A Peculiar Industry

Dog farming is not unknown In civïlized countries, though the dogs there are bred for petting and hunting. In the extreme north of China they are bred for their skins. In Mandchoury the skins are very beautiful; the hair is Jpng, thiok and silky and of a remarkably fine textura. This is explained by the climate of the Mandchoury, which is exceedingly cold and the dogs must of necessity be protected by thick, heavy fur. Connoisseurs declare that flner skins of this kind have never been found. The animáis are killed by strangulation in the winter, because at hat time the hair is longest and thickest, but none aro killed that are not eight months o ld. The price paid for this fur is ridicuously small. A large mantle measurng about one hundrcd and twenty nches is sold for three dollars and a ïalf. About eight skins are needed to make such a mantle. The skins must not only ba assorted and matched in color and quality but the mantle be made as well, certainly a curious indusry that deals with profits whieh seem .o us abnormally small. It would eerainly be a novelty in America to see a )arlor rug of dogskins - for instance, a centerpiece of "big yaller stray dog," urrounded by patterne shading off in p-ay, black-and-tan and spitz, the vvhole inished with a variegated border of asorted puppies.