FISHER should be cased and stretched flesh side out, but may be sent to market same as foxes or fur out.

MARTEN should be stretched and dried on boards, fur side in, but turned as soon as dried.

OPOSSUM are stretched on boards fur side in and are left in that condition after removing the boards. Cut the tails off when skinning--they have no value.

MUSKRAT should be stretched fur side in and a few days on the boards is sufficient. They are left as taken off, that is, fur side in. Cut the tails off when skinning--they are worthless.

WEASEL should be cased, fur side in. The pelts are thin and soon dry.

Leave fur side in after taking off boards.

BADGER are split and should be nailed to the inside of a building to dry.

CIVET CAT should be cased and stretched on boards fur side in. When dry remove boards and leave fur side in.

RING TAIL CATS should be cased and after removing boards are generally left fur side in for market.

WILD CAT are cased and stretched on boards. They may be turned fur out or left as taken from the stretchers, fur side in.

HOUSE CAT are cased and stretched on boards fur side in. They are sent to market usually fur side in.

RABBITS are cased fur in and, as the pelt is thin, soon dry. They are shipped fur side in.

PANTHER are treated much the same as bear. Care should be taken in skinning to leave claws, ears, nose, etc., on the skin for mounting purposes.

My experience has been that the house which makes only four grades of prime goods is the house that you will receive the largest checks from for your collection, writes a Michigan collector of 50 years'

experience. So many grades quoted makes it possible for a firm to successfully squelch you a little every time you ship and yet you can have no reasonable excuse to complain for when you ship, you know that in some houses there is a grade for nearly every skin you send.

So I, for one, would rather risk the fewer grades.

A trapper from Wisconsin says: For sample, say mink are worth from 25 cents to $3.00. There would be 275 prices between the extremes. Now if he is a fur buyer I certainly pity the trappers that would have to take those 275 different prices for their mink. A man should be able to know the difference between grades No. 1, 2, 3 and 4, and when he does he is then able to give a fair and honest price for every skin he buys. If he doesn't know the difference then, he had better get a job clerking in a hotel or sawing wood.

Many have requested that the difference in the various grades of skins be explained and for their benefit, as well as others of little experience, the following may prove instructive.

Raw furs are a.s.sorted into four grades, viz: No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4. With the exception of skunk and muskrat most houses subdivide the No. 1 skins into large, medium and small. In addition to this many firms quote a range of prices about as follows: Mink, Northern New York, large $6.00 to $8.00. Would it not be more satisfactory to quote one price only?

It is generally known that Minnesota mink are large. From that state a No. 1 medium mink is as large as a No. 1 large from Maine, where mink are rather small. But as the dealers on their price lists quote the various states and sections, why not quote one price only as follows:

MINK, NORTHERN NEW YORK, NO. 1.

Large, Medium, Small, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, $7.00. $5.00. $3.00. $1.50. $0.75. $0.20.

These figures, of course, are only given for ill.u.s.tration and are not meant to show value.

Furs from the various parts of North America have their peculiar characteristics and it is easy for the man of experience to tell in what part of the country a pelt was caught. It may be shipped by a collector hundreds of miles from where caught, but if there are many in the collection the expert will soon detect it. This knowledge, however, only comes with years of experience.

Prime skins are those caught during cold weather and the pelt after drying a few days is bright and healthy appearing.

Unprime skins are those that turn blue or black after being stretched for a time. Usually the darker the pelt the poorer the fur. If only slightly blued the pelt may go back only one grade, while if black it is apt to be no better than No. 3 or No. 4 and may be trash of no value.

Springy skins, as the name indicates, are those taken toward the last of the season or in the spring and tho often prime pelted, have begun to shed. The beginner is often deceived, for he thinks if the pelt is prime, the fur is. Foxes and other animals are often "rubbed" toward spring, which of course lessens their value.

A No. 1 skin must be not only average in size but free from cuts, etc. No unprime skin will grade better than No. 2.

Skunk, to be No. 1 or black, must be prime in pelt, fair size and stripe not extending beyond the shoulders. The day that only "star black" were taken for No. 1 pa.s.sed, for most trappers and shippers know better now.

A No. 2, or short striped skunk, is prime and the stripes, if narrow, may extend nearly to the tail. A small No. 1 or a blued No. 1 is graded No. 2.

A No. 3 or long stripe has two stripes extending the entire length, but there must be as much black between the stripes as either of the white stripes.

In some of the states, such as Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, etc., skunk are large and are nearly all striped the same--long narrow stripes--but owing to their size they are worth about the same as the eastern short stripe or No. 2.

A No. 4, broad or white skunk, is prime but has two broad stripes extending down the back. Most dealers cla.s.s skunk as No. 4 if either white stripe contains more white than there is black between the two stripes.

All unprime skunk are graded down to No. 2, 3 and 4 according to depth of fur and stripe. A No. 1 skunk in stripe, but blue, becomes a No. 2, or if badly blued No. 3 or 4; a No. 2 skunk in stripe but blue becomes a No. 3; a No. 3 in stripe but blue, a No. 4; a No. 4 in stripe but blue generally goes into trash. In fact, if badly blued, any of the grades may be thrown to trash.

Muskrat are a.s.sorted into four grades--spring, winter, fall and kitts. Spring rats are known as No. 1; winter, No. 2; fall, No. 3; Kitts, No. 4.

No. 1 or spring rats are those taken in March and April. The pelt is then of a reddish color and is entirely free from dark spots. A few spring rats may be caught earlier than March, but so long as they show dark spots they are not No. 1.

No. 2, or winter rats, are pretty well furred, but there are dark streaks and spots in the hide usually on the back.

No. 3 or fall are not full furred and the pelt is far from prime. The dark streaks show much more than later in the season.

No. 4, or kitts, are only partly grown or if larger are badly damaged.

Opossum is the only animal that may have a "prime" pelt but an "unprime" coat of fur. This makes opossum rather difficult to a.s.sort unless turned fur side out.

If opossum have been properly skinned and stretched they will, when unprime, show a dark blue spot on the under side at the throat. The plainer this spot the poorer the fur.

Good unprime skins are No. 2; poor unprime skins, No. 3; the very poor and stagey, no fur, are No. 4, generally known as trash and of no value.

The other fur-bearers, such as mink, otter, beaver, fox, wolves, lynx, wild cat, fisher, racc.o.o.n, bear, badger, civet cat, weasel, etc., are graded much the same that is, all skins to be No. 1 must be caught in season, when the fur is prime, at which time the "pelt" is healthy appearing--never blue or black--must be of average size, correctly skinned, handled and free of cuts or shot holes.

Skins may be unprime from several causes, viz: caught too early, improperly handled, under size, etc. Unprime skins are graded No. 2, 3 and 4 according to how inferior they are. The fairly well furred unprime skins are graded No. 2; the low furred unprime skins are thrown to No. 3; the poorly furred are thrown to No. 4, while low stagey skins go to trash.

Some skins altho prime are so small that they grade No. 3. This, however, is the exception rather than the rule. Usually if prime, the under size will only put the skin down one grade.

I have bought some for a number of years, writes a collector, and know that some trappers are like some farmers, they want as much money for a bushel of dirty wheat as their neighbor gets for a bushel of clean wheat. I have had skunk and opossum hides offered me that had a pound or two of tainted fat on them, and skins that were taken out of season, for which they expect to get No. 1 prices.

There are some who stretch their skins in the shape of an oblong triangle and leave flesh enough on to make their dinner. Stretch your hides as near the shape of the animal as possible; don't try to make a muskrat hide as long as a mink, or a mink as wide as a muskrat.

Catch in season, flesh carefully, stretch in good shape, always take bone out of tails, keep in an airy building until dry and then you will not have to grumble so much at the buyer in regard to prices.