162 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



a drachm of sulphuric acid. Thicken this with wheat bran or flour and 

 allow it to dry on the skin. When dry, the flour or bran should be 

 scraped off, the skin removed from the board and rolled with the fur 

 side in. The folded skin is then drawn quickly many times through 

 an iron ring. It should be unfolded at intervals and re-rolled in another 

 direction. This is continued until the entire skin is soft and flexible. 

 The following method was recommended by the late William 

 Hamilton Gibson: 



The skin should always be thoroughly cleaned in warm water 

 and all fat and superfluous flesh removed. It should then be 

 immersed in a solution made of the following ingredients: Five 

 gallons of cold soft water, 5 quarts wheat bran, 1 gill of salt, and 1 

 ounce of sulphuric acid. Allow the skin to soak in the liquid for 

 four or five hours. If the hides have been previously salted, the 

 salt should be excluded from the mixed solution. The skins are 

 now ready for the tanning liquor, which is made in the following 

 way: Into 5 gallons of warm soft water stir 1 peck of wheat bran 

 and allow the mixture to stand in a warm room until fermentation 

 takes place. Then add 3 pints of salt and stir until it is thoroughly 

 dissolved. A pint of sulphuric acid should then be poured in gradu- 

 ally, after which the liquor is ready. Immerse the skins and let 

 them soak for three or four hours. The process of fleshing follows. 

 This consists of laying the skin, fur side down, over a smooth beam 

 and working over the flesh side with a blunt fleshing tool. An old 

 chopping knife or a tin candlestick forms an excellent substitute 

 for the ordinary fleshing knife, and the process of rubbing should 

 be continued until the skin becomes dry, when it will be found to 

 be soft and pliable 



Manufactures of Muskrat furs. — Besides the considerable use of 

 muskrat skins for manufacture into garments in imitation of high-grade 

 furs, a good proportion of the poorer skins are used in the natural 

 colour for lining overcoats and other outer garments. Garments 

 made from skins of wolves, goats, or dogs partly supply this need, 

 but cloth outer garments with linings of light furs are fully as warm 

 and are less burdensome. The growing popularity of the automobile 

 for outdoor recreation in winter is another cause for the increased 

 demand for fur-lined coats. 



The better grades of muskrat furs, dressed in the natural colour, 

 have a beautiful lustre, and make really handsome coats, boas, and 

 muffs; and many smaller articles of apparel, as collars, gloves, caps, and 

 the like, are made of muskrat fur. 



Muskrat farming. — Fur farming has been a favorite topic for 

 discussion in American newspapers. While many fur-producing 

 enterprises have been planned and some actually begun, few have 

 prospered. Various difficulties have discouraged the majority of 



