Current Station Notes 355 



today the leading center of the fur industry in the world, but unfor- 

 tunately we have comparatively few adequate statistics on this sub- 

 ject. A recent rough estimate of the annual wholesale value of the 

 manufactured furs in the United States gives it as approximately 

 $200,000,000.00 to $250,000,000.00, and the value of materials enter- 

 ing into their manufacture is practically one-half of that amount. 

 These figures show the great economic importance of this industry. 

 The muskrat is considered our most important fur bearing animal. 

 In the fur industry the status of the muskrat is at any time con- 

 sidered a fair index to the condition of the business, just as pig- 

 iron is taken as a barometer of the steel industry. An estimate 

 was made in 1920 showing that in New York City the annual busi- 

 ness involved in handling muskrat fur is in excess of $200,000,000.00. 

 During the year 1922 over 9,000,000 muskrat skins alone were 

 dressed in that vicinity and of these over 8,000,000 were dyed there. 



THE DECLINE OF FUR BEARING ANIMALS 



Speaking broadly, many of the points made by Dr. Kendall in 

 discussing fish, apply also to game and fur bearing animals. The 

 same general principles which serve as a basis for the remedies sug- 

 gested apply to wild life as a whole. 



With the settlement of the country there has been, in general, a 

 great decline in fur bearing animals, and at the same time there has 

 been a greatly increased demand for furs. There have been many 

 causes for this decline, including not only the trapping of furs 

 and hunting, but as well the cultivation of the land, drainage, destruc- 

 tion of forests, rodent poisoning campaigns, and the destruction of 

 predatory stock-killing animals and " game vermin." All have 

 taken their toll until the future of this resource has become the 

 cause of serious concern, particularly among the naturalists, and 

 more recently among the broader minded of the men in the fur 

 industry who are looking forward toward the permanence of their 

 own industry, and who realize that a sustained annual yield of raw 

 fur is the very foundation of their business. The situation in the 

 industr}^ reminds one of the old saying that : " We never miss the 

 water 'til the well runs dry." Naturalists have made the mistake 

 of not warning the public more fully of the true drift of events, and 

 the fur industry has not in the past been accustomed to look to 

 naturalists for help in solving their scientific problems. The situa- 

 tion has now become serious and the leaders in the industry are 

 beginning to realize that scientific study of the life history, habits, 

 and methods of propagation of fur bearing animals is not incidental 

 but essential to the present and future welfare and the very existence 

 of the business. One of the immediate problems now gaining 

 recognition is that it is becoming more important to spend hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars upon scientific studies and educational cam- 

 paigns for increasing fur production than to spend a similar amount 

 on advertising or other activities which are concerned solely with 

 consumption. A new situation has arisen and it must be solved by 

 new methods. 



