MY LADY’S FURS

Hokitika Guardian, 10 June 1930, Page 2

MY LADY’S FURS

BRER RABBIT’S AID

MANY MASQUERADES

In a very well-informed article on the fur trade in the “Saturday Evening Post,” jVlaude."R. Warren tells some interesting 'things about the world’s fur trade,’ with particular reference to America, and, incidentally. New Zealimt|, for-the writer mentions that Aiistrajia- aiid New Zealand are the chief suppliers of rabbit skins to the fur markets of the world. Though originally rabbit skins, millions o. pelts emerge, from the doy-pots and fac f '"ries in half a hundred disguises.

“We import 100,030.000 rabbit skins n vonr. s'igbtly:less than half of which go to the fur trade, the balance going lo the felt trade. At times when women choose to wear no hats except felt Hie felt'trade has to'complete wi ll the fur trade for rabbits that ordinarily would be avoided because of the high p-,‘, .05. Our imports are. mainly wild -ol,hits from Australia and New Zealand. but n large percentage of butoh--I'red rabbits come fniril France, Belgium and Germany. These are so caref,,ltv fed that the pelts are excellent and bring good. .prices.

FEW RABBITS FROM U.S.A

“Not more that 2 per cent, of all the rabbitskins used are raised in the United State, and that is because the cost is prohibitive unless meat, entrails and bones are disposed of as well as skins. Pelts Of tbe abundant will cotton tali and of the Wild bares commonly called jack rabbits are poor and thin in quality, and of practically no use to the furriers. Some colours bring better prices than others, but the important considerations are the quality and texture of the fur, and the care given to the oelt after it is skinned. In Belgium Holland, France and Germany, the rabbits are looked on as food, and the pelts as a by-product.

RABBIT MEAT.

“This country has not been educated to use raboit meat. Los Angeles is the centre or our rabbit-breeding industry, where a dofsen different hutchbreeding types are reared, as good as anything that is imported. More than 1,000,000 pounds of rabbit meat were sold in California last year, All the Western Coast is being persuaded, the United States Government is trying to encourage the use of rabbit meat, while some of the big canning houses are using it.

'•CONY.”

"Rabbite—-cnllpd 'cony' in the trade —since it readily lends itself to dyeing* is used lavishly to imitate such skins as squirrel, seal, beaver, nutria, chinchilla muskrat, ermine, leopard and various other furs.. You can find sixty different names. for it, from Arctic seal to visonette. Some of the most attractive are. Baltic tiger, chincillette, coast seal, enninette, F'rench sable, Hudson Bay seal, kit cony, Mendoza beaver, northern seal, Russian taupe fox. These names are all right if you know what you are getting. The durability of rabbit depends on the quality of the skins and the care taken of them.- This year are shown lovely coats in platinum or grey, called ‘lapin.’ Their real name is rabbit.

THE PROPER CARE OF A FUR COAT.

Wisdom it is to depend on the reputation of the retailer, and then to ques. tion the sales person as if you were putting her through an examination to demand guarantees, and, after buying to take care of your fur. The causes of the deterioration •of furs are fretion, dirt, light, heat and moisture. Carrying parcels under the arm, hatbrim rubbing, jewellery rubbing, rubbing that comes from riding in automobiles, sitting on’ your coat in the theatre—all hurt the fur. Heat and light are unnatural for fur, and tend to singe or discolour it. Moisture is bad. If furs are wet they should be shaken, brushed softly— not combed—and hung, and allowed to dry slowly where there is a good circulation of air. There is a story of a girl who had a 15,099-dollar chinchilla wrap which lasted for one evening. She wore it to the opera, stood in the rain a few moments while waiting for her car, threw it over the radiator and went to bed. When she awoke she had some shrivelled leather with a Few hunches of fur attached. Furs should he shaken liar:) now and then to free them from dust, cleaned once a year hv a competent furrier, and, when not in use, they should he put in cold storage, which not only protects them front moths but prevents change ot colour and the deterioration that results from the evaporation in high tomnorntures of the oils on the skin and hair. Tf you store them yourself got from the United States Department of •'griculturp the bulletin call nd Cloth Moths and Their Control.

DYETXG IT AS R E YOT, FT TON ISED FUR TRADE.

“Tf dvoing has boon the factor in the immediate past which has revolutionised the fur industry, the factor whioli will revolutionise it in the future i,s fur farming. Wild fur is becoming ineroasimrlv scarce, and there are pessimists who say that some day the coun-