42 -i REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



for patent harness-leather. The junior split is sold to manufacturers 

 of cheap shoes. 



Continuation of tannage: After splitting the partly tanned hides 

 they^are placed in. a weak, fresh-bark liquor for a short time, then 

 laid in a bath of sumac liquor, which softens them and completes the 

 tanning. They are then dried, then dampened and stuffed with tal- 

 low and grease and stretched on a frame, to which they are tacked and 

 left to dry. After drying comes softening, then they are rotacked on 

 the frame and painted with from five to twelve coats of # black shin- 

 ing mixture, called japan. The leather is dried in steam-ovens after 

 each coating. Patent leather receives more japan than upholstering- 

 leather, which is blacked lightly, then painted with the desired color. 

 The furniture-leather when dried is softened on special machines, 

 hence its pliability. Some leather is boarded after the light japan- 

 ning is dried, and made to assume an artificial grain. Carriage-top 

 leather is treated this way. 



MOROCCO AND KID LEATHER. 



These choice fabrics are usually made from foreign raw stock, but 

 Texas and other domestic skins to the extent of about a million skins 

 a year are tanned. This stock is used in the manufacture of shoes. 



The skins are put in a "soak" of water two days, then red arsenic 

 is applied for twenty-four hours, until the hair comes off easily over 

 the beam ; then they are put in limes two weeks and handled ; then 

 pured with dog manure three to eight hours. This is followed by 

 s< slating " on the grain and fleshing with knives on the flesh side, 

 after which the skins are put in a mixture of bran and water to clean 

 them ready for tanning in alum, gambler, oil, soap, or sumac, accord- 

 ing to the kind of leather to be produced. The skins are shaved on 

 the flesh, after tanning are blacked and finished on the grain side in 

 glazed, pebble, straight grain, brush grain, or brush kid, which are 

 the usual finishes. 



There is not much morocco exported, but our manufacturers have 

 improved their product during the past five years, especially in mak- 

 ing glazed kid, so that it has almost entirely displaced the imported 

 article, which formerly came in to the amount of about $5,000,000 

 worth yearly. 



RUSSIA LEATHER. 



This leather is made in Newark. 1ST. J. , from cow or steer hides, and 

 used for pocket-books, furniture-leather, traveling-bags, etc. The 

 hides are soaked, unhaired and fleshed, then swelled forty-eight 

 hours in a preparation of rye and oat flour, yeast and salt, then placed 

 in a solution of willow and poplar bark, then handled for three weeks 

 in bark liquors, split into two or three parts. After tanning, the hides 

 are cut into sides, washed, dried, and greased with a mixture of 

 birch and seal oil, after which they are dyed in any color. 



SHEEP-SKINS. 



The wool skins are first washed and then the flesh side is painted 

 with lime, and they are laid away for two or three days, when the 

 wool loosens and is worked off over the beam. The pelts are put in 

 lime-vats from five to fourteen days, according to the kind of leather 



