Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1911-11-08
THE FUR INDUSTRY.
WHERE MOST OF THE SKINS
ARE OBTAINED.
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF DIFFERENT
sKrNs- HOW THEY ARE PRE-
PARED FoK TANNING.



,o, northern new York, and the
$500 y m.ue psoouce the finest mink
'Ains On tne continent. second in quality
ele ING SKINS rom the Lake Superior
regions OF the United States and Canada.
Nortn western Sanaoa ana Alaska yield
p0.as u sniro grsos, while the Chippewa
.au'.n RESERVATION OF wisconsin produces
.ne lo..tn grace sk'ns' These are the
prime SKINS.
An TINS CLASS Oh prime pelts, too, are
'our srsoauons - 10 the size OF the skins,
.nsink extra, large, medium" and
out OF tne prime class are four
o'as' srsoa.ions running light" as to
ooio. small aeain; ana NO. Is and No.
10 .nese hRnt SKINS are que to climatic
.onu.sions IN tne SOUTH. Inc small and
WIG % ana as OF the class ordinarily
s1e 100 young 70 nave grown coats OF fur.
oooiy enough, the heaviest pelt Of any
u ING tnink ismiy contrfbutory to Chi
c.ko 10 Trapped In Illinois. But the "fur"
eio"ont = iackingi coarse hair 10 char
scseristic OF the Illinois animal and
fendefs IL almost valueisss. Out Of the
wnoie middie West regions these mink
skins carry 10 the expert the knowledge of
the particular section Of country In which
tney were corn. Also, the time OF year In
"nicn tney were trapped must be marked
IN the conoition OF the FUR.
10 detefmine the value OF ono OF these
mink SKINS ana decide upon Its quality,
turned INSIDE out 40 1t 10 with only the
iur OF the tail visible, the expert merely
Turns oeck the rump portion OF the skin
IN deciding. he looks to discover II
reg OF the animal mas been LEFT in the trap;
ne pays attention to the careful skinning
OF tine skull which leaves the nose and eye
holes and lips intact. A thirty-calibre
outlet hole or lew shot perfordtions do
not afect the value OF good skin for the
reason That the furrier knows Just how to
stitcn over the olemish.
Inc canadian indian leads as trapper
ana tskinner'. Hell have the four legs
with the claws on; he'll likely leave the
teeth oil the animal as they were in life;
the orlsties on the nose will be there, in
tact. This Canadian indian at large is the
best man in the game, and he gets the best
money Tor his work, ana the expert Will
pick out his handiwork anywhere. he
"as some'h.ns Vi MS o"n IN 'ne "olA
c,rarn ~, .,a ,,;rr ,rh;oh =, -.
sa,,,;,a a. r,;aa,a w..+ $40. a. ~
,o,sr.h,k re.t N tho so,rs, having han
ho,.a .ho,,d h.,. ha,or,. IN .hasa ,.tar
v..rs ops a, the rost nonn,.r and exren-
ave ~ tho ro,;vs tur- bearing sn;maIs
70, ha ;s hy n, r,.ons onn,ooch;ro a.
,;ro,;on 4, ono ,r;,I ,;.,ar 70 tho middle
Uas, ,ormsr whose ,orr horders = anal,
r;rar with harks ahonnd;no with nm
-o,,.a ,-.as ord occos;ora, rocL str.to
u,s oh;orar VOID "a h;s r,eoar,e a, tho
an;,,.I,. oc.,v;,;s. when In tho cou,se NJ
ton n,.hts the n,sr.pder NAV ec;mota a
aoct ., euv hans
T.sn,n vo.ra ..o ,,. ,.,r how Who
uuh, h;n VIM IN r,;dw;rter ns,t ana
.,-,.,,,.d h;s hiaa ana ..n,ontsd, n va.
81 90, !. olive, h.,, dollar a, tho
-, -, 80. IT. .r ,rh,
- -. ..,,.,,,-a,a cont. o.. ~. Ait,
10. ,;hsra, hryer To-aav ton time. the
-. =, "a o., ~. str;r,eJ .L;r ana ths
- -. ~. - ;,,, ,,,;, ,,,-
rs.us. - 20 o.sh
fofoIAh oo""oS 'AiS''
Leading with the mink as the most
popular and valuable OF the common fur
bearing animals, the skunk is probably
chief second. After the skunk comes the
raccoon, then the 'possum, and last-put
vastly more numerous than any other, OF
these animals-is the muskrat
Thousands of farm boys have skinned
the odoriferous skunk and tackled his hide
on the side OF the barn to dry on the lee
ward side and disposed OF IL at the village
hidehouse for quarter. To-day the
skunk skin OF average grace brings sS.zo
to the trapper, with the coon skin OF aver
age size and quality quoted to the trapper
at the same average price. But to the
farm boy the catching OF skunk was