THE MUSKRAT ' 161 



diminished. The total output of 1905, as indicated by London sales of 

 5,000,000 skins in 1906, was over 7,000,000. The sale of these was 

 accompanied by an advance of 40 per cent in prices. The sales for 1907 

 showed a further advance of about 25 per cent, but a falling off in the 

 offerings of fully 1,500,000 skins. The London sales for 1908 and 1909 

 showed a still further rise in prices, which were again advanced in the 

 January and March sales of 1910. The total London sales for 1908 

 were 3,806,000; for 1909, 3,771,000.* 



Information from dealers in raw furs in the Chesapeake region 

 indicates that the supply of muskrat furs has been reasonably steady in 

 spite of the prevailing high prices. Baltimore buyers paid 35 cents each 

 for brown and 45 cents for black, ungraded, during the season of 1909. 

 New York buyers offered higher prices, but the furs are graded in that 

 market. On January 22, 1910, Baltimore buyers were paying 65 cents 

 for brown and 70 cents for black skins, ungraded. Trade quotations in 

 The Trapper's World for February, 1910, list No. 1 black muskrat skins 

 at $1.00 each.f Prices are, of course, based on returns from the London 

 auctions and must be low enough to permit a reasonable profit to dealers. 



In order to dispose of furs to advantage, trappers should keep 

 informed as to market values. Usually they can realize fair returns by 

 selling to local buyers and at the same time run but slight risk of having 

 the pelts graded too low. There has been much complaint of the prac- 

 tice of dealers in sending out circulars offering high prices for furs to 

 induce shipments. Upon receipt of consignments, however, the furs 

 are so much undergraded that the returns are far less than could have 

 been realized in the local market. 



Home Dressing of Furs. — Formerly many muskrat skins were home 

 tanned and made into caps, collars, and other articles. At present the 

 home utilization of skins is much less extensive, but knowledge of a 

 good method of dressing the fur is still desirable. Most of the methods 

 employed by amateurs involve the use of alum to fix the hau-; but 

 satisfactory results, so far as pliability of the pelts goes, depend largely 

 upon the amount of labour bestowed on them. 



A method in common use is the following: The skins are thoroughly 

 cleaned in warm — not hot — water and all flesh and fat scraped off. 

 They are then stretched on a board with the fur side down and covered 

 with a mixture of two ounces each of salt and alum, 3 gills of water, and 



* Statistics in the Fur News Magazine for April, 1914, show that the combined 

 offerings of muskrat skms (except H. B. Co.) at London, in March, 1913, and in 

 March, 1914, were respectively, 1,300,598 and 4,646,500 skins. The same magazine 

 points out that the "offerings at London in March, 1914, made a new magnitude 

 record that is not likely to be repeated," and indicate an accumulation from the 

 previous year. 



t The Fur News Magazine, for April, 1914, quotes black sprmg muskrat at 

 50 cents. 



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