280 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



only supo.i'ficiall}' in work done abroad. Further work has been done 

 on the preparation of dubbin<rs for shoe uppers and waterproofing 

 materials for sole leather and some of the dubbings and waterproof- 

 ing compounds are being tried out in the Army service tests mentioned. 



Kxinn-inients have been made to develop methods for tanning 

 leather on a wnall scale that can be used, especially by farmers, for 

 home-tanning operations. Only simple, inexpensive homemade equip- 

 ment was used and materials that are easily available. A farmers' 

 bulletin on the subject is being prepared, since, judging from the large 

 and increasing number of inquiries, there is a great demand for this 

 sort of information. 



Farmers' Bulletin 1055, Country Hides and Skins : Skinning, Cur- 

 ing, and Marketing, Avas published in cooperation with the Bureau of 

 Markets and the Bureau of Animal Industry. It describes the correct 

 method for skinning, curing, and marketing country hides and skins. 

 Also a poster, More Money for Better Hides, was widely distributed. 

 Both were in such demand that within a few months after publication 

 a reissue of each was necessar3^ As a means of strikingly illustrating 

 the importance of this subject, elaborate displays of defective hides 

 and leather were assembled, and through the cooperation of the Office 

 of Exhibits were exhibited at the various State fairs throughout the 

 country and at the international live-stock exhibition in Chicago. 

 The exhibits thus visualized the serious consequences of carelessness 

 in skinning, curing, and marketing, and of excessive branding, and 

 the damage caused by pests such as the grubworm. 



Assistance has been rendered to some of the northern tanners by 

 determining, in cooperation with the Bureau of Animal Industry, 

 the character of a peculiar defect of certain skins which is not ap- 

 parent until the skins are split. The trouble was found to be due to 

 the follicular mange, and suggestions were given the tanners to aid 

 them in detecting such defective skins before splitting, thereby saving 

 many skins suitable for certain kinds of leather, but almost an entire 

 loss for split leather. 



An investigation of the difficulties experienced by a near-by tanner 

 in unhairing a certain lot of hides showed that this was due to curing 

 with salt containing alum, which set the hair in the skin and conse- 

 quently reduced the value of the hide. A news note bringing out this 

 point has been published. 



Samples of oak bark improperly prepared for leaching have been 

 analyzed for tannin after commercial extraction and found to have 

 been very poorly extracted. The attention of several tanners was 

 called to this extravagant practice, avoidance of which should result 

 in a marked saving of tanning materials. 



Some time has been given to the improvement and more general 

 utilization of domestic sumac, to establishing grades of sumac, and 

 to inducing purchasers to pay a price commensurate with the quality. 



PLANT DUST EXPLOSIONS AND FIRES. 



As no specific appropriation was made for this work, on July 16, 

 1919, the United States Grain Corporation appropriated $50,000 for 

 the continuation of the educational and investigational work carried 

 on by the bureau during the preceding years. Nearly the whole force 

 of the bureau that had been engaged upon this Avork was transferred 



