THE MUSKRAT AS A FUR BEAKER AND AS EOOD. 



17 



Formerly the land was considered almost useless, as it is subject to 

 tidal overflow. Now, owing to the increased value of fur, many of 

 the marshes, measured by actual income, are worth more than culti- 

 vated lands in the same vicinity. Trapping privileges are leased, 

 usually on the half-and-half plan, and trappers and owners unite to 

 protect the marshes from poaching. 



A few specific examples will give a better idea of the value of these 

 marsh lands. The owner of one tract informed the writer that he 

 bought it several years ago for $2,700. It is leased for half the fur 

 and in 1909 yielded him $890, or about 33 per cent on the investment. 

 A small piece of marsh — about 40 acres — was bought in 1905 for $150. 

 Leased for half the fur, it yielded the owner $40, $60, $70, and $100, 

 respectively, for each of the four years, 190G to 1909. Taxes on this 

 land are very light, and on the basis of a 6 per cent income the re- 

 turns for 1909 would represent an approximate value of nearly $40 

 an acre. The owner of a 1,300-acre tract of marsh, who traps with 

 the aid of his sons, in two seasons, 1909 and 1910, secured over 12,000 

 muskrats, which sold for more than $9,000. 



The muskrat skins sold in this region are seldom assorted before 

 sale. They are separated into black and brown lots and then counted, 

 a deduction of from 3 to 5 per cent being made for the young, known 

 as " kits." The skins sold throughout the season of 1917 brought 35 

 to 45 cents for brown and 60 to 75 cents for black. The proportion 

 of black skins varies on different parts of the marshes from 10 to 60 

 per cent, the average being about 40 per cent. 



Muskrat meat is an additional source of income to the trapper. It 

 is bought by local buyers and sold for local consumption or shipped 

 to outside markets, all being utilized. The Baltimore market absorbs 

 the bulk of the shipments. In 1909 the wholesale price was about 4 

 cents a carcass ; in 1917 it ranged from 10 to 13 cents. 



The editor of the Cambridge (Md.) Record stated that the muskrat 

 industry of Dorchester County brings into the community about 

 $100,000 annually. This would indicate that the average catch is 

 about a quarter million animals. Owing to continued cold weather 

 in 1917, the catch probably did not exceed 150,000, but the high prices 

 prevailing brought the income nearly up to normal. The danger of 

 exhausting the supply by continued close trapping has been discussed 

 in Dorchester County, but trappers maintain that with the long 

 closed season, March 16 to December 31, little ground for anxiety on 

 this score exists. 



POSSIBILITIES OF THE BUSINESS. 



Muskrats require no feeding, since the plant life of ponds and 

 marshes furnishes abundance of food. In many States the areas 

 adapted to the muskrat are extensive, and doubtless suitable areas 



