
all the time required for the catch of the 
spring muskrat. 
At the present time there should be an ab- 
solutely closed season on beaver, otter and 
mink for at least three years in our Northern 
sections, because these animals have almost 
completely disappeared in the Northern part 
of the country. Mink seem to be very plenti- 
ful in the South and such legislation there 
seems unnecessary. 
Raccoons and muskrats are also disappear- 
ing very fast in the Northern States and the 
least that should be done for them should be 
a much shorter time of hunting. 
Trusting that this information will be of 
some help to you, I remain, with kind regards, 
Very truly yours, 
Ganss Fur Co., Inc. 
(Signed) H. Ganss. 
NerepD FOR CONSERVATION, AND THE ELIMINATION 
or WastTE 
A letter from C. G. Gunther's Sons, specialists 
in high-grade fur garments, dated New 
York City, February 24, 1921. 
In replying to your favor of the 16th inst., 
would say that high prices such as have pre- 
vailed of late would cause the extermination 
of many species of American fur-bearing ani- 
mals in less than ten years. 
The great slump in markets, not alone in 
furs, has forced unemployment all over the 
United States. Immigration is also an im- 
portant factor. This season has proven that 
the average man was not fitted to catch raw 
furs. The price lists sent forth by United 
States dealers were low in comparison with 
other years purposely to discourage the catch, 
which had a marked effect, hence this year’s 
supply was very small. The farmer and the 
schoolboys did not think it worth while to 
waste their time. These are true facts that 
we hear direct from many trappers in our own 
state. The future of our fur-bearing animals 
depends entirely on the vigorous work of our 
many zoological societies and the attitude 
taken by our dealers in sending out price lists, 
and the amount of fine or penalty on each head 
caught before or after the various seasons in 
each prescribed district. There never was a 
large catch of beavers in the United States, 
the majority coming from Canada. On ac- 
count of the small catch of muskrat this sea- 
son we believe next season’s catch will be 
greater than ever. If public sentiment is 
against a certain fur that kills it at once. 
Take, for instance, pony’s which are used for 
coats; the dealers tried to force it on the 
market the season of 1920. The public abso- 
lutely refused to buy them, therefore what 
merchant will buy them except at a ridicu- 
lously low figure, and naturally this will dis- 
courage the future breeding of this particular 
fur. If you should start a crusade against 
waste of furs for trimmings and summer wear 
and try to prevent the extinguishment of our 
American fur-bearing animals, this can be done 
without causing loss to our many dealers or 
manufacturers. We still, however, could go 
ahead with our trimmings and summer fur 
business, using skins imported from Canada, 
Russia, China and many parts of Europe. We 
are now using seventeen different furs for 
spring wear that are not American. 
We firmly believe that the extermination of 
our American fur-bearing animals can easily 
be prevented through a national body of men 
on the order of the United Board of Trade 
of the Fur Industry, representing all manu- 
facturers, skin merchants and dealers, dress- 
ers and dyers, and, in fact, all kindred lines. 
Very truly yours, 
C. G. GuNTHER’s Sons. 
(Signed) Loritvarp pe LaNncey. 
Neep or EpucationaL Errort Towarp Con- 
SERVATION 
A letter from Funsten Bros. & Co., of St. Louis. 
pioneers in the preservation of the fur 
trade, dated St. Louis, March 9, 1921. 
We have just finished our 1921 winter auc- 
tion sale, and all things considered, the result 
was very satisfactory, although prices of all 
kinds declined very considerably from last 
sale, and even more from the winter sale of 
a year ago. 
I enclose you a memorandum of quantities 
offered and the declines reported on the dif- 
ferent articles as compared with last May. 
The total of the sale was $11,000,000. An- 
swering your request for our figures of the fur 
sales of 1919 and 1920, they are as follows: 
Winters me 9119 Sregertarsieienel-cistelcle tte ebel- $7,924,330 
Syomie, - JIMS) scoccescoweds ouguose 10,046,779 
otto, MONO osodsdcadoade HoogdeD 15,298,287 
VWitinte, UOsocossauecsapostapoob0o 27,102,588 
May, HEY) o0.5..o cic DER GOREREEGOE 21,812,270 
Febr., LOD eee cree teoke rans 11,000,000 
It might be of interest to you to know that 
we have been advocating the conservation of 
fur-bearing animals for a number of years, 
