236 



FUR FACTS 



Mink, Pelt and Pur 

 Side Out 



but they are usually of a coarse variety. The Carolinas are famous 

 for mink. Alabama, Georgia and parts of Mississippi produce mink 

 of splendid color. Virginia and West Virginia also have mink of good 

 color. All of the Central and Western States produce mink in large 

 quantities of varying quality, the mink in one section of a state 

 often differing considerably from those found in other sections. As 

 a rule the mink from the Northern part of a state are softer 

 and more silky in fur than those found in the Southern sections. 

 Practically all mink, even those of the very finest color and 



qualityj^are stretched cased with the fur side in and 

 A ^4^ the [flesh side out. This has many advantages over 

 "j. ." iH j;]je other method and is preferred by all experienced 



buyers. Mink that are 



shipped to market with 



the fur side outand the 



pelt side in are bound 



to get more or less 



greasy which causes the 



fur to look dead and 



flat. To determine the 



grade and value of a 

 mink, first examine the pelt carefully 

 and determine whether it is prime or 

 not. If the pelt is prime, that is if the 

 flesh is a clean reddish healthy color Grading Sabie 



then it will grade as number one. The next thing to determine is the 

 color and size and whether the skin or the fur has been damaged; next 

 consider how the skin has been stretched. The proper way to stretch 

 inink is pelt side out and they should be shaped like the one shown in 

 the illustration. In some sections are found a class of mink called cotton 

 mink. The under fur is almost white or a very light tan. These 

 mink are usually poor in quality, do not match with other mink and 

 are not as valuable, and usually grade No. 3. Remember that a 

 mink to be classified as dark must be a rich dark brown; dark mink 

 are not found at all in some sections. The color seems to be determined 

 by the soil conditions, amount of timber and possibly food. Mink 

 that five entirely on fish are rarely good in color, in fact they are a 

 pale light brown. All mink begin to lose their gloss and get lighter 

 in color in the spring and in some sections the fur is singed when the 

 weather turns suddenly hot; the mink lays out in the sun and its 

 fur will quickly shed and turn color. 



