FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 101 
mitive methods are excellent; thus, the North American Indians and 
African Kaffirs are unrivalled dressers of leather. 
The older method of dressing furs, used universally until the 
Sarl a introduction of machinery, is to “place the skins in a lye of 
alkali; when the pelt has become soft, the skins are tubbed, 
and then shaved by passing them over a large knife and placed in an 
upright position; they are next buttered, and put in a large tub of saw- 
dust by men half naked, who tread on them for some time, the heat 
of their bodies rendering the leather soft and supple; they are then 
beaten out and finished.” 
Modern methods of dressing and dyeing are much different. 
Modern = The work is done in large factories where an expert handles 
Methods : : 
every department and machinery does most of the tramping 
and beating. Invention has made possible the use of many commoner 
and cheaper skins which undergo many operations in the course of 
their preparation. They may be beamed, scraped, tramped, soaked, 
fleshed, tanned, dried, drummed, greased, kicked, drummed with saw- 
dust, dyed, caged, shaved, pared and foot-tubbed before they are ready 
for the manufacturer. Most of this work is done by machinery, and 
the large numbers of skins put through at one time makes the product 
uniform and the cost much lower per unit than by the old-fashioned 
hand-and-foot process. 
Besides the engine or motor which supplies the power, the 
ai following apparatus is used: 
Washing tanks, which are made of wire mesh and revolve 
in a tank of water; 
Drying vats,which revolve very rapidly, to throw moisture out of 
the skins; 
Cleaning drums, which, with an exhaust air arrangement, remove 
the sawdust or corn starch from the skins; 
Polishing drums, which revolve the skins with sawdust to polish 
the fur and hair; 
Wooden tanks, for dyeing; 
Revolving stone cylinder, for beaming; 
Kicking machine, for pounding the skins; 
Sewing machine, built especially for joining fur; 
Clipping machines, for shearing the underfur even. 
There are chambers for drying skins, where the air is kept con- 
stantly in motion by exhaust fans, and many other tools or contrivances 
for hand work, such as crescent-shaped sharp knives, for fleshing, rope 
for roping, tubs for tramping, knives, combs, boards for stretching, etc. 
