108 THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



at from $2 to $8, according to quality. Minks and de-scented 

 skunks can be kept in an ordinary back yard provided it is partially 

 shaded. 



"If one wishes to dress his own furs the following recipe for a 

 tanning liquor may be used, but time and patience are required 

 to produce soft, pliable skins, as the process is largely one of manip- 

 ulation : To each gallon of water add one quart of salt and a half 

 ounce of sulphuric acid. This mixture should not be kept in a 

 metal container. Thin skins are tanned by this liquor in one day; 

 heavy skins must remain in it longer, and will not be harmed if 

 left in it indefinitely. When removed they are washed several times 

 in soapy water, wrung as dry as possible and then rubbed on the 

 flesh side with a cake of hard soap. They are then folded in the 

 middle, hung lengthwise over a line, hair side out and left to dry. 

 When both surfaces are barely dry and the interior is still moist 

 they are laid over a smooth rounded board and scraped on the flesh 

 side with the edge of a worn flat file or a similar blunt-edged tool. 

 In this way an inner layer is removed and the skins become pearly 

 white in color. They are then stretched, rubbed, and twisted until 

 quite dry. If parts of a skin are still hard and stiff, the soaping, 

 drying and stretching process is repeated until the entire skin is 

 soft. Fresh butter or other animal fat worked into skins while 

 warm and then worked out again in dry hardwood sawdust, or 

 extracted by a hasty bath in gasoline, increases their softness." 



