THE MUSKRAT. 



31 



a tramping machine, where they are tramped for eight or ten hours. The 

 machine works al)out 2,000 pelts at a time. 



The pelts are next covered with a mixture of sawdust and salt water and 

 remain so overnight. The following morning they are cut open down the 

 front and are then fleshed, one man being able to flesh 200 to 300 in a day. 

 The skins are next stretched and hung up to dry. When thoroughly dry, they 

 are again moistened with salt water on the leather side, remaining so over- 

 night. They are next brushed on the flesh side with animal fat — butter or 

 fish oil and tallow — and laid in pairs with the fur side out. After remaining 

 overnight they are placed in tramping machines and worked for six or eight 

 hours, or until thoroughly soft and pliable. They are then stretched in every 

 direction. 



The next process is cleaning. The skins to the number of 300 or 400 are 

 placed with sawdust in revolving drums exposed to steam heat. They are 

 revolved for about three hours, when the sawdust will have completely ab- 

 sorbed the grease. The skins are next incased in a beating drum, where they 

 are revolved for two or three hours. On removal they are beaten with rattans 

 and the fur is cleaned with a comb. The heavier pelts are fleshed down thin, 

 thus completing the operation of dressing for the majority of skins. A small 

 percentage are plucked or perhaps dyed. In either case they have to be 

 cleaned once more before the process is complete. 



Manufactures of Muskrat Furs. 



Besides the considerable use of muskrat skins for manufacture into 

 garments in imitation of high-grade furs, a good proportion of the 

 poorer skins are used in the natural color for lining overcoats and 

 other outer garments. One cause for the increased demand for 

 fur linings is the great influx of settlers into the Northwestern States, 

 Canada, and Alaska, where in winter the warmest garments are ab- 

 solutely necessary. Garments made from skins of wolves, goats, or 

 dogs partly supply this need, but cloth outer garments with linings 

 of light furs are fully as warm and are less burdensome. The grow- 

 ing popularity of the automobile for outdoor recreation in winter 

 is another cause for the increased demand for fur-lined coats. 



The better grades of muskrat furs, dressed in the natural color, 

 have a beautiful luster, and make really handsome coats, boas, and 

 muffs; and many smaller articles of apparel, as collars, gloves, caps, 

 and the like, are made of muskrat fur. 



MUSKRAT FARMING. 



Fur farming has been a favorite topic for discussion in American 

 newspapers. While many fur-producing enterprises have been 

 planned and some actually begun, few have prospered. Various 

 difficulties have discouraged the majority of persons who have en- 

 gaged in raising minks, foxes, or skunks. However, the possibilities 

 of such enterprises have not really been tested, and present prices for 

 these furs might well repay investment of capital m their production. 



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