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Show MUSKRAT. It will surprise our readers to know that ti biological bureau of the United States 'lcr,i.rtnM!f of agriculture believes that presenf pri,-, ,,t-muskrat ,,t-muskrat furs might well repay investrm nr , f ital in their production. The skins ar w.-rth fro-, 35 cents to 45 cents apiece in Baltiitu r,., uh.re they are manufactured into articles of Tanr Rp parel and sold under another name. It -:1J7 a; be somewhat of a surprise to know that thi: 'ire. j carcass of the muskrat is worth surncthi;. an article of food. The biological bureau is uir!;,,r:;v for the statement that "carefully guard'"! r-, rv. (for the propagation of muskrats) will 'A jti,.,,;v and profitable returns." Here is an opportunity for anyone who i't,3 for the open air, the lake and the for.vt. .ir.,i t;le field, yet whose desires for the wild free life arc i.ot strong enough within him to plow and sow an ! reap and carry on the ordinary work of the Lu-hani-man. Swamp lands, the one essential to rr. fitaMp propagation of the muskrat, can be had in a'rn.Kt any state in the Union for almost nothing jnn a few muskrats loose upon the?o lands cr s:mip, and in a season or two there will be a crop yf m!i;-rats m!i;-rats ready for the trapper, and profitable rftum? for the hides. The animal will forage for himself To show the economic value of thr mu-krar, it may be said that in Dorchester county, .MariUm,, the industry bring3 in no less than ijiooneu) .,. nmdly. "Farmers' Bulletin 395," issued by tho l,i,,l,,. ical bureau, tells all about the muskrat his habit, how he builds his houses, what he is worth, how-to how-to trap him and how to skin him. Tho bulletin treats him as a nuisance where he burrows into dams and embnakments, but given a swampy country coun-try he ceases to be a "pest" and becomes an animal of real value to trappers. In numbers he exceeds all other fur-bearing animals. |