PREPARING SKINS FOR MANUFACTURE 123 



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 

 Used^* ^^ following apparatus is used: 



Washing tanks, which are made of wire mesh and revolve 

 in a tank of water; 



Drying vats, which i evolve 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. 

 As treatment varies so much, it is impossible to list the operations a 

 given skin goes through. Marten, for instance, has a tender skin and 

 has to be given hand treatment. Mink and fox are treated in a Cana- 

 dian fur-dressing establishment about as follows: 



Fox Mink 



Pounded Pounded 



Wet with wet sawdust Soaked to soften head 



Fleshed Fleshed 



Salt water put on skin Flesh pickled 



Dried Dried 



Broken in foot-tub Drummed with sawdust 



Buttered or greased Greased and pounded 



Tubbed Stretched 



Cleaned with sawdust in drum Drummed (sawdust) 



Dried Stretched 



Polished in drum with sawdust Drummed (sawdust) 



Stretched and beaten 



Dved 



