20 



Farmers' Bulletin m?. 



UTILIZING MOLESKINS. 



The solution of the problem of getting rid of the mole as a pest 

 has been found in the value of the pelts to the fur trade. Until re- 

 cently the little animal had been captured more with the aim of ex- 

 terminating a nuisance than of utilizing its skin. In this way a by- 

 product of trapping has long gone to waste, when an industry might 

 have been developed that would have resulted in the production of 

 beautiful and valuable garments or articles of apparel. It is sig- 

 nificant of our lack of attention to small business matters that 

 American moleskins were not sooner quoted or offered on the mar- 

 kets. Moleskin garments have been fashionable in this country, par- 

 ticularly in the large eastern cities, for many years, and fur dealers 

 consider it probable that undressed mole pelts will continue indefi- 

 nitely to have a marketable value, this value fluctuating, of course, 

 with the demands of fashion and the visible supply. 



In England, Scotland, and some of the Continental coast countries, 

 moles are trapped extensively both for their pelts and for the pri- 

 vate bounties paid for their extermination on certain estates. Up 

 to about the year 1917, when the Biological Survey was prosecut- 

 ing its investigations in the matter, the sole source of supply of mole- 

 skins for use by manufacturing furriers of this country was the pelts 

 of the European mole,^ obtained through importations from London. 

 In periods when moleskin garments were in fashion, or when the 

 skins were to be obtained at all, the volume of American business in 

 furs of this class sometimes reached between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000 

 annually. 



The Biological Survey has found that the skins of the common 

 mole of the eastern United States are well within the class of the 

 imported product, while pelts of certain other American moles are 

 of much greater value for the furrier's purposes than those of the 

 European species. They should, therefore, be classed by themselves. 

 This applies particularly to the skins of the common large mole of 

 western Washington and Oregon, which are larger and have better 

 texture and fur than those of Europe. Since these facts have been 

 recognized by a number of the more important fur dealers, a demand 

 for American moleskins at prices remunerative to the trapper has 

 developed. Figures obtained from the trade indicate that about 

 $50,000 worth of American moleskins were marketed in 1918, and that 

 in 1919 the business increased by nearly 25 per cent. This does not 

 take into account the value of moleskins utilized in the home. Fur- 

 thermore, values of the manufactured products — moleskin garments, 

 fur sets, and fur trimmings — will approximate at least five times 

 that of the raw peltry. 



Talpa europaea. 



