If skinned properly the skins are pulled off and are like a tube of skin and fir on the inside. We used 1/2" plywood forms to pull the skins onto (fur on inside toward the plywood). We made several different sizes of plywood forms so that the hides were stretched very tight. They were then hung up to dry for about a week to 10 days at which time the fats were pealed off the skin carefully as not to tear the skin. Then we would sell them to a fur dealer who would give us $2 for pure white and for the different colored furs as little as $.50 each. That was good for the late 1950's to early 60's. During the summer I would keep them in large fenced in areas and the feed cost was nothing. We buried the fence 1' deep and 1' flat away for the fenced area like an "L" for a total of 2' under ground. We used several 4'x8' sheets of marine plywood and put these on top of cement blocks so the rabbits had a place the was shaded and gave them cover form weather and hawks and owls. There were many bushes and pines in there for them to nest and hide in also. Only one buck and 20 does were in each 3/4 acre pen. We usually culled the young every 30 days or so and pen raise them to butchering size-about 8-12 week depending on the breed. During the winter only the buck was left in the pens. There was enough food for 1 rabbit for the winter months. Sometimes we would give them so hay if we noticed that they were over browsing the shrubs due to deep snow. They were so much healthier this way. Ma would fry the rabbit that she dipped in her herbal blend of flour mix. After they were 1/2 way cooked she would transfer them to her famous 'Dutch Oven' over low heat and added a cup of cheap wine (MD, it was the brand Charlie Weaver used to push on TV) and of course the cook always saved herself a wee bit of wine to sip on while preparing the rest of the meal. VERY TASTEY-the rabbit I mean.

cynthianovak, thank you for the reply! I'm glad it's not just me who's given into temptation and tried these. I was trying to grow wildflowers that would attract butterflies--that's it, nothing fancy. I wanted to direct sow because--well, because wildflowers should be able to handle direct sowing! And I wanted to use a seed mixture to save money and get a large variety of flowers. I've sown wildflower seeds in this spot at least five times (various brands/e-tailers) over the last couple years, and all I get are weeds. I was so frustrated--I grow a lot of very interesting plants, and I can't grow wildflowers! But then I found the birds pecking away at that garden bed a day after I put out a round of seeds, and I realized they were eating all my seeds and that's why I can't get anything to grow there! I direct sow other seeds in various spots, and I always expect some seeds to be eaten by critters, but I think this empty bed with so many kinds of seeds was just a buffet the birds could not resist. I was really hoping this seed mat would help protect the seeds from birds long enough for them to grow into plants--I thought maybe they wouldn't pick at the seeds so much in this format. And now I can't tell if I just bought a shoddy brand, am doing something wrong, or if the birds are still getting the seeds. I can tell you that the birds in my yard are little gluttons, and very well fed with the feeder I'm constantly refilling. I probably need to just admit defeat with direct sowing in this bed, and start a bunch of cuttings to populate it without spending a fortune. It's a little embarassing, though, that the last bouquet my husband bought for me contained carnations, roses, lilies--I teased him for buying me flowers that I grow in the yard--but I cannot get the wildflowers to sprout. Embarassing! LOL

My Sea Pearl had bluish tones that turned greenish once in my home. Will they give you a sample? My stoneyard did not so I took a chance. Did you see the chart Karin_MT made up? Maybe you could go by her description of the various levels of quartzite. Will they let you do a water absorption test? The crystalline quartzite is easy to spot. Look at the names on the right, find one in your stoneyard and look for the grains, cross bedding, crystalline structure to see which one comes closest to looking like your stone. You might try either lemon juice or vinegar on a small paper towel in a zipper bag or maybe you could use an extra small empty hand sanitizer bottle. Don't ask...don't tell??? Don't forget to test it in different spots on the stone, not just one spot. Same with the glass test...use different spots. Read this article that Karin wrote about telling white stones apart. https://usenaturalstone.org/telling-white-stones-apart/ https://usenaturalstone.org/how-to-be-your-own-stone-sleuth/ And this one is excellent. https://usenaturalstone.org/properties-of-quartzite/

My mother had purchased her interment site decades ago - in her hometown, where she hadn't lived for the decades since. She had also picked out a dress to be buried in, and had shown it to me several times in the years before her final illness. She was in a nursing home in my town, 115 miles away, with hospice. The nursing home (or hospice, I don't recall which) arranged for her remains to be picked up by a local mortuary after death was declared. I arranged the funeral with the funeral home in her hometown, that had been used by my family many times. They arranged to have the body transported to them, handled all of the paperwork (including obtaining the death certificate from my county), and placed the obit that I wrote in the local paper. 3 of my 4 siblings, my aunt and her best friend, and 2 of 5 my nieces came to the small service that we had in a parlor of the funeral home. There was no one else who knew or were friends with her (and I had no friends that I had remained in contact with) left in town. My niece's husband (they lived locally) arranged for the chaplain from his work to give a little homily and lead prayer; I found a musician to play 3-4 of her favorite hymns on guitar. Then all we went to the interment at the cemetery. One of my SILs arranged with someone she knew to prepare and serve a casual lunch in a facility at the cemetery for us. BTW, that was the only family member who did anything - the others never even offered - to arrange or help pay for it all. Mom didn't have any insurance benefit or funds left to help pay. ETA: I did all this really out of respect for my elderly aunt - that it pleased my sister and 2 of her daughters was nice but really not a consideration. My brothers wouldn't have minded either way, but I was glad that the oldest drove up from Tennessee - I hadn't seen him in many years, and probably never will again - I was 7 when he left home at the age of 18 and we were never close as adults. At the time it was rather a stretch for my finances. So, I did negotiate with the funeral home about the charges; in fact, I declined their caskets and found a company that sold and delivered lovely caskets in Cincinnati at a much lower cost.