124 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



At 'the fur dressers' the skins are first dampened 

 of Manufacture* ^^ ^^^ ^^sh side with salt water and left all night 



to soften. The following morning they are placed 

 in a tramping machine, where they are tramped for eight or ten 

 hours. The machine works about 2,000 pelts at a time. 



The pelts are next covered with a mixture of sawdust and 

 salt water, and remain so overnight. The following morning they 

 are cut open down the front and are then fleshed, one man being 

 able to flesh 200 to 300 in a day. The skins are next stretched and 

 hung up to dry. When thoroughly dry, they are again moistened 

 with salt water on the leather side, remaining so overnight. They 

 are next brushed on the flesh side with animal fat — butter or fish 

 oil and tallow — and laid in pairs, with fur side out. After remain- 

 ing overnight they are placed in tramping machines and worked 

 for six or eight hours, or until thoroughly soft and pliable. They 

 are then stretched in every direction. 



The next process is cleaning. The skins, to the number of 

 300 or 400, are placed with sawdust in revolving drums exposed 

 to steam heat. They are revolved for about three hours, when the 

 sawdust will have completely absorbed the grease. The skins are 

 next incased in a beating drum, where they are revolved for two or 

 three hours. On removal, they are beaten with rattans, and the 

 fur is cleaned with a comb. The heavier pelts are fleshed down 

 thin, thus completing the operation of dressing for the majority of 

 skins. 



Well-dressed furs afford a maximum of warmth for a 

 Weight of^Furs minimum weight, while their suppleness lends an ad- 

 ditional advantage to them for clothing purposes. The 

 warmest garments of manufactured material are made from the stifif 

 old-fashioned box cloth and, even where warmly lined, afford only two- 

 thirds as much protection from the cold as fur, while being more than 

 four oimces per square foot heavier than raccoon. The following table 

 furnishes an approximate estimate of comparative weight and dura- 

 bility of the various furs when worn, fur outside, as body clothing: 



*A summary from Chas. H. Stevenson's report in that of the United States 

 Commission on Fish and Fisheries for 1902. 



