THE VALUE OF BRITISH FURS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18287, 22 January 1925, Page 14

THE VALUE OF BRITISH FURS.

Once upon a time to mention furs was to conjure up a vision of a vast expanse of frozen snow; of Northern Lights, and a trapper going his rounds with a dog sleigh (says a writer in a London paper). ■ ; r .Many of the most expensive skins are stHi ootained.in this manner, but of late years the demand for fur of some description by peieons who cannot a fjord to,.pay .the tremendous prices now asked for.real Arctic fox, sable,, marten, aticf .other choice pelts, has created ail industry in cheap furs which is little short of. amazing. . , Not very many years ago the market nrice for rabbit pkins^was a halfpenny so great is the call for this class of fuir, which, when made up, figures under as many aliases as a crack criminal, that up to 10s 6d a dozen can be obtained for clean,, air-dried pelts. For the modern gamekeeper this ™<me for cheap furs' has added a most profitable side-fine, and many a corpse which used to rot in some woodland '■larder" is now turned to good account. Thus stoat and weasel skins can be sold for 2s 6d to 3s a dozen. The wjaching cat, which plays such havoc amon" game when it forsakes ite legitimate haunts and takes to frequenting the coverts, is worth from Is to Is 8d dead, unless it chances to be a black, when its value is promptly doubled. Where hares, are plentiful and form a frequent item in the menu the cook has quite a valuable perquisite, for the skins are worth from 12s ,to 15s a non-hunting districts foxes rank as vermin,, and are shot and ..trapped on' every possible occasion. For the skins fur' deajers at" Home generally pay .'from 10s to £l. ' •