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Show 10 December FOCUS 22, 1982. Willow Everything Y ou Ever Wanted To Know About Mink, But Were Afraid To Ask By Louise Page for the woman who has everything, the choice of fur. of course, would be Black Willow Mink. Recognised in the industry as one of the best patent names in commercial fur breeding, the beautiful Black Willow is sought after by buyers from all ' over the world. A full length Black Willow Mink coat, for the average size woman, will cost anywhere from fifteen thousand dollars, on up. The more perfect the pelts, and the more perfectly they are matched and worked together. the greater the cost-fi- fty thousand, a hundred thousand. the sky is the limit, depending on how 4 much milady is worth. The Black Willow has rich, shimmery black fur. Sleek and lustrous on the surface, the fur is thick and dense at the skin, yet soft and silky to the touch. Small wonder these little creatures are a favorite in the industry. A verv limited amount of Black Willow said. "These are the very best, the select, nihnber one skins. Trade people know they are coming in June and they look for them." Oh coarse, the most perfect mink are kept for pelts are produced annually, guaranteeing the market and the quality. "We have established a reputation for the finest grade of mink in our Black Wjllow breed.'" Ella Adkins explained.. "We have to protect our reputation, we send only select skins breeding. Protecting the breed and the reputation for quality that Black Willow .has established, has payed off. "Last year, we sold our pelts for more than the national average." Ella said. In fact, we hold the world record for the most money to market under, the Black Willow name." In the midst of pelting right; now. Black Willow Mink Farm is preparing a . shipment of skins for auction next month, in New York City, New York. The skins will be sent to market at the Hudson Bay Fur Company, the worlds largest and oldest fur auction, in business since 1680. Annually. Black Willow Mink Farm sends about 12,000 pelts to Hudson Bay for auction. Half will be sent, bundled and graded, and ready for auction the 24th of January, through the 29th. We keep the better half for auction in June." Ella payed for dark ranch mink. The only fur breeder who has ever equaled the record is us." "But, the credit all goes to my husband." Ella said. John Senior (affectionately known as Bus) died last . month, following a long and courageous battle with cancer. k Bus started trapping on the Weber River, in Coalville back in the midtwenties. At that time, there wild-min- were less than '24 mink fanners in the United States. Nobody was willing to believe that mink could be raised commercially. That is not difficult .to understand when you see these little creatures. They are mean, aggressive and viscious. It is not uncommon for a kit tc chew up his own tail, or limb. . - Worse yet, it is not particularly uncommon for mamma to do the same, to the hapless youngster. Fortunately, what they ' lack in charisma, they make up for in sheer elegance and beauty. The mink fur offers the depth, denseness and sheen, sought after in a warm' fur coat, without being heavy, or coarse, as so many furs arc. The pelts arc the ideal size and weight for making an exquisite : full-leng- th some mink he had imported from Montana, The Yukon, and Car Cross, in' Canada; used selective breeding to ultimately develope the exclusive Black Willow mink of today. Laic in the 5Q's he started to sec them come through, and kept them as breeders. He built up the strain until, in 1966, he was able to harvest 50 skins. He had 'the ' breed patented, under the . - 1 and warm, fur coat. When Bus began his operation in 1927, the addition of his farm made a total of three mink farms in the state of Utah. For the next 25 years. Bus, with the mink strain he had developed from the early wild mink he captured, and I - |