GOATSKINS 103 



this fact in mind as well as the question of colour. For 

 firmer moroccos the skins may pass through a handler 

 round of oak-bark liquors (io-20) in which a certain 

 amount of sumach is added to the liquors. The sumach is 

 leached and assists both in tanning and bleaching as the 

 liquor works through the round. The old liquor is run to 

 a paddle, and the tannage is commenced by paddling the 

 drenched skins in this liquor. It is advantageous both for 

 the tannage and for the efficient " spending " of the sumach 

 if this liquor be slightly warmed. In the early pit liquors 

 the goods are very frequently handled. There is, how- 

 ever, the usual tendency of the times to save labour in this 

 direction, and hence it is common to have several paddles 

 with liquors of gradually increasing strength, followed by a 

 shorter round of handlers in which the handling is more 

 infrequent. Instead of paddles latticed drums may be 

 inserted into pits containing liquors. These, however, are 

 not quite so convenient. In some tanneries, especially 

 where sumach only is employed, the tannage is in paddles 

 throughout. A new liquor is made up with fresh sumach 

 and is used repeatedly until exhausted. A three-paddle 

 system sometimes obtains, in which case the operation 

 closely resembles the three-pit system of liming (Part I., 

 Section II., p. 19), and the skins pass through an " old " 

 liquor, a " medium " liquor and a " fresh " liquor. The 

 goods need not be paddled the whole day through, and 

 indeed in the later stages this is undesirable. The packs 

 remain several days in each liquor and take up to 14 days 

 to tan. Two to three bags of sumach are needed for about 

 20 dozen goatskins. This method of tanning is efficient and 

 convenient for bold-grain finishes, on account of the constant 

 tumbling and bending of the skins which tends to work up 

 a grain. For very soft leathers and fine-grain finishes, 

 however, the " bag-tannage " or " bottle tannage " is 

 favoured. In this method the pelt is stitched up by machine 

 to form a bag, grain outwards, leaving a " neck " in the 

 hind shank. The bag is nearly filled with a fairly strong 

 infusion of sumach, inflated with air and tied up at the neck. 



