Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/873

 FUR 837 French occupation of Canada, and the ascent of the St Lawrence to its source in Lake Superior, and the subsequent contest to retain possession against England ; in the early settlements of New England, New York, and Virginia ; in Irving s Astoria ; in the records of the Hudson s Bay Company ; and in the annals of the fairs held at Nijni- Novgorod and Leipsic. Here it may suffice to give some account of the present condition of the trade in fancy furs. The collection of skins is now chiefly a matter of private enterprise. Few, if any, monopolies exist. The Alaska Commercial Company, now about ten years old, enjoys some special privilege for the taking of seal skins on the Pribiloff Islands, and some peculiar restrictions exist in Russia in relation to certain peltries, but beyond this, the trade in furs is a free one the world over. Individual enterprise, skill, forecast, and capital, have an open field. The Hudson s Bay Company, with its chief office in London, still maintains its organization, but conducts its affairs in North America under no special or royal grant, and com petes in the open market with individual traders throughout Canada, Labrador, Manitoba, and Columbia. Its collection of peltries is offered to the highest bidder at public auction in London, in January, March, and September of each year. Private collectors and dealers throughout Canada and the United States forward their furs to the seaboard, chiefly to New York, for sale there, or for consignment principally to London and to Leipsic. The latter town still maintains the custom of spring and autumn fairs, at which most kinds of wares are sold or exchanged with dealers from Turkey, Austria, and Russia. Nijni-Novgorod is the chief fair for European Russia, though very important fairs are also held in Kasan and in Irbit among the Ural Mountains. The most important fair for eastern Siberia is held at Kiachta, on the borders of China, where an extensive exchange of furs is carried on with the Celestials. Japan has added but little to the activity or extension of the fur trade, though her northern shores have furnished many a fine fur seal and sea otter to ths hardy navigator. Staple furs, or those used chiefly in the manufacture of hats, are those of the have and the rabbit, collected mainly in Russia, Germany, France, and England, dressed, carroted, and cut from the skin in western Germ my, France, Belgium, and England, and thence distributed to the manufacturing centres of the world ; and here it may be added that the clippings and cuttings of fancy furs from the workshops of furriers are all saved, and find their way to the machinery which utilizes the waste and transforms them into hatters furs. But of all these fur marts that of London is the chief, for thither tend by the laws of trade, not only much of the produce of Asia and Europe, but also the fine peltries of Chili and Peru, tho nutria from Buenos Ayres, the fur seal of Cape Horn and South Shetland, the hair seal from Newfoundland, as well as the inferior peltries of Africa. To prepare fur skins in a way to endure this long transportation is a simple and easy matter. When stripped from the animal the flesh and fat are carefully removed, and the pelts hung in a cool place to dry and harden ; nothing is added to protect them. Care is taken that they do not heat after packing, and that they are occasionally beaten to destroy worms. A marked exception is the case of the fur seal, which is best preserved by liberal salting and packing in hogsheads. All other raw furs are marketed in bales. Kinds and Quantities Few kinds of animals furnish a pelt of suitable weight and pliability, and all of them differ widely in elegance of texture, delicacy of shade, and fineness of overhair, and it is these differences which determine their place in the catalogue of merchandise. These few animals are not very prolific, and many of them attain their greatest beauty in wild and uncultivated regions. To this romark there are some notable exceptions. Being thus few in kind, and limited in quantity, one might fear the extinc tion of the several choice varieties through the persistent energy of the trapper. But here the fickleness of fashion steps in, and does for the fur trade what the law of supply and demand does for the more staple articles of commerce. Fashion, fastidious and fickle, neglects the use of certain kinds for a season the market price of the pelt no longer repays the outfit of the trapper ; the hunt is intermitted, and in two or three years the animal regains its numbers and strength. The annual collection of furs is thus a matter of ceaseless change ; but the following may be relied on as an estimate correct enough for all practical purposes : Average Annual Collection. Badger .................. America ................................. 5,000 ,, .................. Europe and Asia ...................... 50,000 Bear ..................... America ................................. 15,000 ,, ..................... Europe and Asia ...................... 4,000 Beaver ................... Asia ...................................... 20,000 ................... America ................................ 200,000 Buffalo .................. America ................................. 100,000 Chinchilla ............... Peru and Chili ......................... 100,000 Cat, Wild ............................................................. 10,000 House ........................................................ 1,000,000 Ermine .................. Asia and Europe ...................... 400,000 Fisher ................... America ................................. 12,000 Fitch ..................... Europe .................................. 600,000 Fox, Silver .............. Asia and America ..................... 2,000 ,, Cross .............. Asia and America ..................... 10,000 ,, Blue ............... Europe and America .............. ... 7,000 ,, White ............. Arctic .................................... 75,000 ,, Red ............... Asia and Europe ...................... 300,000 ,, ................ America ................................ 60,000 ,, Gray ............... America ................................ 30,000, Kitt .............. America ................................ 40,000 Hamster ................. Europe ................................... 200,000 Hare ..................... Asia and Europe ..................... 4,500,000 Kolinsky ............... Asia ...................................... 80,000 Lamb ..................... Persian .................................. 100,000 .................... Astrakhan .............................. 600,000 ....... European ................................ 2,000,000 Lion ................................................................... 500 Lynx ................................................................... 50,000 Marten ................... America ................................. 1 30, 000 ,, Stone .......... Europe ................................... 150,000 Baum .......... Europe ................................... 60,000 ,, llussian Sable ............................................. 100,000 Mink ..................... America ................................. 250,000 ................ Russia ................................... 50,000 Monkev .................. Africa .................................... 40,000 MuskKat .......... America ................................. 8,000,000 ... Russia ................................... 100,000 Nutria ................... South America ........................ 3,000,000 Opossum. . ....... America ................................. 250,000 Otter, Land ......................................................... 40,000 Sea ............ North Pacific .......................... 5,000 Rabbit ................... Europe .................................. 5,000,000 Raccoon ................. America ................................. 500,000 Seal, Hair .............. Atlantic ................................. 1,000,000 Fur ............... Pacific .................................... 200,000 Skunk. ....... America ................................. 550,000 Squirrel .................. Siberia .................................. 6,000,000 Ti^er ,. Bengal ul North China ............ 500
 * .:::..::: ........ ... ..................................... 25,000

Wolverin .............................................................. &amp;gt; For the habits of these animals, and their modes of life, reference must be made to the separate articles, and to such works as those of Cuvier and Brehm. But a brief account may be given here of the different qualities of the pelts, with some general remarks as to their average value and their customary uses. Sad(ier -Size, 1 by 2 feet; overhair coarse, 3 to 4 inches long, blalKith silver- spots. The German are the best Fur woolly. American have softer overhair. Used for robes, military trappings, and brushes. Value of prime, from 2s. to 6s. per ^sk in Bear, Black.- Size, 3 by 6 feet; overhair 6 to_8 inche T a J n f fl fine, flowing, and glossy ; fur thin. Best are American. Used or robes, military cops, and mats. The finest are the cubs. Value c t Brmcn.-tome size as the black, nnd very fine in overhair.